Attendees at a Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA) community meeting were generally receptive to a developer’s plan to turn 3383-3389 Washington St. into a mixed-use development that has 21 residential units and more than 2,000 square feet of retail space.
About 16 people attended the meeting at Curtis Hall on Dec. 4.
The site at 3383-3389 Washington St., which covers three parcels, is currently vacant. It includes the former Royal Fried Chicken restaurant, a long-shuttered nightclub and a parking lot. Family Dollar, a national discount-goods chain, attempted to open a store at the site two years ago before encountering community opposition.
Peter McLoughlin, who had proposed the Family Dollar plan, now wants to construct a four-floor, 27,633-square-foot building with ground-floor retail space and 21 residential units above, including four affordable units. The proposal also calls for 23 parking spots, three of which would be for the commercial space.
The project needs several variances, including for forbidden use, excessive height and insufficient parking.
Several abutters to the project, including Marie Turley, thanked the developer for his willingness to work with them. Turley said the project is “much better” now and said she looks forward to continuing the conversation with the developer about the project.
Tim Reardon, a member of Egleston Square Main Street and the Egleston Square Neighborhood Association, criticized the project for having too much parking, saying the development does not need more than one parking spot per unit when it is located between two transit stations.
“We don’t need more people with cars along Washington Street,” he said.
Jamaica Plain resident Brian Murray said he is pleased to see the project move forward, as he knows a lot of people being “run out of the city by housing prices” because of a lack of housing stock. He also said that the “traffic is not that bad” in the area.
The comment period for the project ends Jan. 9. To comment and to see more information, visit bit.ly/1Hrj8Nb.
A sketch of the proposed mixed-use development at 3383-3389 Washington St. (Courtesy Image)