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Destination: T showpiece: $100M Ashmont plan setBy Paul Restuccia
Sunday, July 2, 2006
Turning an urban no-man?s land into a vibrant destination is no easy task.
But after six years of planning, work is getting under way on a major T station rehabilitation and 116-unit residential complex that promises to turn the now-decrepit Ashmont Station area into a showpiece of the state?s push for transit-oriented development.
Almost $100 million is being invested in the project - a $44 million rehab of the station itself into a glass-canopied architectural landmark, a $50 million condo/apartment complex with 10,000 square feet of retail and a multimillion-dollar makeover of the adjacent Peabody Square intersection to make it more pedestrian-friendly.
The area is along Dorchester Avenue between the Ashmont Hill and Ashmont Adams neighborhoods, two areas with dozens of imposing Victorian homes built for wealthy 19th-century Bostonians that are now diverse neighborhoods of middle- and upper-middle class families and young professionals.
The yet unnamed residential project, developed by Boston?s Trinity Financial and set to break ground later this month, will have 116 units - 74 affordable rental units with rents between $900 and $1,100 and 42 one- and two-bedroom market-rate condos, which will start at around $300,000. The project, which will take two years to build, has received state tax credits of $2.5 million and $2 million in transit-oriented development funds and will be built on land leased from the T.
?Some people thought we were crazy to want to do this, but we think there?s a lot of people out there who want to live in the city and be right on the T,? says Vince Droser, project manager and vice president at Trinity, who also lives in the neighborhood.
The condos will get high-end treatments like granite and stainless-steel kitchens and hardwood floors with parking beneath the multistory building.
?The project will not only provide needed rental housing to people with moderate income, but the condos are geared toward buyers who want a sleek and modern place in the city but who can?t afford the South End,? says Larry Gettings of At Home Realty, the broker for the complex, whose design will feature brick, glass and metal panels.
?The retail space is being put along Dorchester Avenue and near the station exits to liven up the street,? says project architect Philip Renzi of The Architectural Team.
The T?s decision to lease the parking lot in front of the station for housing had wide community support as it has long been a magnet for trouble.
?The station as it is now has too many places to hide and it just invites people to hang around,? says Barbara Boylan, the T?s director of design. ?The new station will keep people moving - it?ll be modern, safe and secure with easy and accessible transfers from train to bus to trolley that will dramatically improve the quality of life here.?
The three-year Ashmont revamp is already under way and will create a brand-new Red Line station as well as an attached new looping stop for the Ashmont-Mattapan trolley, which just closed for extensive renovations along its entire route.
The 40-foot-high glass-canopiedAshmont station redesign promises to be an attractive gateway to the community with a north entrance right from Peabody Square.
?It?s going to be a focal point for the neighborhood and will make getting in and out of the station a lot easier and more organized,? says Patricia Intrieri, principal of station architect Cambridge Seven Associates, who says the station is used by 17,000 riders daily.
The retail area along this stretch of Dorchester Avenue has a pub, pizza shop, liquor store, a few convenience markets and a Dunkin? Donuts, but lacks more upscale shops and services catering to residents who have bought and rehabbed the historic houses on the adjacent hills.
The popularity of the upscale Ashmont Grill bistro that opened here last fall demonstrates there is a market here for more chef-owned restaurants, says Dan Larner, executive director of the St. Mark?s Area Main Streets. He says the community would like to see a cafe, bakery, upscale small grocer and even a bookstore here.
?The new retail space is an opportunity for shops to get in on the ground floor in an up-and-coming area,? Larner says.
The city is also doing its part, with plans to make the intersection of Dorchester Avenue, Talbot Avenue and Ashmont Streets more walkable and connected to the existing flower bed and clock in the center of Peabody Square.
?We?re going to make it easier to cross the square,? says Vineet Gupta, director of planning for the Boston Transportation Department. ?Reconfiguring the streets will improve traffic flow and create a plaza area with some green space. Along with the station revamp and the housing, it?s going to transform the look of the area.?
Peabody Square is named after prominent Boston banker Col. Oliver Peabody. Waylayed here during a 1879 blizzard, he was so impressed with the hospitality he received at then-small chapel that he provided funds to build a major church in Ashmont. Designed by architect Ralph Adams Cram, All Saints Ashmont revolutionized church design and brought Cram worldwide fame. Peabody later built a distinctive apartment building in the square that still stands.
To give the square more of an identity, the community is considering asking the T to call the revamped station Ashmont/Peabody Square.
?The idea is to create a destination place where people will come out here to eat and do other activities - not just pass through as they do now,? adds Gettings, who is also president of the Ashmont Hill Neighborhood Association and a local homeowner. ?We think this area could eventually become the next Davis Square.?
