Allston Green | 24 Linden & 8-20 Pratt Street | Allston

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#bancars

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LOI filed on this project last June, but PNF just dropped. Didn't see a thread so I'm creating this one.

This is a big project for Allston, immediately adjacent to the recently-approved Allston Square Project, less than half a mile from the contentious Allston Yards project, and just over the Pike from the under-review Common Allbright co-living project.

From the BPDA website:

The Proposed Project will replace the existing commercial building at 20 Linden Street and six dilapidated 3-story residential buildings at 24 Linden and 8-20 Pratt Street with three new residential buildings, comprising a total of approximately 317,000 square feet of Gross Floor Area. Building A, located on the corner of Linden and Cambridge Streets, will be fourteen (14) stories (approximately 153 feet) and will provide approximately 232 residential apartments. Building B, located on Linden Street, will be six (6) stories (approximately 69'11"), and will provide approximately 64 residential apartments. Building C, located on Pratt Street, will be four (4) stories (46'5"), with the fourth story setback from the sidewalk of Pratt Street, and will provide 52 condominium units. The proposed Project will be a mix of studio, one-bedroom, one-bedroom plus den and two-bedroom units. The Proposed Project will also provide approximately 4,700 square feet of non-residential ground floor space for publicly accessible uses currently envisioned to be a gallery and artist co-working space. A below-grade garage will accommodate approximately 157 parking spaces. The Proposed Project will create approximately 19,900 square feet of new open space.
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Some renders from the PNF. Neat how they showed a completed Common Allbright in several of the renders.

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Its nice to still get drops like this, this late in the game. Were in extra innings on the cycle but the bats keep connecting.

Someone was just saying the other day how a lot has been built, but the city really still feels the same size. I agree, but we may be nearing the point where that changes. Im liking all the low/mid rise proposals coming along outside the core recently. Now that basically every high end downtown proposal... ever, is in some stage of movement, it looks like its finally trickling down. This is I hope where the more meaningful changes for the average Bostonian come to fruition, with the bigger projects in Allston, Dorchester, now getting started. We shall see.
 
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stick n move said:
Its nice to still get drops like this, this late in the game. Were in extra innings on the cycle but the bats keep connecting....
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huh??
www.patriotledger.com

Is there an end in sight to Massachusetts' housing crisis?

Gov. Charlie Baker declared a housing crisis in Massachusetts in 2018, but residents have been feeling the effects for more than a decade. While speaking
www.patriotledger.com www.patriotledger.com
What game are we late in? Boston/Cambridge/ Somerville, etc can elect to go it alone–but they won't satiate demand in such a distorted regional supply-delivery environment. Strange as it sounds: people have kids. They graduate from college, adding to more people who arrive at our regional airports or freeways with plans to stay.

With so many labs, suburban sprawl, bays, & mountains allowing extremely limited expansion outward, San Francisco 'Sanfrancisco-ized' during the last 20 years in a prolonged crunch.

The Mass Bay colony ruled by rabid nimby's, has created a very similar environment in its core (now 'Sanfrancisco-izing).' Where is the end of the market where money and jobs dwarfs the tiny island called Boston/Cambridge/ Somerville/Malden engaging in housing development, *except every building is missing 3, 4, 8, 12 floors? Boston: meet your cousin, San Francisco–where there is no game you're late in.
 
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I like this one. Hopefully there is no compromise with the height. The 153' almost definitely doesn't include the mech top so it's probably more like 175'. It's just enough to make a real visual impact, but will lose that if they chop any of the floors. Otherwise, it will set a nice new precedent going forward in Allston.
 
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sm89 said:
Not opposed to losing them, but "dilapidated"...? https://goo.gl/maps/mHCm3GfTsy1apsLe7
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Yeah, I saw that. Displacement of residents from those buildings is definitely a concern for this project. I'm all for building on parking lots, vacant properties, or tearing down auto dealerships / repair shops (of which there seem to be no shortage in Allston) for new infill, but losing comparably-affordable rental housing stock in a neighborhood like Allston is never a good thing. Unless the buildings are in such bad condition they are practically unlivable, which I don't think is the case here.
 
