Noise and bio concerns for proposed 103 North Beacon lab

[Anthony D'Isidoro]

Noise and bio concerns for proposed 103 North Beacon lab (Jeff Sullivan, The Bulletin: June 15, 2023) 

The Boston Planning and Development Agency (BPDA) held a virtual meeting last week regarding the proposed lab space at 103 North Beacon St. in Allston. 

The proposal is for a mixed-use life science development with retail and amenity space on the ground floor. The project, from IQHQ Development, which is similar to the proposed mixed-use life science building down the street at 155 North Beacon St., also from IQHQ, is a bit smaller at 265,000 square feet of gross floor area, whereas the 155 project sits at 409,395 square feet. 

The project will likely need zoning relief for its floor area ratio of 4.36 (2.0 allowed) and its height of 112 feet (45 feet allowed). CBT Architect Philip Casey discussed the green infrastructure involved with the plan. He said they would be following the state’s Energy Stretch Code that Boston recently adopted, with some nods to future green needs, as well as going for a LEED Gold rating. 

The project will also have a public pocket park on the North Beacon and Arthur Street sides of the building. 

“It’s just an opportunity to stop and perhaps rest as you’re walking down North Beacon, and there are some trees there on the north side of the building with a lot of sun and a seat wall with a large bench and round tables,” said Senior Landscape Architect for Bohler Engineering. 

One resident asked through the chat what the proposed bio safety level would be for the project. IQHQ Director of Development Kim Thai said the company mostly deals with the development side of the project and has to comply with certain regulations for safety levels up to a certain point, and said the exact level of bio safety would be determined by their tenants. 

“We develop and build the core shell building and then from there we operate the buildings and maintain them, but lease out to the tenants,” she said. “It’s really whichever company coming in that determines what bio safety level they would be at. I can assure you it will not be a bio safety level 4, which is the highest level. Those are very rare and federally-regulated. There’s only one in Boston and that’s not what we’re designing for but we don’t know ahead of time what the actual level will be.” 

Resident and Impact Advisory Group member Ellen McCrave said she had a problem with the project not having any drop-off areas for ride-share and delivery vehicles. 

“You need a place for people to pull over for dropoffs,” she said. “You can’t continue to ignore the fact that there are going to be ride-share drop-offs.” 

Casey said they are continuing talks with the Boston Transportation Department, and BPDA Project Manager Quinn Valcich said actually not having such a space was a directive from the BPDA. 

“That’s something BPDA staff has been pretty vocal about in our internal meetings with proponents, and they actually did have one included and we asked them to remove it,” he said. “Our transportation planning staff felt the volume would be low enough so the turn lanes southbound on Arthur could be used for drop-offs. We didn’t want to lose the pedestrian activity there along Arthur.” 

McCave said she feels drop-off space inclusion really helps mitigate traffic. 

“All you have to do is spend a little time on Guest Street to see what a difference it makes; they put in the drop-off in front of New Balance that was done ages ago and just compare that to Guest Street now,” she said. 

Casey said there would be a dual-bay loading dock for deliveries which would be fully enclosed for trucks. 

Thai said they are in discussions with the Boston Housing Authority (BHA) regarding the redevelopment. 

“With our last project we actually directed our housing funds to the Faneuil Gardens and are in communication with the Faneuil Gardens and the BHA,” she said. 

Thai was also asked about opportunities for local residents for jobs and workforce development. 

“STEM training has been a part of all of our projects within IQHQ and we will be open to having conversations,” she said. “We have a relationship with Brighton High School right now as well as Just to Start, which is a job-training program in life sciences, and so there are definitely opportunities that we can discuss.” 

Lastly, residents asked about noise control, specifically in noise being amplified and bounced back and forth between the large building and its neighbors, as well as noise from its mechanical apparatuses for elevators and ventilation. Casey said they would be doing noise studies for the mechanicals at least. 

“We don’t see any acoustical impacts for the neighbors there,” he said. 

As far as noise amplification, he said that’s probably not going to be an issue. 

“It’s something we can take a look at from a pedestrian environment standpoint,” he said. “Typically though that only happens when there are a lot of buildings of higher scale around you. Right now there’s not a lot of context to echo that but it’s something to consider.” 

One resident pointed out that the area is getting developed over time and that it could be an issue in the future. 

The comment period for this project goes until June 21. Go to https://tinyurl.com/3c9xz4yf to see more information and leave a comment.