Melcher Street project is overhauled, will include residential units

By Cara Bayles, Town Correspondent

The fate of three buildings on Melcher Street in South Boston has changed radically, and on Monday night, residents will hear the details.

The developers' plan has been overhauled since it was first proposed in February 2008, and consisted of combining all three buildings into a monolith, which would house solely retail and office space. The new proposal, which the developers will present to Fort Point neighbors on next week, will include 38 residential units, including five affordable artist live/work spaces.

In the new proposal, Laura Rome, the project engineer, cites "the economic climate" as a major factor in the change. But the new plan to incorporate a more mixed-use approach to the project and keep two of the three buildings separate entities looks closer to what neighbors were pushing for in meetings two years ago, according to Fort Point Neighborhood Association meeting notes.

The space, once home to artist lofts, small business and gallery spaces, has been vacant since those tenants' leases expired in 2007.

The Melcher Street buildings are owned in partnership by Goldman Properties and the Archon Group, who also jointly own the 319 A Street property in Fort Point. The proposal for the 180-foot-tall residential tower they plan to build there was approved by the Boston Redevelopment Authority in December.

According to the city's announcement for Monday's community meeting, the five affordable artist spaces at Melcher Street (which were proposed in documents dated January 4) would go toward compensating for the A Street tower.

Steve Hollinger, a Wormwood Street resident, wonders about the timing of the two projects, and how the A Street proposal could get city approval before the owners had met the city's affordable housing requirements.

"In the eleventh hour, we hear through one meeting, that the proponent, Archon, has to include 63 Melcher in the project to approve their affordable housing guidelines," he said. "It is a really positive thing that 63 Melcher has gone residential. How it came about, without any public discussion, without any meetings, how the Boston Redevelopment Authority board approved a 180-foot tower without knowing where the affordable units would go … I mean, you've got to scratch your head. It's sketchy how it came about."

Susan Elsbree, a redevelopment authority spokesperson, said the timing did not reflect conversations the developers had with city planners.

Hollinger, who's lived in the neighborhood for 21 years, adds that the project is illustrative of a larger problem with the development of the neighborhood.

"People who have been engaged in the planning process with the BRA feel there is a growing disparity between the BRA's public master plans and the actual legal agreements that are being hashed out with the property owners," he says, adding that the green space and civic space that was promised as part of the master plan, and even the residential component of the development process, have been put on the back burner, while office and retail space has been fast-tracked.

But Elsbree says that the city can control the private lending market, but will promote its vision for the neighborhood project by project.

"The master plan is still what's guiding the overall development of the area, but you can't make the market respond to something when it's not ready," she said. "The overall mix of uses will still be similar to the master plan that we all developed collectively."

Epsilon Associates' planner for the project, Laura Rome, was unavailable for comment.

After Monday's meeting, the public will have until February 17 to submit comment to the city's redevelopment authority. Epsilon's documents indicate that they hope to break ground on the project in the winter of 2011.

E-mail Cara Bayles at carabayles@gmail.com.