#bancars said:
Yeah, I saw that. Displacement of residents from those buildings is definitely a concern for this project. I'm all for building on parking lots, vacant properties, or tearing down auto dealerships / repair shops (of which there seem to be no shortage in Allston) for new infill, but losing comparably-affordable rental housing stock in a neighborhood like Allston is never a good thing. Unless the buildings are in such bad condition they are practically unlivable, which I don't think is the case here.
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I'd rather see some numbers on how many non-students occupy the units in this neighborhood, and how "affordable" they actually are. Allston is pretty expensive these days, that's why the immigrant communities that used to be so present here are long gone and it's basically just a big BU dorm. Provided affordable housing can be included, areas like this wedge of Allston - between the Pike and Comm Ave - are areas I would be fine seeing leveled and rebuilt over time (and not just here, I mean all over town). The triple decker level of density is just not dense enough to be justified anywhere near the urban core. I know that sounds dramatic, but during previous waves of growth neighborhoods were completely rebuilt. It's the only way cities have grown and selective development of lots here and there, even with more liberal heights, is never going to make Boston affordable again in the way to truly return it to an economically diverse city. Seeing the whole city get rebuilt is not something I relish the thought of, but I don't see how you can justify a neighborhood of three story buildings anywhere within 2-3 miles of downtown, anymore.... or single family homes within 3-5 miles.
 
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There are still some huge areas that Id like to see developed. A huge one is in Dorchester between BMC and South Bay there is an ENORMOUS amount of land, in a relatively run down area, where you could fit thousands and thousands of affordable units. Theres a lot of room behind BMC also between the hospital and Melnea Cass. I think those areas would be great for redevelopment.
 
dshoost88 said:
Allston Green... because Allston Green District didn't already happen within the last decade...:rolleyes:

(for the record, I LOVE this project... but the name of these places seem stupid. What happened to good ole' fashion street addresses?)
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I'll give them a little bit of a pass if they have more than one building. In this case the addresses are on different streets, too.
 
Part of this reminds me of a mini-Seaport Echelon. Awesome project - will be interesting to see if the neighbors knock down the height.
 
stick n move said:
There are still some huge areas that Id like to see developed. A huge one is in Dorchester between BMC and South Bay there is an ENORMOUS amount of land, in a relatively run down area, where you could fit thousands and thousands of affordable units. Theres a lot of room behind BMC also between the hospital and Melnea Cass. I think those areas would be great for redevelopment.
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Stick -- the simple truth is that there really is a lot of land in Boston [City] and inner suburbs which could and probably will be up-densifying as long as the Boston/Cambridge -- the Future Lives Here or World's Smartest Place continues to drive the economics of the rest of Massachusetts and New England

There is always the danger that the Political-hacks [who mostly contribute nothing of value] get so greedy that they -- if not kill it -- certainly try to put the Goose laying the golden eggs aka the Knowledge Economy on a calorie restricting diet. In that case the Geese can pick-up and fly off to a more friendly clime -- making the NIMBYs and their cousins the ignorant idiots happy.
 
I'll wager the neighborhood will ask to knock off 3-4 floors, reconfigure for more 2 bedrooms and fewer studios, and relocate the parking garage entrance/egress given the size of Pratt St.

Even VE'd, this will be a pretty killer project for the area.
 
This development gets at least 1 thumb down.

The proposed buildings look OK - typical schlock for our architecturally ideas-poor era. But the idea they are replacing anything "dilapidated" is as much horse---- as I've ever heard.

If these buildings are "dilapidated" then so is most of Newton, or Wellesley, or any other suburb with detached houses. There doesn't appear to be a single damn "dilapidated" thing about any of these buildings ... and the commercial building at 20 Linden Street is a great piece of industrial-architecture history.

The saddest thing is they are barely denting the huge amount of surface parking on these blocks. This covers maybe 1/5 of it. And that's what a "green" or even just improved development would do.
 
Have you spent much time on that strip of Linden street? I admittedly haven't since ~2015 when I moved out of allston but it sure was dilapidated then and I don't imagine its improved.
 
KCasiglio said:
Have you spent much time on that strip of Linden street? I admittedly haven't since ~2015 when I moved out of allston but it sure was dilapidated then and I don't imagine its improved.
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It's not the Linden stretch, it's the Pratt stretch. I wouldn't call those houses dilapidated, but I'm more confused about the parking comment. Most of the corner is currently a surface lot and this project has not one surface parking space...
 
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