Mayor Thomas M. Menino today announced that the Boston Redevelopment Authority’s Board of Directors approved the following two projects at its meeting last night. The Distillery, in South Boston, will redevelop a former rum distillery into 65 residential units, including artist live-work units. Gordon’s Wood, in West Roxbury, will redevelop a former nursing home into 42 new homeownership units, including 5 affordable units.

“I’m delighted to see these two projects move forward as together they will bring more than 100 new units of housing online,” Mayor Menino said. “Even in this economic climate, the BRA continues to plan for the growth of our city.”

BRA Board Approves The Distillery Redevelopment Project in South Boston

The BRA Board granted approval for the redevelopment of The Distillery in South Boston. The project will build on the arts uses of the existing Distillery building, which has emerged as one of the most important artists’ buildings in the city. The building currently contains a mix of artist live/work units, artist work-only spaces, and commercial spaces. The Distillery includes three art galleries, runs two open studios a year, and supports arts programs with donated space and salaried staff. The Distillery is also the home of two major arts organizations, the Trans-Cultural Exchange and the Artist Foundation. The project’s new buildings are intended to expand the opportunities for artists to live and work in the city, with additional studio space, the addition of underground music practice space, a new gallery, on-street display windows for artwork, the use of the courtyard for installation art and as a venue for performance-art, and, if financially feasible, the offering of residential fellowships for artists.

The project site, located at 516-524 East Second Street and 2 Dorchester Street in South Boston, includes three existing buildings: a former rum distillery building, which was constructed between 1862 and 1874, and currently contains the 65 live/work and work-only spaces; a former bottling plant, built in 1966, which is used as a warehouse by Shaughnessy Crane; and a former cooper shop, which is a one-story, circa 1930’s building, that currently contains three commercial tenants. The area surrounding the project site consists of both industrial and residential uses.

The developer plans to preserve the former Distillery building and construct two new wings, totaling approximately 179,384 square feet. The project will contain approximately 65 new residential units, including approximately 46 conventional units, 15 loft-style units, four artist live/work units, as well as a gallery, café, greenhouse, and small-scale retail/commercial spaces. The former bottling plant and cooper shop will be demolished to allow for the new construction. An urban garden and an open courtyard will be located in the center of the finished project. Rooftop gardens and decks, as well as balconies facing the courtyard, will also be incorporated into the design. The streetscape surrounding all four sides of the project will be improved, including a new, widened sidewalk on First Street with street trees.

The developer plans to sequence construction of the project. Phase I is anticipated to include the construction of one wing along East First Street, which will be adjacent to the existing Distillery building. The Phase I wing will wrap around onto Dorchester Street and will include a total of approximately 33 residential units. Of the 33 units, there will be 15 loft-style units, four artist live/work units, and 14 conventional units. The 15 loft-style units will be designed to meet the city’s design requirements for artist live/work units. The developer also intends to include an approximately 3,000-square-foot café, an approximately 780 square-foot art gallery, and four small retail/commercial spaces totaling 2,000 square feet in Phase I. In connection with Phase I, the developer also plans to convert a portion of the work-only space in the existing Distillery building into four new market-rate artist live/work spaces.

Phase II will include the construction of the second wing, located along Dorchester Street, and will be connected to the Phase I wing. Phase II will consist of approximately 32 residential units, four small-scale retail/commercial spaces, totaling approximately 1,750 square feet and located on the first level of Dorchester Street, a convenience food store of about 1,235 square feet, and a greenhouse, which will be located at the corner of Dorchester Street and East Second Street.

In response to the community’s request, the developer is working with the Boston Transportation Department and the MBTA to site additional inbound and outbound bus stops on East First Street for the #7 bus.

Second Street Associates LLC, the developer, includes Fred Gordon as the principal; Next Phase Studios as the architect; Vanasse Hangen Brustlin Inc. as the transportation/ infrastructure engineer; Weidlinger Associates Inc. as the geotechnical/structural engineer; The Hickory Consortium as the energy consultant; and Goulston and Storrs as legal counsel.

The developer plans to begin construction in the second quarter of 2010 with an estimated completion date in the second quarter of 2012. It is anticipated that each phase will take 12 months. Total project cost is approximately $28 million. The project is expected to provide approximately 150-200 construction jobs.

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Release Date: September 16, 2009