Cambridge Infill and Small Developments

[BACsop]

I assume it will get a 5-over-1 mixed use.

This would be a good location for something like that! Great proximity to both Central and Kendall.

 

[Equilibria]

This would be a good location for something like that! Great proximity to both Central and Kendall.

I hope it's more. Main Street frontage should go above 6 stories.

 

[RandomWalk]

The former Friends Service Committee building, on Mass Ave near Rindge, has been repositioned on its new foundation. I think this will end up being a facadectomy welded onto the new building.

 

[stick n move]

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[Longfellow]

Demolition for Ellery Street housing denied, development to continue with preservation (updated)

The full demolition of a historic mansard style home at 84-86 Ellery St. was stopped with a unanimous vote Aug. 4 by the Mid-Cambridge Neighborhood Conservation District Commission.

www.cambridgeday.com

The ellery street proposal has been killed by the conservation board, somehow. I didn't know they had the authority to do it.

They are requiring any development to do a facadectomy on the brick home. Why? An architect was born there and the typology of the building is I guess rare. Said architect was asked about the significance of that home and this is what she had to say:

As an aside, in a 1981 Globe interview, the architect cited above described her childhood on Ellery Street and said "No, the house I grew up in was not important to me. I got out of it just as soon as I could."

 

[Longfellow]

Historical Commission - Cambridge Historical Commission - City of Cambridge, Massachusetts

Contact the Cambridge Historical Commission

www.cambridgema.gov

Feel free to send a quick email to the historical commission detailing your concerns. They also just voted to delay the Jacobs house development for a year-long landmarking study. If the building is landmarked then it can be denied by the NCD.

 

[SuffolkHeights11]

“If we cannot save a historical building like this, what’s going to stop us from destroying 90 percent of buildings in Cambridge?” commission member Monika Pauli said ahead of voting."

If this project is actually killed by something called the "Mid-Cambridge Neighborhood Conservation District Commission" I really hope they take it to the SJC or even the Supreme Court to destroy these "commissions" once and for all. This statement from a commission member is completely arbitrary and highlights that this unelected "commission" has no valid purpose other than taking private property rights from others by stopping development. This building is not historically significant in any way other than it is old. No court in the country, especially the current Supreme Court, could find that it is not a taking where the proposed building complies with underlying zoning but nonetheless is subject to the arbitrary whims of an unelected conservation commission that has no clear purpose other than saying "no." It has to end at some point.

 

[Longfellow]

It’s also worth noting that unlike other districts the mid Cambridge district is pretty expansive and covers basically just a ton of streets between Inman and central. Not clear when walking around there why that is other than a land grab of sorts.

 

[sean99090900]

Historical Commission - Cambridge Historical Commission - City of Cambridge, Massachusetts

Contact the Cambridge Historical Commission

www.cambridgema.gov

Feel free to send a quick email to the historical commission detailing your concerns. They also just voted to delay the Jacobs house development for a year-long landmarking study. If the building is landmarked then it can be denied by the NCD.

I wrote in to give them a piece of my mind lmao

 

[Javier]

 

[stick n move]

Teardown of A.J. Spears Funeral Home is okayed by Cambridge Historical Commission in 6-1 vote (updated)​

Jane PetersonThe A.J. Spears Funeral Home in Cambridge’s Riverside neighborhood could become the site of up to 74 homes.

“Change will come to Western Avenue next year after a ruling Sept. 4 by the Cambridge Historical Commission that a family can sell its A.J. Spears Funeral Home property to a developer for demolition and replacement with an apartment building.

While the proposed design meets zoning guidelines, some neighbors are still frustrated at the scale of the project. The planned building will be up to 74 units, 20 percent of which would be affordable.

The commission voted 6-1 to deem the current buildings “not preferably preserved,” with alternate Scott Kyle the lone opposing vote. Some members shared concerns with residents about a new six-story structure but acknowledged that the issues were irrelevant to the commission’s mission: evaluating the historical value of the existing funeral home.

