A Boston Planning & Development Agency-owned piece of land in Boston’s Chinatown neighborhood will soon be home to 100 units of affordable housing and a new Boston Public Library branch. 

The BPDA voted to tentatively designate Asian Community Development Corp. (Asian CDC) as the developer. 

Located at the intersection of Hudson, Tyler and Holland streets in Chinatown, it’s one of the last large municipally-owned sites in that area of the city, available for “community based uses, and the selected use is based on several years of BPDA and community-led visioning workshops and planning studies,” according to BPDA.

“We are committed to facilitating a future for this parcel that supports the surrounding community by creating affordable housing and a new, permanent BPL branch in Chinatown,” BPDA Director Brian Golden said in a press release. “We look forward to working with the development team to bring life to the community’s vision.”

Asian CDC is proposing a 12-story, mixed-use building with 110 affordable rental and homeownership units available to a broad range of affordable income levels. 

Plans to develop the property go back to 2020. The RFP, released in August 2021, reflected input from the community and the need for affordable housing, the BDPA said, adding that the need for a permanent Chinatown BPL branch and the preservation of the area’s cultural and historical heritage were also important.

The BPDA helped facilitate the opening of a temporary Chinatown library in 2018, marking the return of these services to the area for the first time in more than 50 years. 

“For over three decades, Asian Community Development Corporation has been dedicated to the creation of affordable housing as a way to stabilize immigrant families in this community, and we look forward to working with the city and neighborhood residents to build more affordable homes and a permanent Chinatown library on the R-1 site,” Asian CDC Executive Director Angie Liou said.