From The Boston Globe:
The long-planned remake of Charlestown’s Bunker Hill public housing complex could start later this year after the Boston Planning & Development Agency board approved zoning for a 2,700-unit mixed-income apartment and condominium development to replace 1,100 aging low-income apartments.
The $1.4 billion project, which has been in the works since 2015, is the most ambitious effort yet by the Boston Housing Authority to leverage the city’s hot real estate market to refresh decades-old public housing. Under a deal with the city, developers Joseph J. Corcoran Co. and Leggat McCall Properties would overhaul the 26-acre site on the northern edge of Charlestown, gradually demolishing some 41 low-rise apartment blocks to make way for 15 larger buildings, along with open space, retail, and other amenities.
The plan approved Thursday requires the developers to replace about 1,010 of the 1,110 low-income units on the site — the other 100 would be built elsewhere in Charlestown — while adding nearly 1,700 market-rate apartments and condos. In the absence of federal funds for public housing, it’s a way to pay for badly-needed upgrades to the 80-year-old complex, while bringing new investment to what is now one of the poorest pockets of the city.
Read The Boston Globe's article "Massive renovation of Bunker Hill public housing wins a key approval," featuring the Boston Housing Authority.