Hotel, residential towers OK'd for South End's New York Streets area

(Image courtesy Boston Redevelopment Authority)

A rendering of the development set for 275 Albany St.

By Johanna Kaiser, Town Correspondent

Plans for a new hotel and residential towers in the Harrison Albany Corridor zoning area have been approved by the city's redevelopment authority.

The $165 million proposal, approved at an authority board meeting Thursday, will build a two towers connected by a three-story parking garage at 275 Albany St. in the New York Streets neighborhood.

The 19-story residential tower, which will face Traveler Street, will house 220 rental units that range from studios to two-bedrooms. The 11-story hotel will be accessible from East Berkeley and have up to 325 so-called “micro-style” rooms.

The 330,000-square-foot complex will also house 2,011 square feet of retail space and 165 parking spaces and bring new paving, lighting, and landscaping on the streets around the project, and a new bike-sharing Hubway station.

The project’s developer, Normandy Real Estate Partners, originally planned to build two hotel towers when the company submitted the proposal in 2010 before converting one tower into housing. Add, Inc. served as the project’s architect.

The project’s approval comes just months after the city approved broad zoning changes for parts of the South End designed to guide and spur development in the area.

Known as the Harrison-Albany Corridor Strategic Plan, the zoning change breaks the area into four sub-districts, each with a distinct vision. (See map below)

The new development falls in the North district, which encompasses Shawmut Avenue, Herald Street, Albany Street, and East Berkley Street. The city designated that area as one that can serve as a “vital phsyical and economic link between the city’s downtown, Chinatown, and South End neighborhoods.”

The corridor as a whole is bordered roughly by the Massachusetts Turnpike to the north, Albany Street/Southeast Expressway/Massachusetts Avenue Connector to the east; Massachusetts Avenue to the south; and Washington Street/Harrison Avenue to the west.

The area is projected to grow by as much as 7.3 million square feet in the next two to three decades, according to the city.

As part of the new zoning requirements, Normandy Real Estate Partners is making a 20 percent contribution to affordable housing.

The project is expected to create 500 construction jobs during the estimated 24-month construction and 175 permanent jobs afterwards, according to the city.

(Image courtesy Boston Redevelopment Authority)