It looks as if the long, strange trip of 275 Albany Street is over.
The complex at the South End's northeastern corner began its developmental life as a plan for a 408-room hotel over two buildings. Then developer Normandy Real Estate Partners said the market couldn't support one of that size. So it kind of disappeared into a haze of rumors and expectations, overshadowed by its more ambitious neighbor, the Ink Block, what with its 470-plus apartments and 50,000-square-foot Whole Foods. Then! The project re-emerged as two buildings, one with 220 apartments and one with 325 hotel rooms. Then, part II! The hotel portion disappeared earlier this year, replaced by a twin-building residential project said to have 380 apartments total, with a parking garage in between.
Well! The Boston Redevelopment Authority O.K.'d the following late last week: one 19-story building on Traveler Street with 220 residential units; and one 11-story building on East Berkeley Street with 180 residential units. So that's 400 apartments and five changes of plan, for those of you scoring at home. At the same time, though, the development team led by Normandy has committed to cleaning up the area around 275 Albany, which is expected, as Normandy put it, to serve as "a buffer between the imposing hulk of the Southeast Expressway and the historic South End neighborhood."
· Builders Offer $250G to Spruce Up Underpass [Herald]
· Hey, Something Big Could Be Built in the South End! [Curbed Boston]
· That Hotel at 275 Albany in the South End? [Curbed Boston]
· O, Albany Street! Building the Perfect South End 'Buffer' [Curbed Boston]