You can forgive yourself if you go by Boston Bowl in Neponset next year and have a distinct sense of deja vu, or the feeling that you’re seeing double.

A few steps away from the bowling alley and arcade, a Dorchester institution, work has been underway this year on 219 residential units, part of a project known as 780 Morrissey. Already a striking block of ongoing construction between Morrissey Boulevard and the Southeast Expressway, 780 will soon have a twin rising up beside it, on a site currently occupied by a somewhat shabby-looking Ramada Inn. At its last meeting of the year, the board of the city’s development and planning authority signed off on 800 Morrissey, which will add 229 residential units to the area.

Thousands more units are expected in the years to come, if developers press ahead with their plans on parcels on Mount Vernon Street at Columbia Point and up and down Morrissey. The thoroughfare itself is set to undergo long-overdue changes. But first, there’s the commission.

Tucked into a transportation-related law signed by Gov. Baker in August, the panel is tasked with studying and issuing recommendations for climate resiliency, infrastructure, and multiple transit modes for the corridor.

It will be co-chaired by the state’s top environmental and transportation officials or their designees. Its other members, once chosen, will include the state’s public safety chief, the conservation and recreation commissioner, Mayor Wu, Dorchester Councillor Frank Baker, and state lawmakers, or if they choose, their designees.

The commission hasn’t met yet, with its makeup pending and the transition of power now underway at the State House. Baker is handing the reins of government over to Maura Healey, who has been filling out her cabinet picks in the last few weeks.

South Boston state Sen. Nick Collins, who also represents Dorchester, said the commission has a June 2023 deadline for its recommendations, though it could be extended, given where things stand now. He estimates that an overhaul of Morrissey, from Neponset Circle to Kosciuszko Circle, could cost $1 billion, meaning the commission will likely have to look at “creative” financial tools to pay for it.

Healey’s incoming transportation chief is familiar with Morrissey: Gina Fiandaca served as Boston’s transportation commissioner for four years under Mayor Marty Walsh before heading to Austin to work as an assistant city manager.

The buildings in the pipeline for the boulevard won’t just be residential. Projects close to JFK/UMass MBTA Station, which, like Morrissey, is overdue for an overhaul, call for commercial and lab space.

Proximity to the MBTA is key, since the Red Line is considered a “life sciences” corridor that shuttles workers to the biotech hub in Kendall Square. But forecasters believe that heavy demand for lab space will drive equally heavy demand for workers in the tens of thousands. Neighborhood residents foresee Dorchester benefiting from both.

“The future in Dorchester is biotech, lab space, high-tech manufacturing space,” Councillor Baker told the Reporter earlier this year.

But this is a lookback. Here are some of the major projects that have either received approval, or remain underway in Dorchester and Mattapan.

Dorchester Bay City
The $5 billion project spans 36.5 acres and covers the site of the former Bayside Expo Center, a portion of the Boston Teachers Union property, and the Morrissey Boulevard building across Mount Vernon Street occupied by Santander. Developers, who are eyeing a Boston Planning and Development Agency (BPDA) vote by the coming summer, plan to build a mix of residential, commercial, and lab space. The project, living up to the “city” part of its name, could last 15 to 20 years.

PLAN: Mattapan
The construction of 2,400 additional homes. A more diverse mix of retail along major corridors, including bodegas and daycares. Street improvements with a focus on pedestrians. Those are all part of city planners’ initial draft that would turn Mattapan, a majority Black/African American area, into a “10-minute neighborhood.”
The plan was released in October, and while city officials had eyed a BPDA vote before the end of the year, that has been pushed off.
A key component of the plan is an initiative focused on accessory dwelling units, dubbed “ADUs 3.0.” City officials say they’ll add “gentle density” to the area, help build generational wealth, and bring housing to a region that desperately needs it.
Separate and apart from the proposal are planning initiatives underway for Boston Public Schools, Blue Hill Avenue, Cummins Highway, and the Neponset River Greenway extension.

A view of the Port Norfolk waterfront, which will be re-developed through an approved project 24 Ericsson St., which includes two new residential buildings a new boathouse, and a fishing pier. Bill Forry photo

Port Norfolk
The BPDA board signed off on the 3.6-acre development at the beginning of the year. The project, known as both “Neponset Wharf” and “24 Ericsson,” is adding three buildings to the Port Norfolk peninsula, which in recent years has been home to a distillery and a restaurant. The developers aim to bring two residential buildings and mixed-use space, as well as a new boathouse, a harborwalk, and a fishing pier.

A view of construction underway at 780 Morrissey Blvd. as seen in September 2022. Bill Forry photo

900 Morrissey
Pine Street Inn, the largest homeless services provider in New England, is partnering with nonprofit developer The Community Builders Inc. to convert the Comfort Inn on Morrissey Boulevard into permanent, supportive housing aimed at formerly homeless people. The 130-room hotel would turn into 103 units, with 24/7 security and case managers from Pine Street Inn. The site was once the location of one of the earliest Quincy-based Howard Johnson’s restaurants. The project, which has generated heated support and pushback in the neighborhood, remains under the review of the BPDA.

Plans for a 29 residential unit site at Rent-All. Image via Boston Planning

Rent-All in Lower Mills
A five-story, $15.2 million condominium project at 1169-1171 Adams St. will add 29 residential units to Lower Mills. The project is going up on the site of a longtime tool and party supply store, Rent-All of Boston. A vacant single-story residential building on the parcel will also be demolished.

An interior view of the Southline campus at 135 Morrissey Blvd. Gintautas Dumcius photo

The BEAT, rebranded
The team behind the redevelopment of the former Boston Globe headquarters, located at 135 Morrissey, initially called it the BEAT, short for Boston Exchange for Accelerated Technology and a tip of hat to the “beat” reporters who worked at the newspaper for 60 years. Now the name of choice is “Southline,” as they hope to draw life science companies to the space. The companies would be joining fitness apparel company Nobull, which is moving its headquarters there from Boston proper. The development team, Beacon Capital Partners and Nordblom Co., have also floated an additional building, focused on life science space, rising up on the Savin Hill side of the property behind the main complex.

Dorchester Field House
The youth sports facility planned for Columbia Point received key city approvals this year, as well as money from federal, state, and city officials. The 75,000- square-foot, three-story building is a joint project between the Martin Richard Foundation and the Boys and Girls Clubs of Dorchester. Plans for the Mount Vernon Street facility include basketball courts, running tracks, an auditorium, and a cafeteria.

35-75 Morrissey
Residential towers and lab space could be coming to the parcels south of the JFK/UMass MBTA Station. The properties are currently home to the former Ch. 56 TV station, a two-story office building, and a Star Market with an adjacent liquor store. The project would add 7 buildings, including 4 life science and commercial buildings and 3 residential buildings, rising in height as they approach the MBTA station. The supermarket would remain open during construction. The public comment period on the project, at the BPDA level, ends Jan. 15.

Material from the Reporter’s archive was used in this report.