Seven-story apartment building for seniors approved for Maverick Square

The Zoning Board of Appeals yesterday approved the East Boston Community Development Corp.'s plans for a seven-story, 42-unit apartment building behind its existing apartment building at 187 Sumner St. in Maverick Square.

At a hearing on the proposal, the non-profit said the current residents of the existing 17-unit building, which is 50 years old and in need of upgrades, will be moved into the new building - and that it will then renovate the older structure to provide "workforce" housing.

The new Grace Apartments building and the existing structure will share a total of five parking spaces.

The mayor's office and city councilors Lydia Edwards and Michael Flaherty supported the project. One nearby resident opposed the proposal because of its height and density in an area where most buildings are no more than four stories and its lack of parking.

Jeff Drago, the project's attorney, noted its closeness to the Maverick Square T stop.

The BPDA approved the proposal in January.

191 Sumner St. small-project review application (15.2M PDF).