South Boston / South End

The 275 Albany Street Development project is one of many forthcoming developments stemming from the Harrison / Albany Strategic Master Plan that was created by the BRA in 2012. If you are unfamiliar with that master plan here is a brief summary:

The area along the 93 expressway, on the South End side, has been rezoned to allow greater heights and density. This was a tactic to make those underutilized plots of land more appealing to developers. Projects like the Ink Block, which will be a retail & supermarket destination, are among the projects coming out of this rezoning in addition to hundreds new residences, some restaurants, and hotel. Overall the re-zoning is a good thing for the city because it will reduce crime and enhance that grim section of our city along the elevated expressway. But there will be an impact on us. The Broadway Bridge will likely see significant increase in pedestrian traffic coming to the Broadway T Stop, as well as an increase bicycle and vehicle traffic.


Last week members of Planet Southie attended the 275 Albany Street BRA meeting, which is a new 330,000sf (very large) apartment & hotel development. Again, this is only one of several large scale projects coming our way and we expect to be attending more BRA meetings for this area soon.

NOW is our opportunity to make requests of the City and the developer to enhance that section of town to fit what we believe is needed. Anyone who has walked, biked, or drove over the Broadway Bridge and under the expressway is acutely aware of the gritty, crime infested area and the complete lack of anything that would make this a safer & nicer place to be. This area is easily the most dangerous place for bicyclists to travel in all of Southie, and certainly an unfriendly place for pedestrians to walk at night. Together we can make this area safer for ourselves.

Developers will profit greatly from the re-zoning along this area, and there is language in the BRA's re-zoning guide stating that developers will be expected to contribute back to the neighborhood after community meetings such as these. Planet Southie member Jon Ramos has written a letter concerning the area, and we are asking you to add your name to the letter and submit it to the BRA.  The end of the comment period is fast approaching so the time to send is now.

We think you will agree with what's included in the letter. If so, please add your name and email it to the BRA (their email is included in my letter). Or feel free to modify it as you see fit and send it in.

We've made it easy, simply click THIS LINK & copy/paste the contents into your email editor, and send!

Share this link with others that you think might like to improve our neighborhood.

If you would like to learn more about the re-zoning for this area, click here.