Rio Grande (née Dudley Square Residential Tower) | Washington St. | Roxbury

[GW]

Re: Dudley Square Residential Tower | Washington St. | Roxbury

You're theory assumes there's an unlimited supply of people moving into a neighborhood, let alone an unlimited supply of people who would or want to move to any given neighborhood. In fact, the supply is limited. The problem isn't building housing, but knowing how much housing to build. Under-building in a growing neighborhood to the point that vacancy rates change by even a single percentage point can have a negative impact on prices.

But the supply is always in flux, and there's no way to accurately quantify that supply except by looking at the market and guessing. Problem is, the market is a poor indicator because builders are going to build the most expensive apartments they can possibly build to make the most money. The key point: even if we ditch onerous regulations and zoning, the market is always going to serve the people with the greatest need last.

Building more housing does not push people out of neighborhoods. Study after study has shown that gentrification acutally helps residents and causes them to stay more than the neighborhood being seedy.

As someone else said, this is blatantly untrue for renters, and we live in an economy with fewer owners and more renters.

 

[stick n move]

Re: Dudley Square Residential Tower | Washington St. | Roxbury

Many people I have talked to that own in the dot/roxbury/mattapan area have told me that there are many more homeowners here than other areas of the city because it has been very cheap to buy houses here for a long time. They told me the only people the prices are really affecting for the most part are people trying to move in. Its not like much of the rest of the city where it was always expensive and now its insanely expensive. Thats why I feel like it is a different set of circumstances for this area of the city and a little bit of gentrification will either make poor homeowners become rich if they decide to move, or just make the area they live in have more amenities and be a better place overall.

 

[reverend_paco]

Re: Dudley Square Residential Tower | Washington St. | Roxbury

Kenneth Guscott, a prominent Roxbury developer who helped rebuild Dudley Square, died along with his father-in-law in a fire at his Milton home Monday morning. He was 91.

http://www.bizjournals.com/boston/n...n-roxbury-developer-kenneth-guscott-dies.html

Guscott was the owner of the development company that had announced this tower. No doubt this will affect the timeline of this particular development, if it is to happen at all.

RIP

 

[sm89]

Re: Dudley Square Residential Tower | Washington St. | Roxbury

If he was 91, how old was his father in law?!?! 110?

 

[reverend_paco]

Re: Dudley Square Residential Tower | Washington St. | Roxbury

Developer Kenneth Guscott, 91, was killed along with Leroy Whitmore, 87, in the fire, which broke out about 12:30 a.m. at 1 Elias Lane, fire officials said.

Good for him. He had a younger wife

 

[datadyne007]

Re: Dudley Square Residential Tower | Washington St. | Roxbury

http://www.bizjournals.com/boston/n...n-roxbury-developer-kenneth-guscott-dies.html

Guscott was the owner of the development company that had announced this tower. No doubt this will affect the timeline of this particular development, if it is to happen at all.

RIP

Family wants to build it in his honor now!

A building tour Monday by a project team planning the first high-rise in Roxbury’s Dudley Square turned into an impromptu tribute to the developer, Long Bay Management’s Kenneth Guscott, a longtime community leader who died at age 91 in an overnight Milton house fire.

Guscott’s brother Cecil and his daughter Lisa have indicated that they will continue the Rio Grande project as a tribute to Guscott, a former president of Boston’s NAACP chapter, according to David Lee, president of Boston-based Stull & Lee Inc. architects.

“Everybody agreed that Ken would have wanted this to keep going,” said Lee, who worked with Guscott on numerous projects over the past 35 years. “He held onto his beliefs, and he was not a guy who would compromise on his principles. He would push you and you had to push back, but he respected that. He was a force of nature.”

Full article: http://www.bankerandtradesman.com/2017/03/late-roxbury-developer-force-nature/

 

[reverend_paco]

Re: Dudley Square Residential Tower | Washington St. | Roxbury

Family wants to build it in his honor now!



