The Zoning Board of Appeal voted unanimously during its Feb. 24 virtual hearing to uphold a permit previously issued by the city related to the proposed redevelopment of the Eben Jordan Mansion.
The determination came in response to a citizens’ appeal filed by two abutters from Spruce Court that maintained the Inspectional Services Department had erred in judgment when it issued a permit to change the occupancy of 46-47 Beacon St. from the approved 11 luxury condominiums to eight units and a parking garage.
Two months earlier, the city had reached a settlement agreement regarding an appeal of the Beacon Hill Architectural Commission’s determination on Dec. 21, 2023, to deny a design review application for a proposed garage entry door at the rear of the property.
At its virtual public hearing on Dec. 21, 2023, the BHAC voted unanimously to deny the installation of any garage door on the rear façade of 46 Beacon St. while approving as submitted the repaving of the front brick sidewalk.
The proposed approximately 13-foot-wide, steel-frame garage door will face Spruce Court – a small private way, said Guy Grassi, the project architect, and its entrance would be created by enlarging and combining two existing penetrations in the building’s rear (north) façade facing Spruce Court while removing a brick pier between the two openings – one of which was originally a window that has been infilled to create a door.
Many asserted then that creating the proposed door via enlarging and combining two existing penetrations would in effect create a new opening in a building façade, which is at odds with BHAC guidelines.
Mainsail Management purchased the five-story, Italian Renaissance Revival townhouse on Beacon Street in 2023 from the Unification Church for $20.5 million. The 50,000 square-foot building, which has undergone numerous transformations and been modified via an array of additions over the years, is now poised to be redeveloped into eight, large dwelling units.