49-51 D Street Developer Cuts Units to 60 and Adds 34 Automated Parking Spaces

Developer Sing Ming Chan has filed a notice of project change for 49-51 D Street in South Boston, shrinking a previously rejected apartment proposal and adding automated parking after neighbors and elected officials objected to a no-parking design, Universal Hub reported Nov. 5.

The revised filing seeks a seven-story building with 60 rental units and 34 spaces in an automated parking stacker system, plus roughly 1,100 square feet of ground-floor retail, according to Universal Hub. Boston Planning’s project page describes sixty rental units, about 1,082 square feet of ground-level commercial space and approximately 76,682 square feet of total gross floor area on a site now occupied by a two-story brick industrial building and accessory surface parking.

By the numbers: what changed from the rejected plan

Universal Hub reported that the Zoning Board of Appeal rejected Chan’s earlier nine-story, 70-unit plan with no parking on April 29, 2025, after residents said the lack of parking would worsen a neighborhood parking shortage. U.S. Rep. Steve Lynch criticized the no-parking concept as “a fantasy” that the building’s occupants would only want to get around by bike, Universal Hub reported.

Chan had said the site is a short walk from the Andrew Red Line station and that a conventional basement garage was abandoned because a high water table would make construction prohibitively expensive, according to Universal Hub. The new filing answers that dispute with stacker parking across the basement and part of the ground floor rather than a traditional garage layout.

What Boston Planning lists now

On the Boston Planning project page for the 49-51 D Street Residential Project, the proponent proposes changing the original proposal into a seven-story mixed-use building with sixty rental apartments and about 1,082 square feet of commercial space serving the local community. The page says the new building will provide at least sixty resident bicycle parking spaces inside and at least fourteen visitor bicycle spaces in the public realm, consistent with city guidelines including PLAN: South Boston Dorchester Avenue.

The public comment period ends Dec. 3, 2026, the planning page states. Comments can be submitted through the project page; the listed city contact is Tyler Ross. BLDUP separately reported Nov. 5 that the proposal was scaled back to 60 units and adds parking, matching the Universal Hub account of the notice of project change.

Readers following Boston news on South Boston housing should note that even with 34 spaces, Universal Hub reported the project would still fall short of the lot’s zoning parking requirement and would need Zoning Board of Appeal approval again if Planning clears the revised design.

Parking, process and the rooftop deck

Universal Hub reported that if the planning department approves the revised building — rendered by a different architect than the first version — the project would still return to the zoning board, in part because 34 spaces would not meet zoning. The proposal also calls for a rooftop deck, which Universal Hub said would likely draw opposition from City Councilor Ed Flynn, who has fought roof decks in South Boston for years.

Those next steps keep the project inside the same City Hall review path that already produced a Planning approval and a ZBA rejection on the first design. Neighbors who raised parking concerns in 2025 will have a fresh comment window through Dec. 3 on a smaller building that still adds housing next to a gas station on D Street, as Universal Hub described the location.

The revised plan does not eliminate the core tension: residents argued the earlier design ignored car storage in a constrained street grid, while the developer attributed garage costs to groundwater conditions and pointed to transit access. The notice of project change tries to split that difference — fewer units, fewer stories, some parking, still short of zoning — and leaves the final call to Planning staff and, likely, the Zoning Board of Appeal again.

What happens next

Watch the Dec. 3 comment deadline on bostonplans.org, any Planning staff recommendation on the notice of project change, and whether a new ZBA hearing is scheduled. Until those bodies act, 49-51 D Street remains a revised proposal on paper: 60 units, seven stories, 34 stacker spaces and about 1,100 square feet of ground retail, with bicycle parking meeting the counts listed on the city project page.

Sources

• Universal Hub: Developer shrinks D Street apartments, adds parking
• Boston Planning: 49-51 D Street Residential Project
• BLDUP: 49-51 D Street proposal scaled back to 60 units, adds parking