“The house looks the same as every other on the street. The historical part is us, and the people we’ve served,” said co-owner and funeral director Anthony Spears. The home has been a long-standing institution for members of Riverside’s Black community.

The date of sale to developer DND Homes is not final; the business will stay open and operating until sometime in 2026…….”

Teardown of A.J. Spears Funeral Home is okayed by Cambridge Historical Commission in 6-1 vote (updated) - Cambridge Day

Change will come to Western Avenue next year after a ruling Sept. 4 by the Cambridge Historical Society that a family can sell its A.J. Spears Funeral Home property to a developer for demolition and replacement with an apartment building.

www.cambridgeday.com

https://www.cambridgema.gov/-/media/Files/historicalcommission/pdf/chcmeetingfiles/d17421743_plans.pdf

 

[stick n move]

Demolition for Ellery Street housing denied, development to continue with preservation (updated)

The full demolition of a historic mansard style home at 84-86 Ellery St. was stopped with a unanimous vote Aug. 4 by the Mid-Cambridge Neighborhood Conservation District Commission.

www.cambridgeday.com

The ellery street proposal has been killed by the conservation board, somehow. I didn't know they had the authority to do it.

They are requiring any development to do a facadectomy on the brick home. Why? An architect was born there and the typology of the building is I guess rare. Said architect was asked about the significance of that home and this is what she had to say:

Not killed they just had to come back with revised plans, heres the revised plan.

https://www.cambridgema.gov/-/media/Files/historicalcommission/pdf/mcmeetingfiles/mc73318486ellerystreetreviseddrawings.pdf

Attend meetings in Cambridge between Oct. 2-9 about a new tax rate and housing developments - Cambridge Day

Public meetings this week look at setting property tax rates, supporting small businesses, a hotel project in Harvard Square and residential developments in Mid-Cambridge and near Porter Square in North Cambridge.

www.cambridgeday.com

 

[Javier]

 

[BACsop]

Contrarian Boston covers Senné Managment's activities in Cambridge:

Become a News Defender | Mass. schools fail students | Fast-growing Boston area real estate firm and its controversial owner slammed with lawsuits, foreclosure notices |

Power independent journalism and reporting.

scottvanvoorhis.substack.com

 

[Texasian]

Contrarian Boston covers Senné Managment's activities in Cambridge:

Become a News Defender | Mass. schools fail students | Fast-growing Boston area real estate firm and its controversial owner slammed with lawsuits, foreclosure notices |

Power independent journalism and reporting.

scottvanvoorhis.substack.com

Whelp… they’re my building’s management company. This explains why we haven’t been able to get bank statements from them despite asking for years.

 

[Javier]

 

[stick n move]

$15.5M in Financing Secured for Cambridge Multifamily​

“$15.575 million in financing has been closed on through Needham Bank for 231-235 Third Street in Cambridge. Plans for the site call for a 5-story development to include 19 residential units. No parking is included in the project as the transit-oriented site is located between Kendall Square & East Cambridge.”

https://www.bldup.com/posts/15-5m-in-financing-secured-for-cambridge-multifamily

 

[BACsop]

Recent condo infill project on the corner of Harvard & Elm, not far from Lamplighter:

 

[as02155]

View attachment 67989View attachment 67990

That's an awful big new swimming pool.

 

[FK4]

The saga on Ellery continues to move foward:

Ellery Street six-story apartment building advances with reminders of passed zoning (updated)

Demolition and construction of a six-story apartment building at 60 Ellery St. falling under recent multifamily zoning reforms was moved along with a 4-1 approval by a Mid-Cambridge conservation commission.

www.cambridgeday.com

The developer seems to have accommodated a reasonable amount of design feedback. Meanwhile, the usual entertaining volley of public comments ensued...

I mean, I know this street well. I completely understand why anyone living on it would not want this huge hulking building smushed into their hood. I also think the only way out of preventing us from becoming a complete failure due to impossible cost of living is aggressive change on this scale. But it doesn’t mean that it’s pretty and it doesn’t mean the people who complain about it are being unreasonable. Ellery is a small, residential street. I can’t imagine owning a home here and suddenly having to deal with this in my backyard.