Purpose-built for a residential mix of students, families, young professionals, and retirees, The Bon is a 226,700-square-foot development comprising approximately 477 rental units with ground-floor retail and a 150-seat black box theater. Amid Boston's shortage of affordable housing, this project provides a much-needed model for housing development solutions. VHB played a part in helping to address this shortage by providing site-civil engineering, transportation planning, and permitting entitlements. With our assistance, the project successfully navigated the Boston Redevelopment Authority's approval process and local agency approvals, ensuring the development met the city's housing needs.
With a mix of studios and one- and two-bedroom apartments, the units were designed under Boston Planning & Development Agency’s Compact Living pilot guidelines, focused on maximizing private living square footage with support from generous shared amenity spaces. The entirety of the second floor is dedicated to workspaces, meeting rooms, a fitness center and yoga studio, lounges, and a dining room with a shared kitchen. Additionally, the private outdoor terrace and cinema room encourage social connections among residents. The public retail spaces were designed for a broad range of neighborhood-oriented culinary, lifestyle, and experiential tenants, contributing to the fast-developing neighborhood.
The Bon has become a signature extension of the neighborhood culture, replacing a two-story retail strip with much-needed market-rate housing, while maintaining retail venues and adding a new non-profit theater that reflects the site’s role in Boston’s LGBTQ history.
