Boylston Properties, a company based in Boston, has proposed the development of a 12-story residential building with 227 units in Alewife, a neighborhood in Cambridge. This area had been under a construction moratorium for over one year due to concerns that it would be dominated by life sciences labs. According to the Boston Business Journal , Boylston Properties will hold community meetings next week to discuss their plans for redeveloping the current site at 745 Concord Ave., which currently houses a one-story office building.
Initially, when Boylston was considering purchasing this site in 2021, they had planned on developing it into another life sciences facility. However, after the Cambridge City Council voted to freeze construction in most of Alewife and rezone the area last year, Boylston’s plans changed. The new zoning regulations allow for more dense development on this site and make it feasible for them to build multifamily housing instead of commercial space according Andrew Copelotti , principal at Boylston Properties. They are also planning on including only 15 parking spaces within their project.
Copelotti expressed gratitude towards the moratorium stating that without it they may have ended up with an unfinished or partially built life science building during these challenging times within the market. He believes that sometimes not going through with certain projects can turn out to be beneficial decisions.
