Chinatown and downtown Boston will be going through massive changes as the Boston Planning and Development Agency (BPDA) moves forward with preparing for construction in and around the area. Some plans are currently under review and others have been approved and are slated to be underway, with the overall project set to end in the summer of 2023. Assistant Director of Communications for BPDA Brittany Comak, along with the Interim Director of Planning Kennan Rhyne, met with this reporter to provide more information on the planning process, the constructions, and the ways in which the community can be involved.
After a two-year pandemic-induced hiatus, PLAN: Downtown has officially relaunched. The process is starting with planning and seeks to resume community engagement to keep community members involved in the process. Kennan Rhyne spoke to the goals of the study. “PLAN: Downtown was supposed to be a two-year study. Clearly it’s been lengthened a little bit.” She continued, “We were looking at providing more predictability for residents, the business community, almost everyone in the downtown community, around what they could expect to see with development. We would be taking this predictability into zoning. We are still intending to make zoning changes after the plans are complete in Chinatown and downtown. One piece we want to think about is how that zoning can help enable six themes that came up through the plan.” These themes include historic preservation, open space, affordable housing, mobility and transportation, climate resilience, and small business and retail activation.
An in-depth review of the plans as well as expectations for the future are set to be discussed in a public meeting planned for December 14th from 6 to 7:30 PM. Rhyne commented on past public input, as well as previous group meetings and ways in which the BPDA seeks to reach demographics that have been difficult to capture in the past. “We’re planning at that meeting to give a more formal overview of where we paused in 2020,” she said. “I feel like there is a pretty substantial amount of public input we received and taking next steps instead of taking steps back. With that being said, we are going to be revisiting certain topics. For example, social vulnerability was a really important topic that came up. Through the pandemic we saw that playing out with folks’ access to safe community space.” She mentioned that Chinatown specifically saw input from students, and they are also keeping public health in mind for these open spaces.
Chinatown is at the intersection of two of the most talked-about topics among the six themes mentioned for the plan: affordable housing and historic preservation, which have received the most feedback and concern. “The connection between the two – I think Chinatown is indicative of that,” Rhyne said. “There’s a desire to think about how we avoid displacement with future development by creating more affordable housing opportunities so as folks age or families expand, they can stay in Chinatown…we also heard a priority around historic preservation in terms of the cultural legacy. Chinatown is a place for immigrant communities. And so part of it is elevating that history but the other part is capital ‘P’ Preservation of the architectural aspects.” Zoning is a large factor in this, and Rhyne expressed its importance in the plan. The BPDA is “making sure zoning doesn’t incentivize the destruction but actually reinforces the preservation of the buildings you see in the historic part of Chinatown.”
Striving to keep the public safe in the face of living with the pandemic is also a concern, as well as providing enough ways for everyone to get around. Rhyne commented on the changes concerning transportation since COVID: “BPDA planned for more active transportation modes in 2020 that they actually built. Since that time, they have introduced new bus rapid transit lanes to help buses move through downtown and make a better connection from Roxbury through to South Station with improvements through the bus lanes. They are also starting to do their own planning work around a North Station-South Station connection and have started an outreach process for that.”
Two of the six current projects have not yet been approved. Parcel P12C is in the disposition process. Assistant Director of Communications, Brittany Comak specified that the community will be invited to visioning session with a goal of a new RFP. This parcel was identified as a high priority. The other project is under BPDA review. Parcel R 1 is concerning a BPDA-owned site on Hudson Street and will produce 110 affordable residential units and around 17,000 square feet of civic space, ground floor, to be used by the Boston Public Library. It is set to go to the Boston Civic Design Commission for review in December.
Among the approved plans for Chinatown and Downtown is 125 Lincoln Street. This is in the surrounding area of the Leather District, the project seeking to convert a decaying building that now contains parking, retail, and office space into an 11-story research and development building with retail space and 50-60 income restricted units nearby at 79 Essex Street. Assistant Director of Communications Brittany Comak said, “The proposed 79 Essex Street development will be a restoration project, meeting one of the many goals of the PLAN: Downtown planning initiative of historic preservation, and preserving the urban fabric of Downtown and Chinatown.”
The 125 Lincoln Street project will also improve pedestrian conditions and contribute “$3.5 million towards design and construction for community-oriented retail businesses on the ground floor,” according to Comak. “The project is also contributing $200,000 to help relocate the Hei La Moon restaurant currently on site. In support of creating jobs, the project will contribute approximately $200,000 to MassBioEd, providing STEM education resources and a pathway to biotech and life science jobs for Boston residents. In addition, approximately $50,000 will go to the Josiah Quincy Elementary School for STEM education resources.” Therefore, in addition to the many changes happening to revitalize and improve Chinatown and Downtown, these pieces of the plan are meant to give back and help improve the community.
Another approved site is 150 Kneeland Street. This project will include 115 residential units. A project at 745 Atlantic Avenue has also seen approval. According to Comak, the site will “change the use of the existing downtown building to allow for lab space, research and development, as well as offices. The ground floor will also include food and beverage retail space.” Comak also commented on the contributions to both job opportunities and the community this project will provide. “This change in use is estimated to bring more than 600 new permanent jobs to the area, in addition to approximately 300 construction jobs. The project will also provide $791,700 toward affordable housing, as well as $145,551 toward workforce development in linkage fees, $75,000 to the City’s Bluebikes program, and $25,000 to the Leather District Neighborhood Association to fund Leather District infrastructure and streetscape improvements such as additional sidewalk repairs, new lighting, or street trees.”
Rhyne expressed her excitement in the continuation of the planning for the rest of Chinatown and Downtown, stating, “We’re just really excited to restart. We owe everyone all this work, we put so much time and effort, we owe people the results of that work.” Rhyne also communicated the importance of the advisory groups and public meetings meant to inform and involve the public. In an attempt to reach more demographics present in the area, there are translators present at these forums as well.
The upcoming meeting addressing plans and changes concerning PLAN: Downtown is, again, on Wednesday, December 14th, 6 to 7:30 PM, and can be registered for at https://www.zoomgov.com/meeting/register/vJItdO2srToqEyBAicWVutBOo0vL52o-iqA. There is also a survey available, concerning these plans, available in both English and Chinese, available at https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfmMB6NDdyqKLl007GS2MK_K-4lLgH9ut0-NJbWOjHPaDoo1Q/viewform. As the Boston Planning and Development Agency continues to move forward with their plans for Chinatown and Downtown, the public is encouraged to participate and stay updated and involved in the process. Hopefully, as these plans come to fruition, the community can see positive changes and contributions working in tandem with their feedback of what they want to see in the city.