South Boston Building Revision Adds Parking
Owners and neighbors near D Street should watch for zoning hearings on the revised 60-unit building, which still does not meet parking rules.
Updated on Nov. 5, 2026 in Commercial
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Developer Sing Ming Chan has filed revised plans for a 60-unit building on D Street in South Boston, after the Zoning Board of Appeal rejected an earlier nine-story, 70-unit proposal that included no parking. The revised plan calls for a seven-story building with 34 parking spaces, for Boston residents who follow neighborhood development.
Why it matters
The revision reflects a constraint that shapes many South Boston projects: Chan said a high water table made a basement garage with regular parking prohibitively expensive, pushing the design toward an automated system. Because the 34 spaces still fall short of the lot's zoning requirements, the project must return to the zoning board, which shows how parking rules and site conditions can reshape what gets built.
The revised plan drops two stories and 10 units from the rejected proposal and adds 34 parking spaces where there were none before. The project also includes roughly 1,100 square feet of ground-floor retail space and a proposed rooftop deck.
The players
Sing Ming Chan
Developer behind the proposed D Street project in South Boston, who revised the plan after the zoning board's rejection.
Ed Flynn
Boston City Councilor, expected to oppose the rooftop deck in the revised South Boston building proposal.
Zoning Board of Appeal
Boston body that rejected the initial nine-story, 70-unit proposal and will review the revised plan.
Boston Planning Department
City agency that received Chan's notice of the project change and oversees development review in Boston.
The details
Parking would be stored in an automated stacker system that moves cars across the basement and part of the ground floor, a design chosen after Chan abandoned a conventional basement garage. The high water table at the site made that garage too costly to build, according to Chan. The 34 proposed spaces would still not meet the lot's zoning requirements, so the revised building would have to go before the zoning board again.
Timeline
April 29, 2025: Zoning Board of Appeal rejected the initial nine-story proposal.
November 5, 2026: Chan filed notice of the project change with the Boston Planning Department.
The Home Front
The project sits within Boston's zoning review process for South Boston lots, where parking requirements and the zoning board's approval step can determine how many units a building can carry. The 34-space revision is smaller than the 70-unit plan the board rejected, but it still does not satisfy the code.
If you live near D Street or in South Boston, watch for zoning board hearing notices on the revised project, since public review is the stage where neighbors can weigh in on parking and rooftop design. Homeowners and renters near new multi-unit builds should expect parking and traffic questions to dominate local debate.
The takeaway
Parking rules and site conditions like a high water table can reshape a project's design more than its unit count alone. Track zoning board agendas for D Street if you want to follow how the revised plan is reviewed.
What happens next
The revised building must go before the Zoning Board of Appeal again, and Councilor Ed Flynn is likely to oppose the rooftop deck, though no hearing date has been set in the source.
Further reading
For more on the commercial projects reshaping Boston real estate, see Commercial.
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