Highrise Apartment Rising in Boston

By Dees Stribling, Contributing Editor

Boston—Work is under way on 120 Kingston St. between the Chinatown neighborhood and Leather District of Boston, which will be a residential and retail building on the site of the former Dainty Dot building. The residential portion of the building will include 240 rental units when complete in late 2014.

The Hudson Group originally bought the site in 2006. Preservationists petitioned the Boston Landmarks Commission for landmark status for the late-1800s brick Dainty Dot building, but the commission declined to name the structure a landmark. A version of the new project was previously approved in 2008, but later revised to include more units, a plan then approved by the Boston Redevelopment Authority.

Hudson is developing the apartments along with Forest City-Boston. Other companies working on the project include the design and architecture firm Perkins Eastman, RODE Architects, Planeta Basque Interior Design and R. G. Vanderweil Engineers LLP.

The residential portion of the 26-story building will consist of 18 studio apartments, 175 one-bedroom units, 43 two-bedroom units and four three-bedroom units, with residents on the upper floors having views of either the Boston Common or waterfront. In addition to the residential units, the building will also include a three-level parking garage, a retail component, a gym and a restaurant.

The developers are targeting LEED Silver certification. The building is also designed to comply with the Stretch Energy Code, which is part of the Massachusetts State Building Code that allows buildings to consumer 20 percent less energy than the energy code minimum performance requirements. Sustainable design elements at the property include an optimized heat pump system and envelope design; low-discharge cooling towers; heat recovery systems; and low-flow plumbing fixtures.