Boston's Chinatown May Be Growing Up

"The Boston Civic Design Commission this week reluctantly approved a developer's controversial proposal for a 27-story residential tower over the old Dainty Dot building on the edge of Chinatown.

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At the urging of the city's new director of planning, Kairos Shen, the five commissioners present at a meeting Tuesday night gave "conditional approval" to the condo project at Essex Street and the Surface Artery. Shen had argued the project needed the commission's approval before it could move forward in the permitting process and further improvements could be made.

No further vote by the commission is required, but changes made by the developer, Ori Ron, in collaboration with Boston Redevelopment Authority planners, will be shown to the commission. Now, building plans call for about 180 units and some ground-floor retail space at the former Dainty Dot hosiery company site.

Many in the Chinatown and Leather District neighborhoods support the project, while some neighbors and other critics say it is too tall for the relatively low-rise Chinatown community and would impose too much on the adjacent Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway park. They also worry the new building would set a precedent for more towers in the area."