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Coolidge Corner tower’s scope spooks Brookline officials

Plans call for 21 stories

Rendering of Coolidge Corner tower Chestnut Hill Realty

Developer Chestnut Hill Realty wants to plunk a 21-story, 320-unit apartment complex at 8-10 Waldo Street on the Brookline side of Coolidge Corner.

Town officials, however, say such height and density is out of proportion for the neighborhood. The chairman of Brookline’s selectmen told the Globe that such a building belonged more in neighboring Boston’s Financial or Seaport districts.

The sizable affordable-housing component in Chestnut Hill’s proposals might also be a sticking point.

The complex as whole will include 181 1-BRs, 94 2-BRs, and 32 3-BRs for a grand total of 320 apartments. Sixty-four of those—mostly 1- and 2-BRs—will be designated as affordable (this in a town where the median single-family home price is north of $1,600,000).

Whatever the skittishness on the part of the powers that be, both they and the developer appear to be working toward a compromise. Positive thinking in a time of pessimism.