Along a stretch of Commonwealth Avenue that’s without the same affluence and prestige as that in Boston’s Back Bay is a plan to turn a vacant site formerly home to a gas station into 40 condos with ground floor retail space.
The location is 1650 Comm. Ave. in Brighton and the $18 million project is called The Aberdeen.
According to the City of Boston online assessing database, the land parcel itself is valued at $869,700, a decrease from the previous year’s estimate of $1,403,400.
On Friday, August 14, the Boston Redevelopment Authority gave the green light to developer Sixteen Fifty Commonwealth, LLC – led by Diamond Sinacori, LLC – to construct a five-story, 49,848-square-foot residential building.
As noted in a letter filed with the BRA in 2014, the building will “be distinguished by a striking, Art Deco-inspired design that will anchor this important corner.”
Of the 40 condos for sale, five will fall under the city’s Inclusionary Development Policy which mandates 13 percent of on-site residential units be accommodating to lower-income earners, three of the units will be less than or equal to 80 percent of the area median income with the other two being less than or equal to 100 percent.
According to the American Community Survey 2007-2011 estimate, the area median income for Brighton was $50,417.
Of the 40 units, 12 will be one-bedroom, 25 will be two-bedroom, and three will be three-bedroom. Of the five affordable units, two will be one-bedroom and three will be two-bedroom, all ranging from 600- to 790-square-feet and priced between $173,900 and $262,700.
As developers are allowed to do per the inclusionary policy, they’ll also be contributing $44,000 as an affordable housing payment and a $35,000 sum to the city’s Parks and Recreation Department Fund for Parks.
It’s unclear at this time what company will occupy the 2,400-square-feet of retail space on the ground floor but if the design rendering for the project is any indication (it shows a Starbucks nestled snugly) a small cafe of some kind will likely be opted for.
Residents will also be privy to an in-house fitness center.
The developer, too, is pledging a number of community benefits as a consequence of The Aberdeen including street level improvements like new trees and parking (there will be 40 total spaces), implementing the BUILDING A BUILDING program to spur youths’ interest in the field of development, architecture and construction.
With approval now in hand, the developer is expecting to break ground on the new project by the fall of this year and, barring any setbacks or issues, hopes to wrap up come summer of 2016.
