Going up: Developer proposes adding floors to building on Black Falcon Pier

A developer has filed plans with the BPDA to add four floors to the top of an existing and long three-story building at the end of Black Falcon Pier in the Raymond Flynn Marine Industrial Park on the South Boston Waterfront.

The Davis Companies of Boston says it would lease the resulting 327,600 for laboratory, R& D and office use. The current three floors would continue to be leased for the "water-dependent industrial uses" that are supposed to be the industrial park's main focus. In recent years, the BPDA, which owns the former South Boston army base that became the marine industrial park, has allowed a growing number of non-marine-related new buildings.

The building addition will be supported by a new exterior structural exoskeleton designed to minimize existing tenant disruption during construction and to pay homage to the building’s origin as a working ship loading structure for the U.S. Army. The exoskeleton design also minimizes new encroachments to the existing apron, which is important to maintaining existing marine operations on the south apron.

In addition to the new interior space, Davis is also proposing a new parking deck that would increase the number of parking spaces from 555 to 729. Part of this work would include elimination of a ramp on the cruise-terminal side, which Davis says will let Massport add more parking spaces for taxis and buses at the terminal, as well as public restrooms.

Davis has also proposed reconstructing the intersection of Drydock and Black Falcon avenues to make it safer for drivers, pedestrians and bicyclists, in part by reducing the number of curb cuts at the intersection, and building a better Silver Line stop there.

Davis says if it wins approval, it will pay $2 million into the BPDA affordable-housing fund and $400,000 into a similar job-training fund.

88 Black Falcon Ave. project-notification form (26.5M PDF).

The seagull-eye view: