The days are numbered for a longtime “hole” in the Savin Hill business district.

The Columbia-Savin Hill Civic Association last night reversed course and gave its approval to a mixed-use, transit oriented development across from Savin Hill MBTA station. The three-story, 13-unit condo project — with a retail space on the ground level— has taken on citywide significance as the Walsh administration ramps up for a new spurt of housing growth. The project has prompted keen interest in Savin Hill as well: A crowd of 125 packed into the gym at the Little House last night for the debate and subsequent vote.

The project approved by the civic group last night includes just three tenant parking spaces behind the existing Savin Bar and Kitchen— a shortfall that had prompted the civic association to withhold support in past meetings. Driscoll DoCanto and Ken Osherow, who co-own Savin Bar and Kitchen, partnered with developer David Higgins to craft the three-story development. Part of the building will be cantilevered over Savin Bar and Kitchen.

DoCanto said he and his design team worked “every which way” to make parking financially feasible on the site, but taking out the three existing parking spaces to create five underground spaces made little sense.

“No project is perfect, but the alternative to this project is that this lot sits empty for another 20 years,” said DoCanto, adding that the people interested in this development–directly across from the Savin Hill station, would be drawn to those units for their proximity to mass transit.

The motion to support the proposal without parking passed 43 to 21. Last month, the civic association voted not to support the project, initially proposed in May with 15 parking spaces off-site at the nearby Spire building’s parking lot. That deal fell through, and the developers offered the development with five on-site parking spaces in October. Two weeks ago, the developers met with the civic association's planning committee to work out a deal–as a result, the committee recommended the proposal move forward with the three existing parking spaces.

Before the vote, Matt Moran, a new Savin Hill resident, defended the development’s three parking spaces.

“One of the things that attracted me to Savin Hill was the accessibility to the T and the quality of life here,” he said, asking the group to weigh the impact of seven more cars parked on the surrounding streets.

“That doesn’t seem like it’s a huge impact in the neighborhood,” Moran said. “It seems like it’s pretty minor and to remove this eyesore, that’s a fairly minor tradeoff.”

David Higgins, the developer behind the project, told the Reporter in October he was walking away from the project after the civic association voted to not approve the project on the night before its hearing with the Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA).

Last night, however, Higgins said he would move ahead with the current plan.

“I’ve worked for several years on this project and to walk away now...we’re so close,” he told the group. “This project is going to do a wonderful thing for the neighborhood.”

The development team will appear before the ZBA on Nov. 25 for the city’s approval, DoCanto said, adding, “The mayor’s office, I’m hoping, will be happy to hear this news.”