BOSTON – A once unstable building may soon become a Chinatown hotel. However, the future is just as uncertain as the past.
The former apartment complex at 15 Harrison Avenue is deemed unsafe to live in in 2012 after firefighters discovered a structural column in the basement was missing.
“It was an accident, so the tenants had to leave,” recalls Felix Lui, chairman of the China Consolidated Charity Association (CCBA). They are a group that oversees 30 organizations serving the community in Chinatown.
Louis believes the hotel has the potential to be a big boost for local business. He said several other Chinatowns around the U.S. have Chinese-run hotels nearby, but not Boston.
“We have to grow Chinatown.”
The hotel is proposed to be 25 stories high, and some residents have concerns, even though a high-rise complex is already being built behind the building.
“If height is an issue, it should be the height of the entire Chinatown. It’s growing all around us. It’s going to get much, much higher everywhere,” Louis said. “If we don’t do anything for Chinatown, Chinatown will end up becoming a slum. We need to grow Chinatown like other neighborhoods.”
Boston City Planning Department
“This hotel exceeds the height of the proposed zoning. If more substandard zoning projects are approved, it will be free for everyone to use,” said Asia CDC Real Estate Director. Muge Undemir objected. “Residents are seeing a ton of hotel development happening in the area.”
Seek more affordable housing
Undemir believes the approval could prompt other developers to flood the area with high-rise proposals. She said land costs have already doubled or tripled in the area over the past decade, making it harder for people to stay.
“We’re in a housing crisis, so people expect this land and existing vacant land to be directed toward affordable housing,” Undemir said.
“My organization, CCBA, just completed another 85 units of affordable housing. We’re going to build 120 units across the street. There’s a lot of affordable housing.” said Louis. “There will be new jobs and jobs. The hotel won’t have its own food service, so (guests) will spend time and shop in town.”
Renderings of the building show it will tower so high that it appears to be part of Boston’s skyline.
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mike sullivan
