Condos to replace old South Boston theater

The Board of Appeal today approved plans to replace the old Broadway Theater, 420 West Broadway, with a 42-unit condo building that will preserve the theater's old facade and lobby on Broadway and replace the seven-story theater space fronting Athens Street with six stories of residences.

Developer Brian Crowley's plans, which include 42 parking spaces for residents, accessed via Athens Street, were approved by the BPDA board last month.

Crowley's attorney, Joseph Hanley, told the board this morning the project, which he said will replace a building that has been "distressed and vacant since the 1980s," will also include roughly 1,300 square feet of retail space along Broadway.

The theater lobby will be turned into entrance space for both the commercial space and the residences, he said.

The mayor and Councilor Bill Linehan supported the proposal. An aide to City Councilor Michael Flaherty called the proposal "a good project," but said the councilor formally opposed it because of issues related to the overall rezoning of South Boston.

In response to one Athens Street residents' concerns about decks facing her street, Hanley said the plans had been redrawn to make them smaller "terraces" and that Crowley will plant evergreens on that side of the building.

420 West Broadway small-project review application (2.1M PDF).