155 North Beacon Street | Brighton

Equilibria

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PNF: https://bpda.app.box.com/s/0ia5lunvhggie46gjcniu0dhordlts2a

Roughly 410KSF of life science space across 3 buildings.

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Looks good. Good to see the development around new balance moving beyond guest st to beacon st as well.
 
Am I correct that this is the current Cort Furniture Center?


If so, this is a nice upgrade and perfectly contextual here. I was concerned until I found the street view.

Will also result in a nice upgrade/cleanup of Life Street.
 

How about they build them a new location on this property they own and keep the rents reasonable, or they don't get approval?
 
It pains me to see the character leave Allston, but I think acceptance is better than a patchwork of life support for key businesses. The owner gladly sold and decamped for Norwood, which highlights that scenes move elsewhere. Eventually this area will be very different than it is today, so if the rehearsal spaces were to survive I don't think the affordable rents that foster a vibrant arts scene will, similar to Cambridgeport's EMF building surrounded by upscale housing featuring dog parks and expensive, trendy restaurants. And it's not just the arts. I have similar thoughts when I see the dwindling number of Jewish businesses on Harvard near Coolidge Corner, jewelry stores in DTX, Italian markets in the North End, dives in Southie, artist studios in the Seaport... eventually the remnants are just curiosities rather than anchors for an actual community.
 
It pains me to see the character leave Allston, but I think acceptance is better than a patchwork of life support for key businesses. The owner gladly sold and decamped for Norwood, which highlights that scenes move elsewhere. Eventually this area will be very different than it is today, so if the rehearsal spaces were to survive I don't think the affordable rents that foster a vibrant arts scene will, similar to Cambridgeport's EMF building surrounded by upscale housing featuring dog parks and expensive, trendy restaurants. And it's not just the arts. I have similar thoughts when I see the dwindling number of Jewish businesses on Harvard near Coolidge Corner, jewelry stores in DTX, Italian markets in the North End, dives in Southie, artist studios in the Seaport... eventually the remnants are just curiosities rather than anchors for an actual community.

well put and all too true
 
Update on Sound Musuem practice space and Boston Light and Sound properties. I’m not totally clear from the article if the city has agreed.

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From BBJ:

“IQHQ Inc. has purchased a building about a quarter-mile from its proposed Brighton lab facility as potential replacement rehearsal space for the musicians soon to be kicked off the life sciences developer's property.
The California-based development firm acquired 290 N. Beacon St. from the owners of the audio and video systems business Boston Light and Sound for $18 million, according to a deed posted online Thursday. Boston Light and Sound, a long-established vendor at top film festivals like Sundance, is based out of the location.
IQHQ unveiled plans last year to build more than 350,000 square feet of lab and office space down the road at 155 North Beacon St., which is now home to the Sound Museum, a popular music rehearsal space and recording studio and one of the few affordable options for Boston musicians.
IQHQ reportedly said months ago that it intended to relocate the rehearsal space before tearing down the building, but ultimately told the Sound Museum to leave the property by Jan. 31 without replacement space lined up.
The city of Boston said last week that IQHQ had bought an Allston-Brighton property with the intention of giving it to the city as a replacement for the Sound Museum, but it had declined to identify the property’s location.
Even with the acquisition, the Sound Museum’s customers may be without rehearsal space for the foreseeable future.
The Boston Light and Sound property at 290 N. Beacon St. will need to be reconfigured. The city and the Boston Planning and Development Agency are reviewing IQHQ’s proposal to hand over the property, a city spokesperson said last week. The use of the property as rehearsal space is tied to the BPDA approving IQHQ’s lab project, which has not yet happened.
The Mayor’s Office of Arts and Culture said in a statement Thursday that it and the BPDA are “working urgently” to find temporary space for the musicians in the time between their eviction from the Sound Museum and the opening of the new rehearsal studio. It said that “specific options are on the table” without naming them.
But in an email Friday, Sound Museum co-owner Katherine Desmond said the city had rejected IQHQ's "amazingly generous offer to relocate and rebuild" the Sound Museum. She pins the responsibility for the displacement of the rehearsal space's 325 or so tenants on the city: "the city insisted they get a free building in Allston Brighton or nothing, to the detriment of our tenants and the 4 family businesses of ours housed at 155 N. Beacon Street."
"In the meantime, we are heartbroken to have to tell our tenants that the city did not negotiate in their best interest by choosing to get free real estate and leave the very tenants they supposedly negotiated this building for on the streets for who knows how long without a place to work," Desmond said. "We appreciate that IQHQ tried to do the actual only sane and sensible thing to keep the musicians housed without interruption by offering to rebuilding us, but they ultimately had to work with what the city wanted as part of their development process."
An IQHQ spokesperson declined to comment.
The 290 N. Beacon St. building has one floor and is over 34,000 square feet, with a mix of office, warehouse and storage space. The property is located near the I-90 underpass on North Beacon Street.

