Housing for Charlestown In Spite of Neighborhood Council Opposition

Charlestown Bridge
The Boston Redevelopment Authority approved a residential development proposed for the current home of the Knights of Columbus Hall at 75 West School St., Mayor Thomas M. Menino announced last week.

“I’m happy to see that this project is moving forward – the addition of 99 new units of housing is great for Charlestown and the project is an attractive re-use of this site,” Menino said. “The successful use of the development review process helped shape this project and ultimately make it a better one for the neighborhood.”
The seven-story, Federal-style brick building has an estimated cost of $30 million and will contain 99 residential units, 13 of which will be designated as affordable housing. Construction is expected to begin in mid-2008 and be completed by the end of 2009.

The development team of Boston attorney Bruce Daniel and Jack French, president and principal of Monument Square-based Neshamkin French Architects, Inc., are also planning several modifications to the site, including a new tot lot in the rear of the building, a public park at the front of the building on the corner of West School Street and Old Rutherford Avenue and a path along the Phipps Burial Ground that will provide improved public access to the site.

The original proposal included 111 units and had a maximum height of nine stories, but the developers agreed to reduce the overall scope of the project after meeting with representatives of the Charlestown Preservation Society Design Review Committee in early September.

“The project was enhanced and improved by the community process,” French said.
Despite the smaller scale of the revised proposal, the project still drew criticism from some Charlestown Neighborhood Council members at a Sept. 24 meeting co-sponsored by the CNC Development Committee and the BRA. Among the concerns they cited were parking provisions and height restrictions, since the project would exceed the 35-foot limit now in place for the neighborhood.

Still, French believes the development will be a welcome addition to the neighborhood that would recall the days of “old” Charlestown.
“I hope the project acts to extend the look and feel of Main Street on the New Rutherford Avenue edge,” he said. “The goal is to restore the look and feel of historic Charlestown to this Urban Renewal parcel.”
Like French, Daniel was also encouraged by the latest step in the approval process.
“It’s a significant step because the BRA is the planning agency for the city,” he said.

Daniel added the city’s Board of Appeals would review the project at a hearing in early March, marking the final step in the city’s approval process. The project will also be the subject of ongoing design review by the BRA until that time, he said.
Meanwhile, the Knights of Columbus plans to relocate to a new facility at 545 Medford St.