Sunday, July 2, 2006
Turning an urban no-man?s land into a vibrant destination is no easy task.
But after six years of planning, work is getting under way on a major T station rehabilitation and 116-unit residential complex that promises to turn the now-decrepit Ashmont Station area into a showpiece of the state?s push for transit-oriented development.
Almost $100 million is being invested in the project - a $44 million rehab of the station itself into a glass-canopied architectural landmark, a $50 million condo/apartment complex with 10,000 square feet of retail and a multimillion-dollar makeover of the adjacent Peabody Square intersection to make it more pedestrian-friendly.
The area is along Dorchester Avenue between the Ashmont Hill and Ashmont Adams neighborhoods, two areas with dozens of imposing Victorian homes built for wealthy 19th-century Bostonians that are now diverse neighborhoods of middle- and upper-middle class families and young professionals.
The yet unnamed residential project, developed by Boston?s Trinity Financial and set to break ground later this month, will have 116 units - 74 affordable rental units with rents between $900 and $1,100 and 42 one- and two-bedroom market-rate condos, which will start at around $300,000. The project, which will take two years to build, has received state tax credits of $2.5 million and $2 million in transit-oriented development funds and will be built on land leased from the T.
?Some people thought we were crazy to want to do this, but we think there?s a lot of people out there who want to live in the city and be right on the T,? says Vince Droser, project manager and vice president at Trinity, who also lives in the neighborhood.
The condos will get high-end treatments like granite and stainless-steel kitchens and hardwood floors with parking beneath the multistory building.
?The project will not only provide needed rental housing to people with moderate income, but the condos are geared toward buyers who want a sleek and modern place in the city but who can?t afford the South End,? says Larry Gettings of At Home Realty, the broker for the complex, whose design will feature brick, glass and metal panels.
?The retail space is being put along Dorchester Avenue and near the station exits to liven up the street,? says project architect Philip Renzi of The Architectural Team.
The T?s decision to lease the parking lot in front of the station for housing had wide community support as it has long been a magnet for trouble.
?The station as it is now has too many places to hide and it just invites people to hang around,? says Barbara Boylan, the T?s director of design. ?The new station will keep people moving - it?ll be modern, safe and secure with easy and accessible transfers from train to bus to trolley that will dramatically improve the quality of life here.?
The three-year Ashmont revamp is already under way and will create a brand-new Red Line station as well as an attached new looping stop for the Ashmont-Mattapan trolley, which just closed for extensive renovations along its entire route.
The 40-foot-high glass-canopiedAshmont station redesign promises to be an attractive gateway to the community with a north entrance right from Peabody Square.
?It?s going to be a focal point for the neighborhood and will make getting in and out of the station a lot easier and more organized,? says Patricia Intrieri, principal of station architect Cambridge Seven Associates, who says the station is used by 17,000 riders daily.
The retail area along this stretch of Dorchester Avenue has a pub, pizza shop, liquor store, a few convenience markets and a Dunkin? Donuts, but lacks more upscale shops and services catering to residents who have bought and rehabbed the historic houses on the adjacent hills.
The popularity of the upscale Ashmont Grill bistro that opened here last fall demonstrates there is a market here for more chef-owned restaurants, says Dan Larner, executive director of the St. Mark?s Area Main Streets. He says the community would like to see a cafe, bakery, upscale small grocer and even a bookstore here.
?The new retail space is an opportunity for shops to get in on the ground floor in an up-and-coming area,? Larner says.
The city is also doing its part, with plans to make the intersection of Dorchester Avenue, Talbot Avenue and Ashmont Streets more walkable and connected to the existing flower bed and clock in the center of Peabody Square.
?We?re going to make it easier to cross the square,? says Vineet Gupta, director of planning for the Boston Transportation Department. ?Reconfiguring the streets will improve traffic flow and create a plaza area with some green space. Along with the station revamp and the housing, it?s going to transform the look of the area.?
Peabody Square is named after prominent Boston banker Col. Oliver Peabody. Waylayed here during a 1879 blizzard, he was so impressed with the hospitality he received at then-small chapel that he provided funds to build a major church in Ashmont. Designed by architect Ralph Adams Cram, All Saints Ashmont revolutionized church design and brought Cram worldwide fame. Peabody later built a distinctive apartment building in the square that still stands.
To give the square more of an identity, the community is considering asking the T to call the revamped station Ashmont/Peabody Square.
?The idea is to create a destination place where people will come out here to eat and do other activities - not just pass through as they do now,? adds Gettings, who is also president of the Ashmont Hill Neighborhood Association and a local homeowner. ?We think this area could eventually become the next Davis Square.?