Boston Light and Sound is still operating out of the building for now. The business plans to move to another location at some point, though it may not be in Brighton or Boston, said Jeremy Freid, a broker at 128CRE that worked with Boston Light and Sound on the transaction. He named the Route 128 or 495 submarkets as possibilities. Boston Light and Sound's owners bought the building in 1997.”
 
Update on Sound Musuem practice space and Boston Light and Sound properties. I’m not totally clear from the article if the city has agreed.

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From BBJ:

“IQHQ Inc. has purchased a building about a quarter-mile from its proposed Brighton lab facility as potential replacement rehearsal space for the musicians soon to be kicked off the life sciences developer's property.
The California-based development firm acquired 290 N. Beacon St. from the owners of the audio and video systems business Boston Light and Sound for $18 million, according to a deed posted online Thursday. Boston Light and Sound, a long-established vendor at top film festivals like Sundance, is based out of the location.
IQHQ unveiled plans last year to build more than 350,000 square feet of lab and office space down the road at 155 North Beacon St., which is now home to the Sound Museum, a popular music rehearsal space and recording studio and one of the few affordable options for Boston musicians.
IQHQ reportedly said months ago that it intended to relocate the rehearsal space before tearing down the building, but ultimately told the Sound Museum to leave the property by Jan. 31 without replacement space lined up.
The city of Boston said last week that IQHQ had bought an Allston-Brighton property with the intention of giving it to the city as a replacement for the Sound Museum, but it had declined to identify the property’s location.
Even with the acquisition, the Sound Museum’s customers may be without rehearsal space for the foreseeable future.
The Boston Light and Sound property at 290 N. Beacon St. will need to be reconfigured. The city and the Boston Planning and Development Agency are reviewing IQHQ’s proposal to hand over the property, a city spokesperson said last week. The use of the property as rehearsal space is tied to the BPDA approving IQHQ’s lab project, which has not yet happened.
The Mayor’s Office of Arts and Culture said in a statement Thursday that it and the BPDA are “working urgently” to find temporary space for the musicians in the time between their eviction from the Sound Museum and the opening of the new rehearsal studio. It said that “specific options are on the table” without naming them.
But in an email Friday, Sound Museum co-owner Katherine Desmond said the city had rejected IQHQ's "amazingly generous offer to relocate and rebuild" the Sound Museum. She pins the responsibility for the displacement of the rehearsal space's 325 or so tenants on the city: "the city insisted they get a free building in Allston Brighton or nothing, to the detriment of our tenants and the 4 family businesses of ours housed at 155 N. Beacon Street."
"In the meantime, we are heartbroken to have to tell our tenants that the city did not negotiate in their best interest by choosing to get free real estate and leave the very tenants they supposedly negotiated this building for on the streets for who knows how long without a place to work," Desmond said. "We appreciate that IQHQ tried to do the actual only sane and sensible thing to keep the musicians housed without interruption by offering to rebuilding us, but they ultimately had to work with what the city wanted as part of their development process."
An IQHQ spokesperson declined to comment.
The 290 N. Beacon St. building has one floor and is over 34,000 square feet, with a mix of office, warehouse and storage space. The property is located near the I-90 underpass on North Beacon Street.

Boston Light and Sound is still operating out of the building for now. The business plans to move to another location at some point, though it may not be in Brighton or Boston, said Jeremy Freid, a broker at 128CRE that worked with Boston Light and Sound on the transaction. He named the Route 128 or 495 submarkets as possibilities. Boston Light and Sound's owners bought the building in 1997.”

Sadly, not a good look for the City of Boston and the Wu Administration. The fact that the tenants are siding with the developer that's actually displacing them and blaming the City for this screw up speaks volumes for exactly how complete this bureaucratic fumble is. Hopefully, this is a learning experience.
 
Oooh. Such activated streetwall. Very wow.

Feels pretty sterile for the latest and greatest (?) part of a multi-million-square-foot development cluster.
 
Would have been nice to have the entrances to the buildings on North Beacon instead of on the entrance plaza. Would have helped activate.

I wonder if that may be partially for abutting properties?

I have spent some time in one of the apartment buildings across the street. They are old and not particularly well soundproofed. Keeping the entrances down by Glencoe (and from Life St) will likely also keep most of the pickups/dropoffs, shouted greetings/farewells, and all that sort of thing down there where they're only bothering the end building instead of all of them.
 
I wonder if that may be partially for abutting properties?

I have spent some time in one of the apartment buildings across the street. They are old and not particularly well soundproofed. Keeping the entrances down by Glencoe (and from Life St) will likely also keep most of the pickups/dropoffs, shouted greetings/farewells, and all that sort of thing down there where they're only bothering the end building instead of all of them.

Then soundproof the old apartment buildings across street. It’s a city, not Wellesley. The city should not dumb down because the old apartment building is lacking.

”Hey don’t go to MIT, because that will make your high school dropout older brother feel bad”.
 
Then soundproof the old apartment buildings across street. It’s a city, not Wellesley. The city should not dumb down because the old apartment building is lacking.

”Hey don’t go to MIT, because that will make your high school dropout older brother feel bad”.
“Don’t drive like my brother!”
 

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