ACC/NU Residence Hall | 840 Columbus Ave | Northeastern University

A large format, full service restaurant and bar. Friends of mine operate a boardgame cafe and bar that I think conceptually would be a slam dunk here.
Yeah, this seems right. There's ground floor space in extant buildings, but universities almost never publicly lease such areas. I don't know if there's retail planned for the Whittier redevelopment 12 story (u/c) or the Crescent parcel proposals, both of which could help too.
 
This whole section of Columbus has been devoid of commercial activity for eons. Even with the retail opening up in Lightview and ISEC finally getting a replacement coffee shop, it still feels like it's still missing something. Wonder what it'll take to get things feeling "right."
Tremont is much the same--it's probably too wide to be a real retail corridor but more options aimed a local residents seem like they could work.
 
Here is the story in The Huntington News that summarizes the proposal:

1703876241400.png
 
Tremont is much the same--it's probably too wide to be a real retail corridor but more options aimed a local residents seem like they could work.
There's a bunch of small retail on Tremont between ~Camden and St Cyprian streets, much of which serves students. If anything, it makes the area by Ruggles stand out more for how hostile it is.
 
There's a bunch of small retail on Tremont between ~Camden and St Cyprian streets, much of which serves students. If anything, it makes the area by Ruggles stand out more for how hostile it is.
Good point--I was thinking about the area after Melnea Cass when the street gets really wide and the Southwest Corridor is on one side of the street. I know that BTD is looking at center bus lanes there, which will really change that character.
 
Good point--I was thinking about the area after Melnea Cass when the street gets really wide and the Southwest Corridor is on one side of the street. I know that BTD is looking at center bus lanes there, which will really change that character.
Yeah, plus they may eventually build on P3, though the latest proposal continues the boneheaded trend there.
 
I'm no design snob, but seeing images of this particular approved building makes me yearn for the day when cornices and ornamentation fall back into fashion.
 
I looked at the ACC LightView website. It says that the building is open to students at Northeastern University and Boston University. I thought that it was exclusively for Northeastern students. Will this building be exclusive to Northeastern?

"Find your place to shine at LightView, Boston's premier student housing choice for Northeastern University and Boston University students! You'll love our spacious, fully furnished apartments near NEU and BU, academic resources and modern amenities to keep you fit, healthy and happy."

 
Do you think it was more VE'd instead?
I'm sure that's a big part of it but they described a lot of the changes as appeasing the BCDC specifically in this iteration: https://bpda.app.box.com/s/wt26ssqye8pzds1div1f4e2i1yty81ox

You can kind of follow the design progression by going through all the BCDC presentations and I'm just impressed we ended up with something so uninspired after at least 5 civic design reviews. And NU has shown with EXP/ISEC that they're at least sometimes willing to pay for bespoke design...

March 2024: https://bpda.box.com/v/20240305-840COLUMBUSAVE
Feb 2024: missing file
January 2024: https://bpda.app.box.com/s/er1jyzll5gj0vy43k3o0oupkws03kfek
2021: https://bpda.box.com/s/wt26ssqye8pzds1div1f4e2i1yty81ox
2020: https://bpda.app.box.com/s/v9v1u30d9tsmymvefejljsdh1djk3mrr
 
Their other recent dorm tower came out pretty good imo,
1710620557813.jpeg


I wonder why the review process ruined this one so much.
 
I looked at the ACC LightView website. It says that the building is open to students at Northeastern University and Boston University. I thought that it was exclusively for Northeastern students. Will this building be exclusive to Northeastern?

"Find your place to shine at LightView, Boston's premier student housing choice for Northeastern University and Boston University students! You'll love our spacious, fully furnished apartments near NEU and BU, academic resources and modern amenities to keep you fit, healthy and happy."


It is not near BU so that seems a bit odd, unless it is open for students at BU medical school.
 

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