Affordable Housing Tower in Chinatown

Boston, MA

A parking lot in Boston’s Chinatown is slated for redevelopment with a new permanent Boston Public Library branch and 143,000 SF income-restricted apartment and condominium project. Working with the Asian Community Development Corporation, the Stantec team brought life to the community’s vision of redeveloping a Chinatown parking lot (known as Parcel R-1) into a space that offers learning, community, public space, and cultural celebration. Parcel R-1 is one of the last large municipally owned sites in Chinatown available for community-based uses.

Ellana provided cost estimating services for the 12-story building featuring glazed brick and a glass curtain wall facade. The design incorporates an all-electric, Passive House sustainable strategy, targeting LEED Gold certification, for a mixed-use tower with 110 affordable rental and condo units. The permanent home of the Chinatown Branch of the Boston Public Library serves as a three-level podium for this 100 percent affordable housing project.

Parcel R-1 advances goals from Boston’s 2030 Housing Plan to create housing and introduces the concept of “development without displacement” in a neighborhood with limited development opportunities.

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