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Developer pitches 21-story building for Brookline’s Coolidge Corner

Coolidge Residences at Brookline would have 320 apartments and a three-level parking garage.Chestnut Hill Realty

A Brookline developer has pitched a 21-story residential complex for the town’s Coolidge Corner neighborhood under the state’s affordable housing law, but local officials say they want to limit the scope of the project.

The proposed Coolidge Residences at Brookline would offer 320 apartments, including 181 one-bedroom, 94 two-bedroom, and 32 three-bedroom units, according to a Nov. 29 application to MassDevelopment, the state’s economic development agency.

The developer, Chestnut Hill Realty, is proposing that 64 units — mostly one- and two-bedroom apartments — meet affordability rules under Chapter 40B.

The project, located at 8-10 Waldo St., would also include a three-level parking garage with more than 330 spaces, along with 21,000 square feet of landscaped open space behind the building.

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But Neil Wishinsky, the town’s selectmen chairman, said the project was too dense for the neighborhood. Wishinsky said the town would be more in favor of a smaller, mixed-use project with a hotel.

“Twenty-one stories should be in the Financial District or the Seaport District, not in Brookline,” Wishinsky said in an interview.

Brookline is a town where the median single-family home price is more than $1.6 million, an increase of more than 40 percent since 2010.

The proposal would bring additional affordable housing to the town, said Margaret Murphy, a spokesperson for developer Chestnut Hill Realty.

“People can move into Brookline that way,” said Murphy. “Otherwise, it’s almost impossible.”

Wishinsky said a town committee would be formed to work with Chestnut Hill Realty on the Coolidge Corner project, as well as a separate housing project anticipated for property now occupied by the Holiday Inn at 1200 Beacon St.

In August, the Beacon Street property was sold by Brookline Hospitality LLC for $74 million to 90210 Beacon Owners LLC, which is controlled by Diego Rico, part of the management team of private equity firm Westbrook Partners, according to property and state corporation filings.

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Rico did not respond to a message left with Westbrook’s office in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., on Monday.

In the case of the Coolidge Corner project, both sides said they would be open to continued discussion.

“We’ll certainly be talking with the town and working with them to make a signature project for that location,” Murphy said.


John Hilliard can be reached at john.hilliard@globe.com.