100-foot Tower Coming To Leather District? Boston Condos For Sale Ford Realty

What I consider the Leather District isn’t necessarily on the South (East? West?) side of the surface artery, near South Station. I’m probably in the minority there. Some people would consider this to be Chinatown. I dunno.

Regardless, it was in the Globe today that a developer has bought the old Dainty Dot Hosiery building, on Essex Street, for $9 million, with the intent of tearing it down and/or rehabilitating it into a condo building up to 100-feet tall.

Swampscott businessman Ori Ron, who redeveloped 50 residential units in the nearby Leather District, has purchased the old Dainty Dot Hosiery property on Kingston Street near Chinatown for $9 million. A large portion of the building was lopped off in the mid-1950s to make way for the artery, but a six-story, 53,000-square-foot structure remains.

Ron has tentative plans for residential housing on the site but has not released more details. Under current zoning Ron can build a 100-foot tall building on Kingston Street, but would need city approval — and likely neighborhood support — if he wanted to build something taller.

Check out the Globe story if you’re not sure of which building it is – once you see the photo, you’ll recognize it, immediately.

The building was built in 1889 after the Boston fire of 1872 destroyed a residential neighborhood. It is on the National Register of Historic Places because of its location in a once-significant textile district, and the Boston Landmarks Commission is considering a petition to declare it a landmark, which would protect the exterior from demolition or major alteration.

(Well, of course, they are.)

For those wanting to know more about Boston and its history during the mid-20th century, check out My Mom’s Blog (no, not my mom), for some great, funny, and interesting stories.

While visiting Boston to see a production of Camelot (transferred from the North Shore Music Circus Theatre) Millie tried to find the building she used to work in.

As we were driving through Boston we were trying to identify the street that we were on and my friend said to me, “I think this is Essex Street.”

My response was, “No, it can’t be, I worked on that street for years and it is nothing like it. there is no deli, no wholesale houses, no coffee shop, just unfamiliar buildings.”

And then lo and behold there it was, “Dainty Dot Hosiery,” that’s where I worked, the building was still there, but empty.

Riding through that area got me thinking, streets are like people, some change more then others.

There is a treasure-trove of similar stories on her blog.

More: Developer buys historic Hub textile building for $9m, plans residences – By Thomas C. Palmer Jr., The Boston Globe

And: My Mom’s Blog, by Thoroughly Modern Millie

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