Dorchester Infill and Small Developments

I noticed on the Suffolk Deeds site that the I.B.E.W. (electrical workers union) sold its headquarters at 256 Freeport St in Dorchester to the Boston Police Patrolmens' Association for $3.001 million.

It's not a small building.

https://goo.gl/maps/eKa9W

I can understand why the I.B.E.W. needs to room but the Patrolmens' Association? (Yes, I realize it might lease out some of its space.)

Anyone have an opinion?
 
Port Norfolk marina parcels being eyed for high-end condos

A Dorchester restaurateur hopes to find a partner to help him develop a luxury condo complex on what is now a marina on the Port Norfolk waterfront. Ralph Bruno, the longtime owner of Venezia Restaurant and the Boston Winery, has begun marketing the property through a Boston real estate firm in hopes of teaming with an experienced development company that can help him realize his longtime vision for the site.

The four parcels in question— totaling 7.8 acres, including 70-plus boat slips on the water— are not currently owned by Bruno. But he has an option to buy the properties that are immediately adjacent to his 238,050 square feet Venezia complex, which is also permitted to include upwards of 100 boat slips, according to Bruno. Combined, the four parcels are currently valued at just over $2 million, according to city tax records. However, the site— which includes an active marina— would fetch well in excess of that sum on the open market.

In a four-page prospectus prepared by Boston Realty Advisors, the Port Norfolk site is trumpeted for its proximity to the expressway and “impressive views of the Boston skyline” in “one of the most popular neighborhoods in the greater Boston.”

http://www.dotnews.com/2015/port-norfolk-marina-parcels-being-eyed-high-end-condos
 
This probably deserves its own thread, but the Port Norfolk wasteland has been completely transformed, cleared, and landscaped - almost done, but still fenced off. It's actually a much more massive new area of parkland - wrapping way around the point - than I thought it would be.
 
Purple development on Indigo Line in Uphams Corner would add residential, light industrial space

Developers have filed plans for a city-owned vacant lot in Uphams Corner that would include 80 apartments, eight townhouse condos and a building for light-industrial and office use.

The Indigo Block, proposed by a team lead by the Dorchester Bay Economic Development Corp., would sit on a 2.75-acre lot at 65 E. Cottage St., next to the Uphams Corner stop on the Indigo, or Fairmount, Line.

http://www.universalhub.com/2015/purple-development-indigo-line-uphams-corner-would

indigoblock.jpg
 
I feel like they shouldn't call Fairmount the Indigo Line until it's service levels are increased to 20 minutes headways.
 
Indigo is such a cheesy name... I wish we could just pick another color for this line but whatever
 
Really? I don't think it's bad at all. If this is the uninspired standard that's fine by me.
 
The Codman Square Neighborhood Development Corporation submitted an application last week to the Boston Redevelopment Authority for a new housing development project that would bring 17 mixed-income housing units to the Talbot Norfolk Triangle neighborhood of Codman Square.

The proposed project, called “New England Heritage Homes,” would be located in 10 new buildings and would feature 16 three-bedroom moderate and low-income units available for purchase. One additional two-family home would feature an income-restricted rental unit available to the homebuyer to lease for rental income. Highlights of the project include LEED design and construction, bay windows, entry porches with canopies, and picket fencing.

According to Annie Wong, project manager for New England Heritage Homes, the development would be located on an assembly of seven vacant parcels totaling 41,294 square feet located near the intersection of New England, Mallard, Colonial, and Southern avenues, a quarter of a mile from the new Talbot Avenue MBTA station on the Fairmount commuter line.

Wong said that the Codman Square corporation acquired five of the vacant parcels for the project in April 2015, and has submitted an application the Department of Neighborhood Development for the two remaining city-owned parcels at 131 and 133 Southern Avenue. She said they hope to gain approval by next March.

http://www.dotnews.com/2015/building-pipeline-stirs-civic-dialogue
 
It is drab but it firms up the street wall nicely.
It does an ok job as street wall and may be the only retail bright spot on what looks like a rather deary few blocks. But the design is as off the shelf and phoned-in as possible. Every third new residential building is a variation of this. The Barney the Dinosaur apartments proposed in post 569 pimps the same look in purple and yellow.
 
8 Banton Street approved. Interestingly, this site was planned for BRA clearance for elderly high rise housing and a Boston Edison transformer site in 1970 - see here.

Banton is kind of a cool little dead end street. Apparently, the vacant land to be developed is a paper street called Northam Park which was never developed...

Presentation here.
Seems like a bit of a wasted opportunity given the size of the lot and proximity to the Red Line though.
 

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