The Boston Planning & Development Agency (BPDA) Board has approved several new development projects totaling nearly 826,000 square feet. These projects will create 88 new housing units—15 of which will be income-restricted—and generate approximately 965 construction jobs and 1,310 permanent jobs, according to the City of Boston website.
A key project is the new Cancer Hospital at One Joslin Place in the Longwood Medical Area. This joint effort by Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center will replace the current Joslin Diabetes Center with a 300-bed inpatient hospital. The project also includes funding for workforce development and affordable housing.
Additional benefits include the reconstruction of Joslin Park, improvements to nearby roads, and financial contributions: $1 million to the Boston Housing Acquisition Loan Fund and $1 million to the Boston Public Health Commission for cancer screenings. There will also be donations to local organizations and support for transportation upgrades.
Boston University will construct a new building for the Pardee School of Global Studies at 250 Bay State Road. The project replaces a parking lot and will feature an acre of public open space, a new pedestrian ramp, and a fully electric, fossil-fuel-free building targeting LEED Gold certification using Mass Timber construction.
The city’s Office-to-Residential Conversion Program is also progressing. At 295–297 Franklin Street, 18 residential units will be created, including three income-restricted units. Another project will convert office space at 12 Post Office Square and 10 Liberty Square into 70 housing units, 12 of which will be income-restricted. These projects are part of Mayor Wu’s plan to convert 20 vacant office buildings into 762 housing units citywide.
