BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — For developers, finding a place to put a new building in downtown Boston is like playing Tetris, and every block costs millions of dollars. It seems every inch of space is either already spoken for, has something already built on it – or would require new laws of physics to build anything new.
Falling somewhat into the final category is the plan for 138 Arlington Street in Bay Village, recently greenlit by the Boston Zoning Board of Appeals. The lot sits on the corner of Melrose Street and Arlington – and the entire thing is a mere 348 square feet. The tiny parcel is arranged in a sliver of a trapezoid jammed between the two streets, partially a relic from when Arlington was redesigned in 1904 and made wider, according to Pisani and street maps of the area from the late 19th century. Right now, the space is occupied by a one-story vacant commercial building which has been on the site since 1930.
“This is the smallest site that we’ve ever worked on,” said architect Anthony Pisani, of Pisani + Associates. “It took a while to understand it, understand what the constraints are, and pull it all together.”
That might be an understatement. It took Pisani, a former member of the Zoning Board himself, five different tries to come up with a design that would fit the miniscule lot, and pass muster with the city. He calls this “Scheme F” – meaning, he and his firm had already gone through Schemes A-E.
With such an odd spot, Pisani said the only way to go was up. The final design has the spirit of an ancient mage’s tower, squeezed into the body of a modern, mostly-brick townhouse. The main feature would be a spiral staircase at the center of the building which climbs up four stories, splitting off on each level at a living room, bedrooms, bathrooms, and a tiny rooftop patio. If all goes according to plan, this will be a mostly-vertical, 1400-square-foot apartment with three bedrooms and two-and-a-half baths.
The property was already owned by Steve Cohen and the Conway Company, a Boston-based development firm.
“We knew we had trouble trying to find tenants for this space because it was too small…We’ve been sitting here with this empty space, and we’re just trying to brainstorm to see what we could do to make it a more usable space and make it work,” Cohen told WBZ NewsRadio.
Cohen said the hope is for the new construction to cost less than $1 million, and to open it up to renters as soon as possible. The building would still need to be approved by several city commissions like the Landmarks Commission before the construction can get started.
WBZ’s Chaiel Schaffel (@CSchaffelWBZ) has more: