City Requires Orange Line Tower Development to Have a Supermarket

If a project proposed by Trinity Financial for One Canal Street should succeed, it will bring a new supermarket for residents near the seam between the North End and the West End.

That could be good news for JP Orange Line commuters, since the supermarket would be near Haymarket Station, an easy on/off.

Peter Meade, director of the Boston Redevelopment Authority, told Trinity at the authority's board meeting Thursday that the BRA will only allow the project to move forward if it includes such a store.

“It is something vitally important to the communities there,” Meade said.

During the meeting, representatives from Trinity presented plans for the Bulfinch Triangle project that included 320 residential units with 159 in-building parking spots, two subway entries and ground-level retail bays in addition to the supermarket.

Nancy Ludwig, an architect from ICON Architecture working with Trinity, said the site presents special challenges, including “some interesting underground objects” including the central artery and Orange and Green line tunnels.

Other notable items:

• The board approved a one-year tentative agreement to designate Kavanagh Advisory Group, LLC as the redeveloper of the Chain Forge Building located at 105 First St. in Charlestown. A spokesman at the meeting said that the building has posed challenges for redevelopment due to the equipment left behind at the site.
• The board approved a scoping determination for New Balance Field at Boston University. A representative of the university told the board that the field, which will be used primarily for women’s field hockey, was made possible by a donation from New Balance and will be able to support up to 10 visiting team buses.
• The board approved a request to lease BRA property at 148 Shawmut Ave. in the South End to Stanhope Garage to use as a parking lot. A BRA representative said the lot would support 22 parking spots.