Watch Factory Lofts proposes 140-unit expansion in underused parking lot

The Watch Factory Lofts apartment complex may grow significantly in the near future. This week its developer, Berkeley Investments, will present to the city’s Zoning Board of Appeals a “fourth phase” of development for the site: a proposed six-story, 140-unit expansion. 

This expansion will add to the existing 163 units of housing, 170,000 square feet of office space and restaurant at the site that have been developed over the past 15 years.

Berkeley Investments first floated the idea of an expansion in 2022, when it held a community outreach meeting about the potential construction of a new lab space. It returned to the community in 2024 with another proposal — a residential addition to be built on the site of a small parking lot on the site’s southern edge that sees very little traffic.

According to a traffic study commissioned by the developer in 2024, the site’s current parking way overserves its residents. The study found that the site’s six parking lots were only using about 40% of their capacity at times of peak occupancy. The parking deck that Berkeley is proposing to replace with these new apartments saw an occupancy of only approximately 8% at its peak hours.

Esther Chung Byun, a representative of the developer, said its design has “changed substantially” since the 2024 abutter meeting to incorporate larger setbacks and make changes to the site’s landscaping. 

The project has already received approval from a few city bodies. At a meeting of the Municipal Affordable Housing Trust on March 17 of last year, the body permitted the housing complex to make a $4,199,104 donation to the city’s affordable housing fund instead of providing any units priced to be affordable to a family making the area median income. 

This donation is equivalent to 20% of its projected development costs, which the developer estimated at approximately $21 million dollars. This fulfills the city’s affordable zoning requirements, which would otherwise require the development to provide a certain number of units at prices affordable to families making 80% or less of the area median income; the previously constructed Watch Factory lots included 17 of these affordable units. 

The project went to the Traffic Commission last November, which approved its traffic study for the site without implementing any of its recommended suggestions. The Historical Commission reviewed the project this month and found the site was historically significant but the expansion would not interfere with its significance. The Conservation Commission also reviewed the project this month for its potential impact on the Charles River and signed off on the plans.

The project will appear for the first time in front of the ZBA this Tuesday to seek out variances for the size of its setbacks, its commercial area, its snow storage area and its parking spaces, as well as its ability to serve alcohol near a residential area. This is its next step before going to the City Council to obtain a special permit for its final design.