Huge $75M Housing Development Planned for Dorchester

The construction boom that is transforming Boston’s skyline and restructuring neighborhoods like South Boston is now rolling into Dorchester. The latest development is DotBlock, a $75 million mix of condos, apartments, shops and restaurants by Atlas Investment Group that would rise on what is now a 3 1/2-acre patch of run-down warehouses and industrial buildings on Dorchester Avenue.

The phased development will include up to 259 units of for-rent and for-sale housing, a 20,000-square-foot landscaped roof deck, a 400-space central parking garage and 40,000 square feet of retail at 1207 Dorchester Avenue, near the Savin Hill Station.

The 3.5-acre project site stretches almost a full city block and is roughly bounded by Dorchester Avenue, and  Greenmount and Hancock streets. Existing properties on the site include a mix of underutilized industrial buildings, including single-story warehouses.

The condos, totaling 64 in all, will be priced at around $400,000 in a bid to appeal to those middle-class buyers priced out of Boston amid an explosion of luxury housing. The two-bedroom, two-bath units will have 1,150 square feet of space.

Three apartment buildings are planned as well, with units averaging about 950 square feet a piece.

A five-story apartment building with 50 units is planned for DotBlock’s first phase. The second phase includes a pair of six-story buildings totaling 145 more units.

A total of 40,000 square feet of neighborhood style retail is planned for the ground floor of the two six-story buildings, with a mix of coffee shops, restaurants and a grocery store.

Demetrios Dasco of Atlas Investment Group LLC is spearheading the project's development, and RODE Architects is handling design work.

The DotBlock plan follows on the heels of a proposal by development giant Edens to expand the South Bay shopping center in Dorchester.

That plan calls for 500 apartments, a 65,000-square-foot cinema, 115,000 square feet of shops and restaurants, and a 150 to 200-room hotel.

The developer hopes to nail down all the necessary permits over the next few months, clear the site by the summer, and begin construction in the fall.