Cambridge Planning Board Continues Hearing on 85-Unit Birch Street Apartment Building

CAMBRIDGE — July 21, 2026 — Cambridge Planning Board unanimously continues hearing on 85-unit Birch Street apartment building, seeking design revisions. The board voted 7-0 Monday to continue its first public hearing on Planning Board Case 412, a special permit application by BSR Birch LLC to construct a six-story, all-electric, passive house residential building at Birch Street and Bay State Road in the Alewife area. The project would deliver 85 units — 80 percent studios and one-bedrooms — with 16 affordable units, 15 on-site parking spaces, and 99 bicycle spaces. Board members broadly praised the massing, setbacks exceeding zoning minimums, and the 7,200 square feet of open space (29 percent of site), but flagged the underdeveloped rooftop deck design, a disputed calculation showing two rather than a potential 10 required three-bedroom affordable units, all-metal exterior cladding concerns, and the lack of a garage door on the Bay State Road entry. Associate Member Dan Anderson, elevated to voting status after a regular member recused, said the project remained "a little early" for approval and called for a more developed roof design before the board could rule favorably. Seven neighbors spoke, with multiple residents challenging the October 2025 parking study as predating the opening of the nearby 52 New Street development and raising questions about an active MassDEP trichloroethylene contamination site across Birch Street.