The board of the Boston Planning and Development Agency (BPDA) last week approved a project that will see the demolition of the Ramada Inn at 800 Morrissey Blvd and the construction of 229 residential units on the site.

The 800 Morrissey project will rise next to 780 Morrissey, which is under construction after its BPDA approval in January 2021 and will bring 219 residential units into place. Both are six-story buildings.

The construction of 800 Morrissey, which carries a development cost of $115 million, is expected to create 206 jobs, according to the BPDA.
New Jersey-based Michaels Organization is developing the project, which is sited next to Boston Bowl. The Phillips Group, which operates Boston Bowl and the Phillips Candy House, is the owner of 780 and 800 Morrissey.

A rendering depicts the proposed residential building at 800 Morrissey Blvd. Image courtesy Michaels Development/C3 Architects

Of 800 Morrissey’s 229 residential units, 34 will be income-restricted, and 50 percent will be studios. There will be 152 on-site parking spaces.
One of the project’s features is flexible office space for remote work, a nod to how the pandemic has reordered company employees’ commuting patterns.

The project will also have electric vehicle sharing service, public open space, a Bluebikes sharing station, and a connection to a multi-use public path, part of an extension of the Neponset Greenway Trail, planned for behind the building by the state Department of Conservation and Recreation and the Department of Transportation. Developers have agreed to maintain the portion of the path that runs behind the building.

A shuttle bus will serve the buildings, traveling to the MBTA’s JFK/UMass station, which services multiple bus lines, the Red Line, and the three commuter rail lines.

The proposed community benefits from the project include $200,000 to The People’s Academy Inc., a jobs training program based in Dorchester. The developer has also agreed to contribute $60,000 toward the design and construction of improvements to the intersection of Morrissey Blvd., Tenean Street, and Freeport Street.

As the 800 Morrissey project has been making its way through the city approvals process, Quincy-based Father Bill’s, a homeless shelter operation, has been leasing the Ramada Inn while it builds its new facility, complete with an emergency shelter, in Quincy.