Image courtesy of Gillette Co.
Gillette Co. will begin its permitting in January for a mixed-use development transforming 31 acres of South Boston waterfront into a mixed-use campus.
At a virtual community meeting Wednesday, local residents and cultural groups pressed the manufacturer to include affordable housing, artist live-work units and park space in its master plan.
Boston-based CBT Architects is the master planner for the multi-phased project, replacing the 1.5 million-square-foot razor factory.
Gillette spokeswoman Kara Buckley said the company will submit its initial letter of intent to the Boston Planning & Development Agency in January, kicking off the formal permitting process.
Housing, commercial uses, public open space and resiliency measures coordinated with the city of Boston’s planned Fort Point berm project will be included.
Gillette has not divulged the square-footage of the proposed redevelopment. The nearby Seaport Square project, originally developed by Boston Global Investors and now owned by WS Development, was approved for nearly 7.7 million square feet on 33 acres.
The Gillette project will be proposed under a planned development area master plan, CBT Architects Principal Kishore Varanasi said. The redevelopment presents an opportunity for new public access on a 1,200-foot-long section of the Fort Point Channel.
“By opening up the site, we have an opportunity to open up an extraordinary waterfront down to the Bass River,” Varanasi said, referring to an inlet that extends toward South Bay.
Approximately one-third of the property is subject to state Chapter 91 waterfront zoning guidelines, and buildings will be designed to conform with the regulations limiting building heights and shadows on the channel, Varanasi said.
Gillette has agreed to donate a portion of the property to the city of Boston for the flood berm project, spokeswoman Kara Buckley said. The city is seeking FEMA grant funding to offset the cost of the project, which is designed to protect 31 properties including the Gillette campus from flooding.
While the razor manufacturing facility will relocate to Gillette’s 150-acre Andover campus, the company will retain its corporate headquarters and R&D functions in South Boston, Buckley said. It has not determined whether the location will be on the existing property.
During a comment period, community members asked for an aggressive transportation management plan tied to public transit upgrades, and inclusion of affordable and artist housing.
Displacement of cultural space in the once-affordable Fort Point enclave by high-end housing and office space prompted a protest campaign by artist groups, prompting one recent development to include a large component of artist studios and housing.
Developer Related Beal agreed to include 51 artists units and a 20-percent income-restricted housing component in its Channelside development, approved in 2022 at a former portion of the Gillette campus parking lots.
Gillette also is studying “creative possibilities” for the future of its landmark rooftop-mounted “World Shaving Headquarters” sign, Buckley said.
“We love the Gillette sign as you can imagine. We’re very attached to it and it’s one of the most frequent questions I’ve gotten,” Buckley said.
