1 Jackson Street (ZB-2026-031)

At a glance

Based on auto-generated captions plus the posted agenda; names, figures and vote tallies may be misheard.

What: parking relief to convert the five-story former apartment/warehouse building at 1 Jackson Street into 32 apartments with no on-site parking. Two steps: a ZBA variance (ZB-2026-031) and a Planning Board inclusionary zoning (IZ) special permit (PB-2025-078).
Where it stands: the ZBA variance was granted 5-0 on 2026-07-20 (20 of the 36 required spaces; per auto-captions). The Planning Board approved the inclusionary zoning special permit 5-0 on 2026-08-26.
Next: updated transportation demand plan and exterior bike parking per conditions; decision filed with the clerk, then a 20-day appeal period.

Petitioner: Jackson Street Apartments, LLC.
Present use: existing 5-story warehouse building. Zone: BG-3.0 (Business, General) and the Commercial Corridors Overlay District - Elsewhere (CCOD-E).
Purpose: convert the warehouse to a multi-family high-rise dwelling with about 32 units and associated site improvements.

Variance: minimum parking for a multi-family dwelling (Art. IV, Sec. 7, Table 4.4).

Unit mix: 9 studios, 14 one-bedrooms, 9 two-bedrooms; converts back to apartments (building history: 5 apartments originally, 12 by 1912-13, warehouse from 1969).
Relief: after automatic inclusionary and transportation-plan reductions, about 4 parking spaces (the applicant described 16); no spaces are provided on site.
Conditions of note: update the transportation demand management plan for the final affordability ratio and the July 17 transportation memo; six exterior bike spaces (plus 26 interior) for about a 1:1 bike ratio; reconcile architectural plans with the building as it exists.
Affordability: the deed commitment sets the official ratio; the applicant said actual affordable share may exceed it without a 30-year restriction.
Historic: listing on MACRIS under a state grant due to finish late September; later exterior changes would need a demolition-delay waiver and could open tax credits.
Board comments: supportive; chair said he generally opposes parking requirements.

Presented by Donald O'Neil for Jackson Street Apartments, LLC: 32 apartments (mostly studios and one-bedrooms, some two-bedrooms) in the former warehouse, which fills the lot. It was built as five apartments, held 12 apartments from 1913 to 1969, and has since been a warehouse and light manufacturing.
Relief: a variance of 20 spaces from the 36 required. The remainder would be waived by the Planning Board under inclusionary zoning, with a share of the units restricted as affordable. The application said 100% at or below 60% of AMI, but the attorney and staff said the deeded share will be settled at the Planning Board.
Bike storage for 26 bikes in the basement; a roughly 500 sq ft community room replaced a first-floor bike room; about 41 sq ft of recreation space was still to be found. The owner's fire-department experience at a neighboring building means no e-bike chargers inside; an outdoor outlet and visitor bike rack are possible.
Architect Raphael Hernandez: fully electric, with rooftop heat pumps.
Staff (Amy Beth, surname garbled, for the planning division): bus stop at the end of the street, transformative growth area; asked about mechanicals and National Grid/DPW coordination for any transformer.
Board comments were uniformly supportive (a beautiful building, no practical way to provide parking, and a chance for affordability); Erik Bartenhagen noted the Council is considering lowering parking minimums.
Two waivers requested and granted. Vote: 5-0.

About 46 minutes across 2 meetings (from transcript timestamps; approximate).

Meeting	Minutes
2026-08-26 - Planning Board	19
2026-07-20 - Zoning Board of Appeals	27

2026-08-26 - Planning Board - Planning Board IZ special permit hearing (agenda item 1, PB-2025-078). Approved 5-0. Attorney Donald O'Neil for Jackson Street Apartments LLC; a traffic engineer argued the car-free building would work given downtown location, small units and affordability. Staff (Michelle M. Smith) amended the conditions to six exterior bike spaces and to fold in the July 17 transportation department memo. No public comment. Building is being added to the city historic inventory.
2026-07-20 - Zoning Board of Appeals - Public hearing; no opposition. Variance for 20 of 36 parking spaces approved 5-0, with waivers. No conditions can attach to a variance. Public hearing deadline was 7/1/2026; constructive grant deadline was 8/5/2026.