By Michael Coughlin Jr.
During its regular meeting on Monday, June 26, the Gove Street Citizens Association (GSCA) welcomed the project team for the development of 9 McKay Place to update those in attendance about the proposed plans.
As it stands now, the proposed development seeks to demolish four existing buildings on the site in order to construct a five-story, 53-foot-tall building comprised of 41 units and 35 parking spaces.
Regarding the unit makeup of the 41 total units, Joshua Smith of Zephyr Architects said, “We tried to put as many two and three-bedroom units in the building as possible to make sure that over 50-percent of the units in the building were two or three-bedroom.”
“So that you can have families live in Eastie — you can raise children here. It doesn’t have to be just a place of studios and one-bedrooms as a lot of the other larger buildings are doing,” he added.
Further, of the 41 total units, seven of them will be IDP (Inclusionary Development Policy) units, which is 17-percent.
“Per current zoning code, we’re only required to have 13-percent. We figured this would be a better way of serving the community,” said Smith.
As for other aspects of the project, it has gone through some changes since it was presented to the GSCA back in November.
For example, back in November, there were plans for 1,200 square feet of commercial space that was going to be used by a popular East Boston non-profit organization — Eastie Farm, and even a rooftop garden for Eastie Farm’s use; however, both of these things are no longer in the works.
“We’ve been working with the BPDA (Boston Planning and Development Agency), with Eastie Farm, who was looking to take our commercial space, and with other city boards and realized that we can’t necessarily offer the commercial space as a stable amenity,” said Smith.
In the project’s updated design, bicycle parking, and an amenity gym were included in the area previously planned to be commercial space. A community meeting area was also added to the plans in close proximity to the building’s lobby.
Other updates to the project since November include widening a sidewalk on Maverick Street by kicking back the building’s facade, which will consist of things like street trees and benches, as well as the inclusion of a bus stop in front of the building’s public park.
Smith indicated that he thought this new bus stop would replace the Frankfort and Cottage Street stops and, in turn, would free up parallel parking spots along Maverick Street.
When the meeting was opened up to questions for the project team, many were concerned about the impacts of the project on the Donald McKay School, which is a direct abutter.
For example, one resident asked specifically about the shadows that might be caused by the building in how that would affect the schoolyard, which is directly behind the site.
“We’re working with the McKay school to mitigate any effects on their playground. I think we realize that our building is — it is tall — and it is backing up against the playground. It will overshadow their current sort of teaching garden area,” said Smith.
Although, as Smith mentioned, the building would overshadow the garden area, he indicated the team is working with the school and offering financial compensation to construct a new learning garden elsewhere on the school’s property.
Susan Huang, the Director of Operations at the McKay School, attended last Monday’s meeting and provided a statement about the talks between the school and the development team.
“We have been in conversation with them sort of on and off since 2021. We have expressed our concerns over construction, safety of our students — the garage entrance is right across another garage entrance — traffic and parking, and everything else that the neighborhood is concerned about,” said Huang.
“If the project goes through, we have been promised that there will be ongoing conversations and open lines of communication, which I hope will include a design construction management plan,” she added.
Huang also spoke about the financial compensation for the learning garden but mentioned it is not in writing. However, Attorney Derric Small indicated that benefit commitments would be memorialized.
Moreover, there were concerns in regard to the garage entrance, which Huang referred to in her statement since it is just down the street from the school. However, Smith mentioned that the garage would be equipped with alarms, beacons, mirrors, and more to make it as safe as possible.
As the meeting continued, various questions were raised about aspects of the project, such as parking, mitigating construction impacts, and more.
If you are interested in seeing the presentation in its entirety, you can visit https://www.govestreet.org/meetings and find the recording under the 2023 tab.
Per email correspondence with the GSCA, the 9 McKay Place development team must return before a vote on the project is held. Currently, the board is deliberating if the team will return in July or at a later meeting.