Developers of 21-floor building under construction at 47 to 55 LaGrange Street will convert its planned 176 residential units from rentals to owned condominiums.

The board of the Boston Planning and Development Authority (BPDA) voted unanimously to approve the change at its April 15 meeting.

As of last week the building had about 15 floors. Construction began a year ago, was delayed three months by Covid and will continue for at least another 12 months said John Matteson, chief executive at the Matteson Companies, the developers. He said crews were putting up a new floor every four or five days.

The 176 residential units will be a mix of studios, and one-bedroom and two-bedroom condos.

The development will include 22 units priced below market rate. 11 aimed at residents up to 80% and 11 at 100% of the area’s median income.

A one-bedroom priced at 100% area’s median income could be sold for up to $248,600, according to BPDA rules on maximum affordable rents. The cheapest units in the building would sell for $150,700 with an income limit of $66,650.

The project was first announced in October 2016. An initial change in use was requested in September 2018 and approved that November.

The second change, from rentals to ownership units, was recently announced on March 5.

“I’m very disappointed in the lack of communication from this project and owner,” said Margaret Ings, vice president for Government and Community Relations at Emerson College, at an April 8 public hearing on the proposed change.

Ings added, “At Emerson, we have had to work around your loud scheduling when we have a speech and hearing clinic right across the street.”

She requested that the developer send representatives to the monthly meetings of the Midtown Park Plaza Neighborhood Association.

Mary Higgins of the Midtown Park Plaza Neighborhood Association echoed her frustrations saying, “No one can tell me why we can’t get a construction schedule from the contractor on a regular basis.”

The development team promised to connect community members to the builder by email.

“I believe this project will add much needed home ownership and housing units to the area,” wrote City Councilor Ed Flynn in a letter to the BPDA board.

But Flynn also expressed concern that residential units could be converted to executive office suites. “We need assurances from the proponents that these units will not be converted at a later date.”

“These are not going to be converted to anything except for sale, residential condos,” Matteson told the BPDA board on April 15.

“There will be a condo association and professional management, and the use is residential. They’d have to come back before you and the Zoning Board of Appeals to do executive suites.”

“We have a tremendous need for housing units here in the City,” said board member Brian Miller, who was appointed in May 2020, by Governor Charlie Baker.