The Boston Redevelopment Authority is hosting a meeting regarding a proposal to build apartments at the long-vacant property at 99 Tremont Street, just outside Oak Square. It will be held Wednesday, June 25 at 6PM at the Presentation School Foundation, 640 Tremont Street, Brighton. The property has been an empty lot since a fire destroyed the previous building in 1979. If I remember correctly, at least one of the displaced tenants was part of Boston-based band The Cars.
May 7, 2014
Thin ice
The Boston Skating Club’s plans for a new facility at 176 Everett Street in Allston are getting about as much love from neighbors as Nancy Kerrigan did from Tonya Harding.
March 5, 2014
Skating Club wants to move, State Police plan to say put
The Skating Club of Boston wants to relocate from its current site on Soldiers Field Road to the corner of Everett and Lincoln Streets. So far, the plan has not gotten a good reception from the neighborhood. The State Police are renovating their property on the same roadway, but will set up shop temporarily at 46 Leo Birmingham Parkway. All this and more at the Brighton Allston Improvement Association’s meeting at 7PM Thursday, March 6. Location and details here.
December 10, 2013
80 apartments for Braintree Street in Allston
A proposed 80 unit apartment building for 61-83 Braintree Street will be discussed on Thursday, December 12 at 6PM at a meeting hosted by the BRA. It will be held at the Jackson Mann School, 500 Cambridge Street, Allston. In addition to 80 apartments, it will also include commercial space and parking for 67 vehicles.
December 8, 2013
128 Newton Street: Four single-families, plus a five story building in the middle
Plans presented at last week’s meeting on possible construction at 128 Newton Street, Brighton did not go over well, based on what I heard from people who attended. The plan involves two single-family homes at 128 Newton Street, two more singles on Bigelow Street at the foot of Hardwick Street, and smack in the middle, a five-story, twenty unit condominium building. So far as I know, the developer, Nartan Valbandian, has yet to submit any plans or letter of intent to any city agency. It’s too much crammed into an odd site. Not every corner of every lot is buildable. Keep the single families, maybe add a couple more, but get rid of the condo building.
December 5, 2013
392 Cambridge Street: 36 apartments plus retail proposed
The BAIA will host a presentation for a 36 unit apartment building that would also have retail space on the first floor. The plan calls for 19 commercial and 44 residential parking spaces. The meeting will be Thursday, December 5 at 7PM, Brighton Elks, 326 Washington Street, Brighton Center. Full agenda here. March 2013 Boston Globe article here, site map here.
December 3, 2013
Four story building with 60 apartments proposed for Brighton Center
“Parsons Crossing,” known as “where Minihane’s used to be” to everyone else, is the potential site of 60 apartments, retail use and parking. The proposed development, at the corner of Washington and Parsons Street, includes the former Minihane’s, the Commerce Bank building, and an adjacent house on Parsons Street which would be preserved. All told, we’re talking four stories, 60 housing units, 139 parking spaces and commercial space dedicated to the bank and some kind of “urban” grocery store. The BRA is hosting a meeting on Wednesday, December 4 at 6:30PM. It will be held at the Brighton Marine Hospital on Warren Street. You can find the submission to the city here, which includes a rendition of a quite substantial building.
November 29, 2013
What’s going on at 128 Newton Street?
A proposed development at 128 Newton Street, Brighton will be the topic of a meeting Monday, December 2 at 6:30PM at the Oak Square YMCA, 615 Washington Street. That’s the location that was on the anonymous flyer that was distributed. It’s difficult to figure out the precise parcel of land it refers to, since the city of Boston website does not recognize the address. It may be this one, or maybe this spot. It may also involve this property and the one adjacent to it on Bigelow Street, at the foot of Hardwick Street. We can find out at the meeting on Monday.
November 7, 2013
Palace Spa seeks to add beer & wine to the keno & cigars
The venerable Palace Spa, 419 Washington Street in Brighton Center, is seeking a license to sell beer and wine. It’s not clear if this is for retail sales or on-premise consumption. These days the place is an amalgam of convenience store, cigar shop and keno hall. They will present their plans to the Brighton Allston Improvement Association tonight at 7PM. As always, the meeting will be at the Elks, 326 Washington Street, Brighton. The rest of the agenda is here, although the presentation by Jewish Community Housing for the Elderly for a possible development on Chestnut Hill Avenue has been canceled. Still up, a preliminary discussion for an apartment building at 1650 Commonwealth Avenue, currently the home of a gas station and Cumberland Farms.
