Brighton-Allston Improvement Association grills developers
By Meena Ramakrishnan
Wicked Local Allston
Posted Mar 11, 2010 @ 06:25 AM
Allston-Brighton ?
Five construction proposals on the Brighton-Allston Improvement Association?s agenda made it a long night on March 4, as community members discussed small housing and large corporate projects developers want to bring to the area this spring, one of which was voted against.
The monthly police report brought up the recent fatal stabbing on Harvard Avenue that occurred after a bar brawl between five men. Sergeant Hugh Solari said the incident was not associated with a bar, but that alcohol was involved. The suspect was caught and arrested by a policeman on foot patrol.
?The kids weren?t coming out of a bar, but someone was drinking,? said Solari. ?A code 19 officer around the corner was walking around, and that?s how the arrest was made.?
There have also been robberies by perpetrators claiming to be associated with the police or the sewer department asking for donations. Solari advised people to verify their credentials and not to give out Social Security numbers.
?We don?t need your money. We?ll let you know if we do,? he said.
Out of the four other construction proposals, the project for Lowe?s Home Improvement Store received the most concern and complaints from residents. The president of Marathon Realty Corporation, David Wagner, said the shovel-ready project to replace the Barry Controls building on Guest Street will bring hundreds of jobs to the area and will not increase traffic near the Mass. Turnpike.
Lowe?s site development manager said the company has developed a traffic mitigation plan to synchronize traffic lights, replace outdated signals and add an additional turning lane, which he said could improve the current traffic level.
?If traffic doesn?t function, our store doesn?t function properly. At some of the intersections, conditions will improve,? he said.
City Councilor Mark Ciommo did not believe the Lowe?s traffic plan would alleviate traffic, and was also concerned about delivery trucks coming onto local streets.
?Putting Lowe?s in a major place where traffic is restricted near the freeway exit will only make things worse,? he said.
Local resident Charlie Cryts said the proposal would be beneficial to the community by providing much-needed jobs for ?30 percent of the city?s population who are unemployed.?
He said nearby companies WGBH and New Balance employ people from Wellesley, Newton and Needham, but not Allston or Brighton.
Lowe?s filed development plans with the Boston Redevelopment Authority on Wednesday. The company wants to create a single level store on Guest Street that offers approximately 103,000 square feet of retail sales space and an additional adjacent outdoor garden center of approximately 22,500 square feet. The overall plan is smaller than the original.
The only proposal that was turned down at the meeting was for a 20-unit apartment complex on Greylock Road. The Greylock Glenville LLC project would replace two old houses currently standing and in need of constant repair. The new complex would have 16 one- and two-bedroom units and 30 underground parking sports.
The project does have the approval of the Boston Redevelopment Authority, but has twice been met with resistance from the BAIA. Though the project has been reworked, community members dislike the modern building structure and believe it will house college students.
?Right now it?s just an idea and until it?s penciled in, we can?t break ground,? said developer Dimitry Baskin.
BAIA members Eva Webster and Alex Selvig said the complex would destroy Allston?s historic character and bring more transient residents, despite Baskin?s claim that it would house young professionals and starting families.
?Your mix of two-bedrooms and one-bedrooms is not family-friendly. This is primarily for students, and it will make the community worse for the permanent residents,? said Selvig.
Greylock Glenville LLC has maintained the houses for the last three years, which were built in 1880. Baskin said because of the number of repairs they require, it is more cost effective to tear them down and build a new complex.
Another proposal to demolish an existing house on Tremont Street was liked by many of the community members. Jack French, with Neshamkin French Architects Inc., said it would be replaced with a five-bedroom condominium and include 10 parking spaces. The condominium near the Newton-Brighton line was designed with the surrounding architecture in mind and will replicate a Mansard cottage.
?What we?re going to do is try to replicate the architecture around Brighton,? French said.
Webster compared this proposal to Greylock and said the previous proposal might get approved if the apartment complex had some elements of colonial architecture.
?We don?t get these large units in Allston-Brighton anymore. This would go to BC faculty, not BC students,? she said.
A smaller construction project that also got approved was for extending the first-floor unit into the basement and adding three rooms on Hobart Street. A young couple from Ireland wants to use the rooms to house guests and extend their family. Niamh Daly insisted they would not rent the rooms, and had the support of Ciommo and 42 of their neighbors.
?We?re not trying to manipulate anyone. We?re just trying to do things fair,? said Daly.
But BAIA member Harry Nesdekidis said if the family chooses to sell their home, it could be bought by an absentee landlord and rented to college students.
He said, ?All of a sudden we?ll have college kids renting the space after the family sells the house. What is the need right now??
A project that came again before the BAIA, this time for a presentation on 1501 Commonwealth Ave. for a 59-unit apartment complex to replace a former deteriorating nursing home which the city acquired out of foreclosure. The development plans come from the city?s Department of Neighborhood Development and the Brighton Partnership for Community Development.
Project developer Merrill Diamond of Diamond Sinacori Real Estate Development said there has not been any notable development in the past like their project, which will be historically respectful.
?We noted that there hadn?t been anything built in the last 40 to 50 years that was notable,? Diamond said. ?There isn?t much beautiful architecture on Commonwealth Avenue. We wanted to do something that was very unique.?
The development organizations also plan to donate money for computer labs in nearby public housing, a property management apprenticeship program and a donation to improve Ringer Park with proceeds from a flip tax on condominium resales.
The project is still in the early stages, but BAIA President Donal Carroll commended the developers for sticking closely with the original proposal.
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