Allston-Brighton Infill and Small Developments

That rendering looks kinda ugly, but it looks like there is retail planned along Chestnut Hill in the floor plans. The other rendering on page 30 is interesting. I live in that area (though not for long) and it could use more shops and eateries, especially right next to the station.
 
I like it in that this meets the needs of Cleveland Circle. It is well massed and has a much better street presence than the theater does. I wish it were 2 floors taller and had 3 parking levels in the back, but that's just me being a bit greedy. It looks more like a community center than a hotel. The only other changes I think will be needed is a light at the entrance, and moving the stop line/light about 20 feet back towards Resevoir and it'll have an exit for the office workers/ taxis.
 
Shepard said:
I haven't yet read the PNF but my impression was that there would be a strong retail component in the mix. I don't see that reflected in the rendering.

In any case, I do like the design, and not just because my expectations were low (it is afterall a Hampton Inn).
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this.

I was honestly expecting:

hampton-inn-farmville-va.jpg
 
Well, now that we know how fugly it would be, it won't be so disappointing when the Town of Brookline mercilessly rejects the proposal.
 
From what ive read the developer has a contingency plan to build only on Boston land leaving the Brookline land adjacent to CHA and across the street from the T as a parking lot. No doubt the new design on the Boston side would face this lot rather than the street. Voil?, hotel strip mall. Now that sounds better doesn't it?
 
To be honest, the preliminary plan for the office building is significantly more offensive than the plan for the hotel.
 
Give the building an additional 2 floors and it would resemble half of what's been built in Berlin over the last 5 years.
 
http://www.hbs.edu/construction/tata-hall.html
Pic at link, also Harvard is due to have an updated Allston master plan in June.

Tata Hall
Demand for HBS executive programs has been on the rise even in the face of the economic uncertainty of recent years. Today, HBS sees a compelling opportunity to further strengthen its leadership in Executive Education through the construction of a new facility - Tata Hall - that would enrich the learning experience of managers and leaders who come to HBS.

The site of the proposed project is in the northeast corner of the HBS campus, to the east of the original HBS campus designed by McKim Mead and White in the late 1920s. In 1952, Kresge Hall was built to the west of the Project site and in the 1970s McCollum Center and Baker Hall were constructed to the northwest of the project site. More recently, in 1998 McArthur Hall was built as an Executive Education housing facility also to the northwest of the project site.

Siting Tata Hall in this location will complete the Executive Education quad, which currently includes McArthur, Baker, and Mellon Halls (residence), McCollum and Hawes (classroom), Kresge (dining), and Glass (administration).

Tata Hall represents Harvard Business School's best thinking - and experience - around the type of building that best supports Executive Education participants during their time on campus, as well as state-of-the-art practices in the areas of technology and sustainability. Comprising approximately 150,000 GSF with six to seven stories and roughly 180 bedrooms, the building will also include living group rooms as well as an informal gathering space for socializing.
 
Development plans for Applebee's Cleveland Circle site canceled
The second and smaller component of a two-phase, multi-million mixed-use development in Cleveland Circle has been canceled.

The project?s developer, Boston Development Group had signed a purchase and sale agreement to buy the site where an Applebee?s restaurant now sits at 381 Chestnut Hill Ave. in Brighton.

However, that contingent agreement was canceled last week primarily because developers felt they would not be able to get community approval before the deal?s scheduled closing, BDG project manager John Meunier said Tuesday.

The development company?s CEO and Chairman David Zussman also indicated price negotiations with the site?s owners had stalled.
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Full article.
 
Applebees lease ends in 2014, and I would imagine that the present owners would probably look to redevelop the space at that time themselves.

Another interesting thing from the article:

Two companies ? Hyatt Place and Hilton Garden Inn ? are under consideration for the hotel space, according to development officials. After community concerns, BDG says it is no longer considering the Hampton Inn hotel brand.
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Anyone know what the community concerns with the Hampton Inn were?

Overall, I am left to wonder why the developer is caving so quickly to community pressure on multiple fronts.
 
The developer probably had a spec hotel in mind and something altered to fit community input wouldn't fit the business model of the intended operators.
 
Library Park
The spiraled hill of literacy
img0539nx.jpg

By gw2500 at 2011-07-10

img0543ez.jpg

By gw2500 at 2011-07-10
Just past the hill
img0544ozd.jpg

By gw2500 at 2011-07-10
On top of hill
img0562ru.jpg

By gw2500 at 2011-07-10
Looking out on the back end of the park
img0561vj.jpg

By gw2500 at 2011-07-10
Opening Day Party Tent on left

img0563x.jpg

By gw2500 at 2011-07-10
Unearthed Mist Spewing Lion Heads
img0558hf.jpg

By gw2500 at 2011-07-10
img0559n.jpg

By gw2500 at 2011-07-10
It was pretty hot that day
img0564l.jpg

By gw2500 at 2011-07-10
img0560dd.jpg

By gw2500 at 2011-07-10
img0541qr.jpg

By gw2500 at 2011-07-10
Other side of fence that might be turned into apartments or maybe just a dog park
img0542va.jpg

By gw2500 at 2011-07-10
 
Every street should have mist-spewing lions heads
 
Mist spewing lions sounds badass, awesome, and terrifying all at the same time.

I wish I had some!
 
Gw2500, thanks for the pictures.

Any indication if Harvard ever learned what building the lions came from?
 
What a bunch of disgruntled, dyspeptic whiners in North Allston.

First, they complain Harvard let all these stores sit empty in Allston, organized demonstrations, etc.

Next, when Harvard now fills the shops and stores with businesses, they complain that's not the type of businesses they want.

http://www.bostonherald.com/busines..._allston-brighton/srvc=business&position=also

They didn't want a new pizza restaurant to open, because if it had a liquor license, it was not family friendly.

I am becoming convinced a lot of their pissing and moaning stems from them thinking they were going to get a big pay day from selling their homes once Harvard started building in earnest, and professors etc. started buying houses near Harvard's Allston campus.
 
Not sure, but I thought they came from the the excavating for the basement of the stalled science complex.
 
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