Full article: http://www.bankerandtradesman.com/2017/03/late-roxbury-developer-force-nature/

Interesting. First time I've heard it called the Rio Grande. This implies that after their announcement last year they were actively investigating and planning for it, at least enough to give it a name.

I'm glad they are pushing through with the development.

 

[odurandina]

Re: Dudley Square Residential Tower | Washington St. | Roxbury

Looks like it's quietly lost 4 floors. Now going just 25.....

https://www.bostonglobe.com/busines...story-tower/PcfOkhk8FneiWUPW5qyLPK/story.html

 

[vanshnookenraggen]

Re: Dudley Square Residential Tower | Washington St. | Roxbury

That set back is out of place. This is a large square and can handle the density.
If there needs to be a set back put it up higher; wedding cake style. This plays it too safe.

 

[JeffDowntown]

Re: Dudley Square Residential Tower | Washington St. | Roxbury

That set back is out of place. This is a large square and can handle the density.
If there needs to be a set back put it up higher; wedding cake style. This plays it too safe.

Is that really a setback? The building in front is the existing Citizen's Bank Building. This is being proposed for the parking lot behind the existing building.

 

[FK4]

Re: Dudley Square Residential Tower | Washington St. | Roxbury

Yeah, it may be more feasible to build it behind the historic bank building rather than on top of it. But, van, I agree… Ideally it would come right up to the street wall. Especially since the only thing it would be putting into shadow would be the bus station.

All in all, if they can get anything close to the size through all the community bullshit, I'll be pretty amazed… I'm very happy that despite the death of Mr Guscott it's still on the table.

 

[odurandina]

Re: Dudley Square Residential Tower | Washington St. | Roxbury

an attractive, 360' tower has been in the BPDA's plans for getting on some time now.

what were all those Dudley planning workshops for?

yes.

to change it from a nice, 362' tower to a squat, fat building.

 

[datadyne007]

Re: Dudley Square Residential Tower | Washington St. | Roxbury

That set back is out of place. This is a large square and can handle the density.
If there needs to be a set back put it up higher; wedding cake style. This plays it too safe.

Yeah, it may be more feasible to build it behind the historic bank building rather than on top of it. But, van, I agree… Ideally it would come right up to the street wall. Especially since the only thing it would be putting into shadow would be the bus station.

All in all, if they can get anything close to the size through all the community bullshit, I'll be pretty amazed… I'm very happy that despite the death of Mr Guscott it's still on the table.

Given that the low-rise is the existing Citizens Bank building with nice historic features, I disagree. Why shouldn't Dudley Square maintain a human scale? There should absolutely not be a 300' wall right at the street. The de-facto setback is quite elegant. Keeps the human scale in the square and lets the non-human scale tower rise behind it.

 

[odurandina]

Re: Dudley Square Residential Tower | Washington St. | Roxbury

fair enough.

btw, Boston has enough human scale for 2 or 3 core metros combined.

respectfully,

#UrbanizeBoston

 

[Justin7]

Re: Dudley Square Residential Tower | Washington St. | Roxbury

Current:

nvm, i got it. It would be here:
https://goo.gl/maps/3MrHK

Old plan:

New plan:

 

[393b40]

Re: Dudley Square Residential Tower | Washington St. | Roxbury

What a fatty.

 

[vanshnookenraggen]

Re: Dudley Square Residential Tower | Washington St. | Roxbury

Ah well seeing what's already there I should take back what I said, though I still think that too many developments throw in the set back when they shouldn't.

 

[DZH22]

Re: Dudley Square Residential Tower | Washington St. | Roxbury

Old plan:

New plan:

The new plan appears to be the same amount of floors as the old plan. Looks like 25 stories in each render.

 

[chrisbrat]

Re: Dudley Square Residential Tower | Washington St. | Roxbury

but people like to say/write the word "turd" and hate every proposal.

 

[stick n move]

Re: Dudley Square Residential Tower | Washington St. | Roxbury

This is a great start imo. Get the outer neighborhoods building up their cores to take stress off of downtown.