Housing Development Proposed for South Boston’s Broadway Theatre

Rendering via the Boston Planning & Development Agency

For years, the former Broadway Theatre in South Boston has remained vacant. Now, a developer is proposing to use the property for housing.

Per the Boston Herald, developer Brian Crowley plans to convert the property at 420 West Broadway into 42 units and retail space. The theater building would be replaced with a six-story construction, but the theater’s original lobby, a two-story brick building facing the street, would be restored as the development’s lobby.

Broadway Theatre opened in 1920 and was designed by Clarence H. Blackall, an architect who created hundreds of theaters over his career.

“Great care has been given to respecting certain remaining façade and related conditions of the distressed theater building itself and the history and revitalization of this section along West Broadway,” read the plans filed with the Boston Planning & Development Agency.

The new 44,000-square-foot building, designed by RODE Architects Inc., would also offer garage parking, a roof deck, and balcony space.