July 9, 2013
Maybe someone can ask the mayoral candidates how they would handle this stuff
The BAIA has a full agenda for tomorrow night, with two candidates for mayor, Charlotte Golar Richie and Mike Ross making their pitch, as well city council at-large hopeful Doug Wohn, along with an array of zoning and licensing issues. Among them: building a single-family home at 53 Gerrish Street; Domino’s request to allow deliveries until 3AM at their location on Washington Street near Lake Street; and an update on the development proposal for the former Circle Cinema site in Cleveland Circle. More detail here, stop by 326 Washington Street at 7PM tomorrow, meetings are open to everyone.
June 20, 2013
Demolish, rebuild, repeat
The Charlesview Residences, which were built to replace the Charlesview Apartments development that Harvard purchased and plans to demolish, which in turn were built to replace the Barry’s Corner neighborhood that was flattened by an urban renewal scheme, will have its ribbon cutting ceremony tomorrow at 12 noon at 400 Western Avenue.
May 7, 2013
37 North Beacon plan junked
The 37 North Beacon Street proposal, cars or not, seems to have been junked for good at a Board of Appeal hearing on April 23. The board voted to deny without prejudice.
April 4, 2013
Former Minihane’s site proposed for housing and retail complex
The property at the corner of Washington and Parsons Streets in Brighton Center may be transformed into a complex that would incorporate the existing home at 10 Parsons. Except for that house, the bank and the old Minihane’s Florist building would be demolished. More details at Boston.com.
April 3, 2013
With parking or not, 37 North Beacon plan still alive?
Is the 37 North Beacon development a done deal? I haven’t been able to confirm this, but there is talk that proponent Sebastian Mariscal’s option on the property has expired. A new developer may be in the mix. Either way, this site needs a better designed building that is less dense. The city’s Guest Street planning area, which encompasses this site and big swath of the neighborhood, calls for guidelines for height and size that this proposal ignores.
March 31, 2013
Cleveland Circle Hotel/Condo project revised again
Plans for a hotel, apartment and retail complex on the site of the long-closed Circle Cinema site have been altered once more in an attempt to win approval for the going-on-two-years effort, according to Boston.com. Since the property spills into Brookline, both municipalities get a say. The BRA is hosting a meeting this Wednesday, April 3 at the Hamilton School, corner of Chestnut Hill Ave. and Strathmore Road.
March 16, 2013
Building approved with parking developer didn’t want
The building originally intended for the carless has been approved by the BRA, but with 35 parking spaces for the 41 apartments, along with two spots for bikes per unit. It will occupy the property at the corner of North Beacon and Everett Streets. The final approval is up to the Zoning Board of Appeals, but is extremely likely. Too bad there weren’t any changes to the size and design. Five storys is too high, and the exterior is just ugly.
The no-parking aspect always struck me as a bit of greenwashing and not a new concept. Commonwealth Avenue and its side streets are packed with parked vehicles from residents of the parking-free buildings that line it. This, despite the B-line that runs up the middle.
March 3, 2013
More bricks and mortar
The developers of a mixed hotel and residential development for Cleveland Circle will give an update on their plans this Thursday, March 7 at the BAIA meeting. Also on the agenda are 103 units for 75 Brainerd Road in Allston and a proposed food pantry for 575 Washington Street in Brighton. The full agenda is here.
February 5, 2013
62 units, plus commercial space proposed for 425 Washington & 10 Parsons site
The developer will present his plans for the property this Thursday night at the BAIA meeting at 7PM. It will include 10,000 square feet of commercial space and 104 parking spaces. A design that preserves the house at 10 Parsons would be great. Full agenda here. Last fall the property owner withdrew his plan to demolish 10 Parsons, pledging to work with the neighborhood. Also on the agenda is a plan for 37 units (with no parking) at the corner of North Beacon and Everett Streets.
UPDATE: Will the 37 Everett proposal have parking or not? It depends. At the BRA meeting, it was no parking. At the Allston Civic, 37 parking spaces materialized. It is absurd to think that no one will have a car. Wonder what the developer will conjure up for Thursday night.
CORRECTION: The proposal is for 44 units, as stated in the original post, link above.
February 1, 2013
St. E’s, bigger and bigger
The pile of masonry that houses St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center continues to grow. The steel frame of the latest addition, three stories on top of the recently added three story emergency room, was recently completed. The new construction was part of an agreement that the owners of the for-profit facility, Steward Health Care a.k.a Cerebus Capital Management, agreed to when they bought the hospital. The Attorney General’s office, which oversees implementation of the agreement, has released a report stating that first year goals were met. Financially, the chain is losing money on its Boston area operations.