Porter Square is about to get 42 more parking spaces.
For the next couple of years, until construction starts on a pair of all-affordable apartment buildings that will replace two underused parking lots, the nonprofit developer Just A Start plans to open the one it owns at 1840 Massachusetts Ave. to the public.
“We intend in the medium to long term to build affordable housing on it. But we’re still in the predevelopment stage,” Just A Start project manager Kevin Nesline told License Commission board members Tuesday. “We’re looking to operate the lot as is as a commercial parking lot for the public in the meantime to help cover predevelopment costs.”
The board approved Just A Start’s operation of a commercial lot, across from Lesley’s University Hall, next to the Hotel 1868 and just a couple of blocks from the square’s shopping centers – all of which have their own restricted parking. Several restaurants and shops in around Porter rely on street parking, from McCarthy’s pub and the Sugar & Spice Thai restaurant to buzzing business such as Bagelsaurus and Black Ruby.
Exactly how the lot will be operated isn’t set, Nesline said, but Just A Start intends to enter into an agreement with a professional parking company that will run day-to-day operations. Discussions are ongoing with companies, he said.
A boost for businesses
Some street spaces have been squeezed out by the installation of separated bike lanes in the area starting around five years ago, panicking some business owners. A pair of lawsuits tried to stop and roll back the bike lanes.
Just A Start’s plan sounded good to Ruth Ryals, president of the Porter Square Neighbors Association. Between roadwork such as sewer separation and the installation of bike lanes, “if a car can get through, at least it’s a good idea to have somewhere to park,” she said. “God knows we need it, because it’s really becoming desolate with the number of stores that are closed or closing.”
At Nomad, the 1771 Massachusetts Ave. seller of clothing, accessories, folk art and home decor from around the world, a new parking lot would be welcomed. In a survey taken as bike lane installation started five years ago, 80 percent of store customers identified themselves as drivers, said Nomad’s Yeni Emmert on Tuesday. The 36-year-old store has been surviving, not thriving, with the help of neighbors and summertime tourists at the nearby hotels, but revenue is down.
“I’m all for more parking in the in the South Porter neighborhood,” Emmert said. “I love bikes. I ride a bike, my kids ride bikes, and we can share the roads. But it’s it’s not good for business.”
Construction in 2028
The second parking lot, across Mount Vernon Street at 1826 Massachusetts Ave., is dedicated parking for the Planet Fitness gym in University Hall and fills up at night.
Just A Start acquired the lots in November 2024 from Lesley, part of the dozen-plus parcels put on the market by then-president Janet Steinmayer to “right-size” university holdings and shore up finances.
Proposals for the lots presented June 30 said construction would likely not start until 2028 for building that won’t open until 2030. The one now approved for public parking closer to Porter Square would hold an estimated 76 homes and retail and parking for 78 bicycles and five cars at the base. On the other side of Mount Vernon Street, a building of a half-dozen stories would include 29 homes with 32 bicycle spaces and a community room opening onto a corner plaza. Over that, farther up the side street, would be a modest, green park – about the size of a doubles tennis court.
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