Renting

Nubian Square could get an influx of apartments and condos

More than 100 rental units and 21 condos eyed off Malcolm X Boulevard.

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A rendering showing an aerial view of the proposed project, facing Nubian Square. EMBARC

By Christopher Gavin

3 minutes to read

Vacant land and a parking lot near the heart of Roxbury’s Nubian Square could be the future home of more than 100 apartments and 21 condominiums, new plans filed with the Boston Planning & Development Agency show.

Developers are seeking to build the project at and around 10 Malcolm X Boulevard, a 1.65-acre site on the corner of Dudley Street that currently houses an office building once known as the Roxbury Boys Club, according to a project notification form filed on March 8.

Proponent 10 MX Owner LLC — a joint venture between SV + Partners, TRAX Development, and Caste Capital — says the project, if approved, would preserve the existing building and construct two others designed by EMBARC next door: a six-story structure with 111 rental units and ground-floor retail space and a four-story building with 21 condominiums.

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“By retaining the existing commercial building and situating the new residential buildings on vacant land and underutilized surface parking lots, the project creates a mix of housing types, community retail and public open space without displacement of any existing residential or commercial tenants,” plans say.

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A view of the proposed project from across Malcolm X Boulevard, as depicted in a rendering. – EMBARC

The 93,000-square-foot apartment complex, planned for what would then be 20 Malcolm X Boulevard, would contain a mix of units: 22 studios, 58 one-bedrooms, 26 two-bedrooms, and five three-bedrooms, filings say. Seventeen of the apartments would be considered affordable under the city’s Inclusionary Development Policy, with income restrictions set at 70% of the Area Median Income, or AMI.

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At 70 Dudley St., a 22,000-square foot condo building would include seven one-bedroom units, 11 two-bedrooms, and three three-bedrooms, according to the proposal. Five units would be income-restricted, capped at 80-100% AMI.

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A rendering of the building proposed at 70 Dudley St. – EMBARC

“One common feedback that the project team has heard from various stakeholders through their outreach efforts was the request that homeownership units be part of the development at the site to provide the opportunity to create generational wealth for homebuyers,” the proposal says.

“In response to this feedback, the proponent has committed 70 Dudley as a homeownership building.”

Construction would ultimately scale down the number of parking spaces at the site, from 74 to 54, according to developers. Thirty three of those spaces will be included in a new, largely underground garage at 20 Malcolm X Boulevard.

The project, if approved, will also “create significant new publicly accessible open space,” including a public plaza next to the ground-floor storefronts, according to the proposal.

“The plaza will provide a number of different opportunities for public use, featuring permanent fixed-seat walls as part of the landscaped plant beds, as well as movable furniture that can be reconfigured to suit the needs of the community,” the documents say. 

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“Shrubs, perennials and flowering trees will create a lush green buffer between the street and the plaza.”

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A rendering of the public plaza proposed at 10 Malcolm X Boulevard in Roxbury. – EMBARC

Designs from landscape architect MDLA call for planting 71 new trees — a net gain of 53 trees — on the site, according to filings.

“Special attention has been paid to the landscape throughout, allowing the three buildings of the development to be tied together through a series of walking paths, open spaces, and bountiful tree canopy,” EMBARC wrote on its website about the design.

Project proponents also hope to incorporate public art created by local artists, filings say. 

“The project team has collaborated with 1PERCENT GALLERY to procure and install art by prominent and emerging artists local to the Nubian Square community,” the proposal states.

Should they acquire BPDA approval, developers intend to construct the two new buildings in phases, with the initial kick-off anticipated sometime in 2025, plans say.

The BPDA is collecting public comment on the Roxbury proposal through April 8.

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