Downtown and Chinatown residents have apparently received no community outreach about a new plan to convert a commercial building on Stuart Street into a five-story adult entertainment complex.

The project, located at 27-29 Stuart Street, was first presented to the Zoning Board of Appeals last week in order to prove that any construction would not negatively impact the area’s groundwater level. After providing “no harm” letters from the Boston Groundwater Trust, it was approved. Community leaders say that was the first time they heard about it.

“It’s almost appeared out of nowhere,” said George Coorssen of the Downtown Boston Neighborhood Association. “Nobody got notice of it. Nobody knew anything about it, and there was no neighborhood meeting scheduled. It surprised everybody.”

City Councilor Ed Flynn, who represents the Downtown and Chinatown, wrote a letter to the zoning board urging it to pause the project until a “robust public process” had taken place with local civic groups.

“There was no public process for this change, and my office, Chinatown and Downtown Civic Groups and residents were not aware that any abutters meeting took place,” Flynn wrote in the letter. “This is a major change of use on one of the busiest blocks between Chinatown and Downtown, which regularly sees public safety, traffic, and double-parking challenges with existing restaurants and nightclubs.”

The groundwater approval granted last week is the first in the series that would be needed to get the green light from the city, but it does not require a community process. In order to automatically trigger one, the project would need to file for entertainment and liquor licenses.

“I hope they will file for those two other licenses soon,” Kate DeBeul of the Chinatown Residents Association, which had also received no outreach in advance of the hearing, wrote in an email.

“Going forward with renovations to turn a vacant building into a strip club is not a sound financial decision to begin without that entertainment license secured unless these owners believe they will be approved for a strip club?”

The city did not respond to a request for comment.

According to online news outlet Universal Hub, the proponents’ attorney said the change will accommodate “the potential relocation of an existing adult entertainment license about a block and a half away,” with a closing time of around 2am if approved.

There are two strip clubs in that vicinity, on Lagrange Street, known as Centerfolds and The Glass Slipper. Neither the clubs nor the building owners’ attorney returned requests for comment asking which one was apparently planning on moving.

The attorney also assured the zoning board that there would be a full community process, but residents aren’t so sure. Flynn wrote in the letter that his constituents had expressed alarm at the “recurring lack of community engagement.” The city has also faced criticism in recent months for its minimal community outreach for projects like its bike and bus lanes, or the ongoing zoning initiative known as PLAN: Downtown.

“There is a problem with this process if the community engagement doesn’t start until after they've already been approved for renovations,” DeBeul said. “The Owners of a project should be coming to the community before they get approval to do renovations of this magnitude so they can disclose their plans and get feedback prior to renovating.”