The Boston Planning & Development Agency has given the greenlight to a project that will bring 1,900 residential units within 21 buildings to the former Bayside Expo Center in Dorchester.
The Dorchester Bay City project’s master plan was approved by the BPDA at its September meeting and encompasses more than 36 acres of land on Dorchester’s Columbia Point peninsula. Plans call for construction in three phases, each of which will include multiple buildings.
The project is going up on what was previously three parcels of land at 200 Mt. Vernon St. and 2 Morrissey Blvd.
The 21 buildings will have a mix of uses, including residential, office, research and development, retail, restaurant, commercial, cultural and more. The project also brings an extensive new street system for pedestrians, bikes and cars, as well as 11 acres of public realm improvements and more than 8 acres of open space.
Among the buildings, there will be seven different residential buildings housing 1,957 apartments, 20% of which will be income-restricted.
According to the BPDA, each building or group of buildings, along with open-place plans, will be brought before the BPDA board individually and go through their own public processes.
The project will “create the neighborhood connectivity and community of mixed uses called for in the BPDA-approved Columbia Point Master Plan (2011).”
The street system will enable the creation of new development blocks to encourage walking and bicycling, as well as connecting neighboring areas and nearby public recreation spots including Carson Beach, Moakley Park and Dorchester Shores Reservation.
Fitting with the city’s transportation goals, it will also include inside parking for 3,700 bicycles and 500 public bike racks, along with multiple bike-sharing stations.
The project also supports the city’s resilience goals. Because the site is located in an area that can flood, each building will be designed to comply with Boston’s Coastal Flood Resilience Overlay District. Additionally, the site and its buildings will be “raised and graded to slope appropriately to adjacent properties, and additional resiliency measures will help close two flood pathways in the neighborhood and protect the site and the neighborhood from periodic flooding,” according to the plans.
Community benefits include $53.7 million to support affordable housing, $9.9 million for jobs training and $10 million for the Massachusetts Affordable Housing Alliance’s Saving Toward Affordable Sustainable Homeownership matched-savings program, which t aims to reduce racial homeownership and wealth gaps. It also includes $23 million for Moakley Park maintenance and repairs, $41.6 million in transportation improvements and mitigation, and $1.2 million for public art installations.
Additional benefits include $8.2 million in funding to benefit area residents via diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, economic development and job training initiatives, and community and cultural programs.
The project will also create 13,000 to 17,000 permanent jobs.