Allston Square | 372 Cambridge St | Allston

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tysmith95

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"Allston Square is a proposed 390,000-square-foot two-phased, mixed-use residential/retail development centered about the intersection of Cambridge Street and Harvard Avenue in Allston. The development would construct six buildings across multiple sites containing a total of 353 residences, including 245 condominiums and 108 rental apartments, 24,550 square feet of retail and 189 parking spaces. Existing buildings would be demolished."


http://www.bldup.com/projects/allston-square
 
Thought I read about this in another thread that had criticism of the proposed demolition.

P.S. Allston Brighton Developments, mid November.
 
probably deserves its own thread, maybe once there's an actual PNF. Right now, bldup just has photos that they took from the ArchBoston Allston-Brighton thread. So, hardly any news of substance.
 
Yup.

Shame to rip down a building just to build a pallid imitation of the decedent.
 
PNF (warning, the file is big):

http://www.bostonplans.org/document...ings/allston-square-project-notification-form

Maps start on p.32, subsections (pictures are scattered, which stinks) for each building start on:

- 334 Cambridge on p.150
- 16 Highgate on p.223
- 2-8 Harvard on p.282
- Allston Hall on p.358
- Franklin/Braintree on p.397
- 415 Cambridge on p.459

With the exception of 334 Cambridge, this looks great. Varying architectural styles, lots of murals...

Btw, this is a six-building proposal (with addresses on at least 4 different streets...), so we may want to consider renaming the thread: "Allston Square | Master Plan | Allston".
 
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Well, this certainly strikes a deathblow to any conception of the Allston that once was… Especially the 2 - 8 Harvard address… Debate amongst yourselves whether that’s a good thing or not, but as a fact it’s inarguable. Personally, I think we totally overdo everything in this town, and preserve too much obsolete garbage both in terms of old buildings as well as unseemly neighborhood character - but destroying the building on the corner of Linden, and obliterating the last vestige of the old watering hole at the corner of Harvard, is completely unacceptable, even by more flexible standards.
 
Someone actually paid for architecture school to teach them how to do this. What a waste.

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FK4 said:
Well, this certainly strikes a deathblow to any conception of the Allston that once was… Especially the 2 - 8 Harvard address… Debate amongst yourselves whether that’s a good thing or not, but as a fact it’s inarguable. Personally, I think we totally overdo everything in this town, and preserve too much obsolete garbage both in terms of old buildings as well as unseemly neighborhood character - but destroying the building on the corner of Linden, and obliterating the last vestige of the old watering hole at the corner of Harvard, is completely unacceptable, even by more flexible standards.
Click to expand...

To a certain extent I agree with you, but I don't really take issue with the proposed buildings. I have always thought this section of Allston was a bit empty and bleak. Gritty is fine and good, and there is some of that which we will lose, but empty and bleak is a really bad thing, and this will address that. However, some of the amenity details are pretty horrifying. The various Seaport style seating areas are terrible. Allston is about loitering, not about ostentatious display. These features do not belong in that part of the city.
 
415 Cambridge is my favorite among this mix. Has a distinctly Copenhagen feel to it. But it's rather bizarre to be building around the auto parts store. How long will that owner hold out, and now what would be able to ever replace it?
 
HenryAlan said:
To a certain extent I agree with you, but I don't really take issue with the proposed buildings. I have always thought this section of Allston was a bit empty and bleak. Gritty is fine and good, and there is some of that which we will lose, but empty and bleak is a really bad thing, and this will address that. However, some of the amenity details are pretty horrifying. The various Seaport style seating areas are terrible. Allston is about loitering, not about ostentatious display. These features do not belong in that part of the city.
Click to expand...

I should’ve added that the stuff on Cambridge, Braintree, Franklin - all good. I agree re bleak. It’s the corners I mentioned I take issue with.

Edit - by “all good” I mean less offensive and more in line with the usual neighborhood destruction I’m used to seeing in Boston. Nobody’s going to listen if I defend the preservation of old warehouse buildings with all night raves and illegal alcohol serving, security protected and provided by bikers. Or romanticizing parking lots by the highway.
 
From the presentation:

REVISED PROJECT BREAKDOWN
· 6 BUILDINGS
· TOTAL LOT SIZE: 92,760 SQUARE FEET
· UNITS: 341 TOTAL UNITS (+7 UNITS)
(237 CONDOS & 104 RENTAL UNITS)
· PARKING SPACES: 174 (- 63 SPACES)
· RESIDENTIAL SPACE: 251,965 SQUARE FEET (+ 4,770 SF)
· RETAIL SPACE: 15,765 SQUARE FEET (- 6,355 SF)
· OPEN SPACE: 27,758 SQUARE FEET (+4,592 SF)​

That's pretty amazing -- I don't think I've ever seen parking go down and units go up from first to second iterations. I am loving the low parking ratios in this proposal.
 
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