KS Partners unveiled revised plans for a 222 Friend Street mixed-use tower in Boston’s West End at a city-sponsored Impact Advisory Group and public meeting on Sept. 22, according to the Beacon Hill Times (Dan Murphy, Oct. 2, 2026). The developer would raze a three-story commercial building and a 32-space surface lot for a 155-foot residential project with ground-floor retail and no on-site car parking.
222 Friend Street Unit Mix and Design
Architect Dartagnan Brown, principal and founder of Boston firm EMBARC, told the Sept. 22 meeting the plan includes 212 residential units on 13 stories including the ground floor: 82 studios, 44 one-bedrooms, 70 two-bedrooms (each with a den and office), and six three-bedroom units, the Beacon Hill Times reported. At-grade retail would line the base; bicycle storage is planned, but the filing provides no parking spaces for residents or visitors.
Brown said the redesign cuts curb cuts to one, expands ground-floor retail by removing former life-science back-of-house space, and drops one story versus the earlier concept by removing a top mechanical floor. Trash would be handled inside the building, with a concierge near the Friend Street residential entrance.
From Life Science Proposal to Residential
About three years ago, the same site was proposed as a life science building about 168 feet tall plus an 18-foot mechanical penthouse. Project team members said the shift to housing followed preferences from the area’s business community and neighborhood stakeholders, according to Beacon Hill Times coverage of the Friend Street redevelopment meeting.
Planning Review and Oct. 15 BPDA Path
Jack Gilman, a project manager for the city’s Planning Department, said the Friend Street redevelopment is under Planning Department review and is on track for the Boston Planning & Development Agency board on Oct. 15, “assuming that board comments have been fully addressed [by then],” the Times quoted him as saying. Board referral is not final approval; design and permitting steps would still follow if the board advances the project.
West End housing plans sit alongside other downtown conversion and waterfront filings covered by The Boston Report, including the proposed Commercial Wharf hotel, the 31 Milk Street conversion, and October BPDA timing discussed in Boston housing tax abatements coverage.
Our Take
Analysis: Repositioning 222 Friend Street from lab to 212 apartments with zero car parking is a clear bet that transit-oriented West End demand can absorb a tall residential product without garages. The Oct. 15 BPDA target matters only if Planning comments are closed; until then, the unit mix and no-parking design remain proposals under review, not entitlements.