Developers propose 44 affordable condos and a community garden on vacant city-owned land on Mission Hill

A trio of developers awarded a series of unused lots owned by the city between Terrace and Parker streets on Mission Hill have filed plans for a four-story condo building with retail space on the ground floor and a community garden out back along Parker Street, next to an "urban wild" that will be formally turned into a city park.

The proposal for a 1.3-acre site at 77 Terrace St., half of which were once part of a brewery turned distillery turned plumbing supply company, the other half of which were once homes torn down by the city between the 1960s and 1980s, was submitted to the Boston Planning Department by Jonathan Garland, Dariela Villon-Maga and Kevin Maguire of Oxbow Urban, DVM consulting and JGE Development.

The proposal calls for 21 parking spaces in a garage that would be accessed through Terrace Street. Indoor storage for 44 bicycles would be provided in the building, roughly a five-minute walk to the Roxbury Crossing T stop.

The developers say the units will mostly have one or two bedrooms, with some studios and three-bedroom units. Sales will be split between ones sold to people making no more than 80% of the Boston area median income and people making no more than 100% of that amount.

The development is part of a program by the Mayor's Office of Housing to sell vacant city lots to developers at very low prices in exchange for them putting up residential buildings with far more affordable units than the 13% (rising to 17% next month) called for by city regulations.

The property sits next to a building remaining from Terrace Street's industrial/commercial past, at 87 Terrace St., now covered in tributes to musicians and graffiti and topped by a smokestack.

In 2021, the city announced a plan to clean up more than a century of industrial pollutants on the overall site by digging up and hauling away contaminated soil.

The filing details plans for the park and community garden:

Along Parker Street, will be a new City of Boston Park and Community Garden. The Parker Street sidewalk will be expanded from its current 6' width to 9' and backed with a row of street trees. A new fence with gates will define the extents of both Gardens and Park. The Community Garden, at the north end of Parker Street, will contain 57 garden plots, some of which will be accessible, pathways, benches, a tool shed, and water spigots. A planted buffer at the north end of the gardens separates it from the abutters. A retaining wall at the eastern boundary of the garden levels out the grade, so that it is accessible, and separates the space vertically from the resident amenity space to the east.

South of the Community Garden will be a City of Boston Park. The design of the park was driven by the community's interest in a passive park with walking paths and seating, as well as the desire to retain the mature tree canopy and the presence of contaminated soil. The heavily treed areas to the south and east of the parcel will be largely untouched with trees and vegetation preserved and protected. To the north and west, where soil tests indicate cleaner soil, the park will be landscaped to host a grassy lawn, landforms, and a paved overlook with seating. Entered from two gates off the Parker Street sidewalk or from the Community Garden, an accessible paved path will weave through the park providing barrier free access. Granite blocks, likely dating back to the site's time hosting a brewery, are currently scattered throughout the site. Some of these blocks will be salvaged and repurposed to retain grade and serve as rustic seating opportunities while providing an artistic link to the site's past. The park's focal point will be an overlook where a paved area including furniture will provide views of Boston's Fort Hill neighborhood.

Proposed site layout (Terrace Street on the bottom, urban wild, community garden and Parker Street on the top):

77 Terrace St. filings and meeting/comment schedule.