Claremont Corp. has filed plans to put up a 12-story residential tower in Brookline Village that would add roughly 150 apartments right next to the company’s hotel on Brookline Avenue. The proposal, laid out in newly posted project documents, would land at a busy gateway into Brookline and represents another push for denser housing along the Route 9/Brookline Avenue corridor. Its size makes it one of the larger recent housing pitches in town and it is expected to draw close scrutiny from neighbors and town boards over height, parking and design. Public hearings and permit reviews are anticipated in the months ahead.
What Was Filed
As reported by the Boston Business Journal, Claremont’s submission details a 12-story building with about 150 housing units on a parcel directly adjacent to its Hilton Garden Inn on Brookline Avenue. According to that report, the filing includes architectural renderings and a project summary that position the proposal as a multifamily residential tower designed to make use of recent zoning allowances in the corridor.
Claremont and the Site
Claremont Companies developed and opened the nearby Hilton Garden Inn in recent years as part of an effort to reposition the block, according to a Hilton press release. That hotel investment helped refocus developer attention on this stretch of Brookline Avenue, where Claremont is now looking to layer in housing on and beside the commercial footprint it has already built.
Where the Project Sits in Local Zoning
The property falls within the town’s Emerald Island Special District, an overlay created to encourage redevelopment by allowing increased building height and density under a more tightly managed review process, according to the Town of Brookline’s zoning materials. Within the EISD, projects that exceed baseline height or parking rules trigger site-plan review, design review and special permits. Those tools give town boards leverage to shape building massing, parking arrangements and public-realm improvements.
Why This Matters
Brookline has been wrestling with how much new housing and how much height to allow along key corridors, and recent large proposals have already sparked intense public debate over shadows, traffic and tax benefits, reporting from the Boston Globe shows. Supporters argue that denser projects near transit and the Longwood Medical area bring needed housing and revenue into town. Opponents focus on building scale and neighborhood impacts, arguments that are likely to surface again as this tower plan moves forward.
Next Steps
The filing now enters Brookline’s standard permitting path, where site-plan review and any required special permits under the EISD would bring the project before the Planning Board and the Zoning Board of Appeals. Town documents indicate that developers in this district are generally expected to show how their projects address design guidelines, stormwater and parking, and how they fit into wider public-realm upgrades along the Emerald Necklace corridor.
