Two developers last week filed detailed plans for two 18-story residential towers with a total of 754 apartments where WLVI used to have its studios on Morrissey Boulevard - the first phase of a re-do of a roughly 9-acre parcel that also includes the neighboring Star Market.

The filings with the Boston Planning Department are by POB Capital of Chicago and Copper Mill, a local development firm formed by Andrew Flynn, the one-time CEO of Scape North America, a concern that is building or hopes to build some 1,300 apartments in the Back Bay and Fenway. In 2023, the BPDA approved a seven-building project that also included office and lab space.

Some 150 of the apartments, or 20%, in the two towers formally proposed last week would be rented as affordable.

The buildings would have 414 parking spaces - 25% at the outset to come with electric chargers - and storage room for 760 bicycles, along with roughly 6,300 square feet of ground-floor retail space.

Also planned: A half-acre park between the two buildings - and 7,450 square feet of ground floor space would "be dedicated as community/civic space, the exact programming of which will be confirmed in collaboration with the City and interested stakeholders."

"The Project contemplates the creation of a new on-site and off-site roadway infrastructure to support vehicular, bike, and pedestrian accessibility to the Project buildings and the Community Park. The new off-site road, known as "A Street", will connect to Morrissey Boulevard, and the new on-site road, known as "West Street", will connect to the western end of A Street, and provide service access along the rear of the Project Site along Interstate I-93."

Boston already has two A streets, one in South Boston and one in Hyde Park, as well as at least two West streets, one downtown and the other also in Hyde Park.

The newest A Street would help tie together the expanded Colombia Point community - in particular the Dorchester Bay City project proposed for the old Bayside Expo site on the other side of Morrissey, the developers say:

"The new A Street will act as the primary entrance to the Project Site, as well as the future development areas within the Master PDA [Planned Development Area] neighborhood by virtue of defining the intersection of Morrissey Boulevard and A Street, with future development creating a signalized crosswalk to the Dorchester Bay City Development. This new intersection is strengthened by the placement of the residential Building B fronting both on Morrissey Boulevard and A Street. The prominent retail use at the ground floor of the Southwest corner will signal this primary access to the new Master PDA neighborhood, as well as the mixed-use nature of the area. The Master PDA cleverly creates a legible street network with A Street as the primary access leading west to Building A and which forms a node with Main Street running north-south, creating a central community focal point and terminus for the Master Plan, namely the Community Park between Building A and Building B."

The developers say the buildings were designed to be both new landmarks and part of the surrounding neighborhood:

"Ultimately, the massings of Building A and Building B respond to both the immediate context - such as the highway and the ocean side - and to the broader environmental characteristics of the area. This not only ensures that the towers blend seamlessly into their setting, but also creates an appropriate and engaging architectural expression that reflects the beauty and dynamism of the coastal environment. The interplay of materials, light, and color will transform the buildings throughout the day, while at night the façades will take on a new character, contributing to the identity of the towers as both a landmark and a thoughtfully integrated part of the surrounding community.he buildings would be all electric - for heating, air conditioning and appliances, to go with efficient building design and low-flow showers and toilets to help increase their energy efficiency. "

The developers are also looking at a chute system, in which residents on each floor could dispose of recyclables by going to the designated area and tossing them down.

To deal with anticipated sea-level rise along a stretch of Morrissey Boulevard that already floods on the regular, the developers say they will raise the level of both the buildings key mechanicals and the proposed park at least two feet above the city's possible future flooding levels - although they say flood-fighting methods proposed by both Dorchester Bay City and the state for Morrissey Boulevard could reduce possible problems on their site. Garage entrances and loading docks will also have "deployable flood shields" should flooding be in the forecast - and the garage will have flood-resistant walls and a pumping system.

75 Morrissey Blvd. filings and meeting/comment schedule.