Rendering by Stantec.
The Zoning Board of Appeal today approved plans to replace the historic Amrheins restaurant and its parking lot on West Broadway with a five-story office building with room for a new, reduced-size Amrheins.
Developers Matteson Companies and GFI Partners agreed to a proviso that the R&D allowed in the building would only be "dry" R&D - "nothing with biotech or viruses or any of that stuff," attorney Jared Eigerman said. Eigerman gave a couple of his clients elsewhere as examples of the sort of work that would be allowed: A company in Fort Point Channel that prototyped military helmets and one in Liberty Square that used its space to develop specialized LEDs.
Beside letting nearby residents not worry about infectious organisms, the limitation means the building will have much smaller HVAC equipment on the roof - life-sciences labs require more extensive, and potentially noisier, ventilation systems on the roof.
The proposal calls for retention of the shell of the original Amrheins building right at the corner of West Broadway and A Street. The restaurant will shrink from its current full-service size to something more akin to a deli.
The mayor's office and the office of City Councilor Ed Flynn supported the proposal. Nobody spoke in opposition.