Cambridge Site Would Hold Apartments Instead of Life Sciences

Boston-based Boylston Properties is proposing a 12-story, 227-unit residential building in Alewife, the Cambridge neighborhood that was put under a construction moratorium for more than a year over concerns it would be overrun by life sciences labs, reported the Boston Business Journal. The developer will host community meetings next week to discuss its plans to redevelop 745 Concord Ave., which is now home to a one-story office building.

When Boylston first contemplated buying the site in 2021, the firm thought it would become a life sciences facility, principal Andrew Copelotti told the Business Journal. But soon afterward, the Cambridge City Council voted to freeze construction in much of Alewife in order to rezone the area.

A year ago, the city finalized new zoning aimed at balancing commercial and residential construction. The changes enable Boylston to build more densely on the site, so that a multifamily project now makes sense, according to Copelotti. It is contemplating 15 on-site parking spaces.

“Thank God the moratorium came along,” Copelotti said. “We’d have a built or half-built life science building in a tough market. Sometimes the projects you don’t do are the best ones.”