Fort Point Developer Submits $39M Housing Conversion

Photo courtesy of Google Maps

A local developer plans to acquire a Fort Point office building and begin a $39-million housing conversion creating 77 apartments.

Boston Pinnacle Properties submitted the proposal under Boston’s downtown office to residential conversion program, which this week was extended through the end of 2025. The 63,080-square-foot building is located at 263 Summer St.

The latest application brings the total projects planned under the tax incentive program to 489 housing units in 14 buildings, according to the Boston Planning & Development Agency. Projects qualify for 75-percent property tax abatements for 29 years.

Boston Pinnacle Properties estimates the market-rate apartments will rent for $3,300 to $4,600 per month. The project would include 15 affordable units reserved for households earning a maximum 60 percent of area median income.

The project also would include two retail spaces, a roof deck and resident gymnasium.

The building currently has two office tenants occupying 54 percent of the leasable area. Both have plans to vacate the building when their leases expire, according to developers’ submission to the BPDA.

Gov. Maura Healey this week announced that the state Affordable Housing Trust Fund will contribute $15 million toward Boston’s extended housing conversion program. Developers will qualify for $215,000 per unit of income-restricted housing created in office conversions.

The Summer Street property is part of a portfolio of brick-and-beam office buildings acquired in 2016 by TIAA-CREF for a combined $225 million.

The former warehouses became popular among tech and creative companies flocking to the Fort Point neighborhood in the previous decade, but have suffered from waning demand in the post-pandemic office space slump.