Architect's rendering.
A developer is proposing to replace a nondescript one-story commercial building at 218-220 Old Colony Ave., between Dorchester and E streets, with a five-story, 32-unit residential building.
The proposal is the latest that would for that stretch of Old Colony Avenue - it sits between one new building and a site where another new building is proposed.
Developer Sing Ming Chan hopes to take advantage of a new zoning rule for Dorchester Avenue and surrounding areas that would let him put up a bigger building than he could otherwise in exchange for including "community benefits" greater than what the city would normally require. To start, that would mean selling or renting five units as affordable, rather than the four that would normally be required and by providing additional public amenities to be negotiated with the BPDA.
Chan has proposed 33 parking spaces in a two-level garage and ground-floor commercial space for his $14.4-million building. Chan hopes to begin roughly 15 months of construction in mid-2020.
In addition to the BPDA, Chan will also have to win approval from the Zoning Board of Appeal.
218-220 Old Colony Ave. small-project review application (46M PDF).