By Dan Murphy
Details of an office-to-residential conversion project proposed for 95 Berkeley St. were unveiled during a city-sponsored public meeting held virtually on Wednesday, Oct. 17.
The proponent, 95 Berkeley OTR LLC, intends to reuse and adapt an existing six-story office building, which sits at the edge of the South End and adjacent to the Back Bay, to create 92 rental units on the second through top floors. The ground floor would continue to accommodate the building’s sole existing tenant, the nonprofit design firm MASS Design Group, as well as provide up to 1,700 square feet of retail space which could become home to a coffee shop.
The project’s proposed unit mix now comprises 46 studios, each spanning approximately 506 square feet; 41 one-bedrooms, each spanning around 734 square feet; and five two-bedrooms, each spanning about 1,181 square feet. Of these units, 15 will be designated as affordable, while an additional three units would be eligible for housing vouchers, said Attorney Matt Eckel.
Responding to requests from neighbors on hand for the meeting, Eckel said the proponent would “look at the floorplates [to explore the possibility of] getting more units in.”
Eckel added, It’s a little bit in infancy, and we’re just going through the permitting process now.”
The building’s lower level now accommodates 36 parking spaces, which will remain in place and be shared by the residential and retail tenants, said Eckel, while 40 new bike spaces are also proposed for the same level.
Eckel said the proponent hopes to get underway with construction in the spring, and that the project is expected to have a minimal impact on neighbors and abutters, since the only planned exterior changes entail the addition of new mechanicals on the roof.
The building itself was built in 1920 and last renovated in 2020, including the installation of new windows at that time.
This project is proposed under the city Planning Department’s Downtown Conversion program – a post-pandemic pilot that intends to facilitate the as-of-right repurposing of underutilized office space into residential units by providing major incentives for developers. The city is accepting public comments on the Project Notification Form for this project until Oct. 29 via the Planning Department project page (https://www.bostonplans.org/projects/development-projects/95-berkeley-