Olmsted Hill Development

Brookline, MA

Olmsted Hill transforms a town-owned former reservoir site into a walkable, mixed-income residential neighborhood that honors Brookline’s historic Fisher Hill character. The development includes 10 market-rate single-family homes and 24 affordable and moderate-income condominiums—carefully designed to reflect the tradition of early 20th-century hillside estates while supporting sustainable, community-oriented living.

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Engineering Complexity into Cohesive Community Design

Samiotes provided civil engineering, environmental permitting,  and land surveying services for this technically challenging five-acre redevelopment, including work around century-old buried reservoir infrastructure, severe slopes, and dense utility corridors.

Key contributions included:

• Completing detailed surveys, including mapping and verifying the subsurface limits of two MWRA reservoir structures with a combined two-million-gallon capacity

• Assessing and documenting extensive underground utility conduits beneath the site and adjacent roadways

• Preparing ANR plans for two lots – one more than imagined by the developer that provided seed money for the infrastructure costs prior to the sale of the other lots that required full securing Planning Board endorsements for subdivision creation which was led by Samiotes subsequently

• Designing subdivision infrastructure, including utilities, roadway layout, grading, and stormwater management

• Developing stormwater systems, utility design, and engineering calculations for the multifamily building and three single-family homes

• Providing plot plans and permitting support to obtain engineering approvals and building permits

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Through precise survey work, careful coordination, and context-sensitive design, Samiotes helped create a new neighborhood rooted in Brookline’s historic identity while meeting modern expectations for sustainability and inclusivity.