Attleboro Developments

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quadratdackel

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Attleboro's one of the few stops on the commuter rail to Providence that seems worth getting off at and exploring. It may be getting even better soon:

Building will make way for downtown project
BY GEORGE W. RHODES / SUN CHRONICLE STAFF

ATTLEBORO -- With the ground breaking for a massive downtown redevelopment project still years away, the city has begun chipping away at downtown's existing infrastructure with the acquisition of a small Wall Street building, a redevelopment official said Thursday.

The building at 8 Wall St. was sold June 20 to the Attleboro Redevelopment Authority for $225,000 by Automatic Machine Products.
ARA Executive Director Michael Milanoski said the purchase is the first of several expected buyouts, and represents the first tangible event in what planners hope will be a long string of events leading to a downtown transformation.

In the meantime, the ARA aims to make good use of the former Automatic Machine property.

Plans are to raze the 1,000-square-foot building and build a second driveway into the MBTA parking lot as a short-term traffic improvement, Milanoski said.

`` We're working with the mayor, GATRA and the MBTA to improve access into that lot,'' he said. `` The current access is unsafe and creates delays.''


A Wall Street driveway, coupled with the existing South Main Street access should help traffic flow better, he said.

While it's a temporary measure and a small job in the face of an estimated $60 million worth of infrastructure improvements and a hoped for $150 million in private investment, it's a beginning, Milanoski said.

If all goes well, the downtown plan, now in its final stages of planning, will create as many as 500 new units of housing, a new MBTA parking garage, a GATRA bus station and as much as 30,000 square feet of new commercial space.

But while acquisition of the Wall Street building is the only visible change so far, much has been done behind the scenes.

The ARA has purchase and sale agreements in place with Automatic Machine for its main buildings on either side of Wall Street, as well as Attleboro's Old Barn on the corner of Wall and South Main Street.

They are two key properties that under ARA plans will be torn down to make way for a new Wall Street and new traffic pattern downtown.

Execution of the sales are contingent on approval of ARA plans by state and local governments, Milanoski said.

The ARA also has a purchase and sale agreement in place with owner of the former Peter's Fruit Stand just east of the railroad bridge on Park Street, he said.

`` This is just the tip of the iceberg,'' Milanoski said of the sale. `` A lot of work has been done.''
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Attleboro has great potential. The downtown is not bad now. It definately has some good bones and a great park (is it called Capron Park or Capron Zoo?). It just needs more housing and retail. I wonder what else could work here?
 
I was eyeing Attleboro in the early 80s. A friend from high school settled there with his family as an alternative to being in a standard suburb, yet still be commutable to both Providence and Boston. I used to wander both the Attleboros and think, 'wow, if I could bend the right ears of the right planners and developers, what a great small city/urban environment this could be.'

I tried. Nobody listened. My cynicism leads me to think this will be a feeble and not so honorable or successful attempt to kick start...something.

Does anyone have pics of the DT Attleboros?
 
^ The regional real estate situation is much different now than it was in the 80's. Everything's expensive here, and many people want a more urban environment and good transit access. Downtown Attleboro is also two quick stops from downtown Providence and will soon be three quick stops from TF Green Airport. I can definately see this working.

I really love the idea of this region as being a network of quality cities and towns of various sizes all connected by the commuter rail system and other transit, with Boston being the literal hub. This is consistent with historical New England town development patterns. If I recall correctly, when a town got too big for efficient town meetings, they started a new town a little ways off. The modern TOD version would be that when one transit stop gets built out, we start a new one at the next stop, or make a new stop if need be. Pull that off, and maybe the North-South Rail Link ain't such a bad idea after all.
 
^ I'm not denying that this is not necessary or not a good thing, just that it will not be as meticulously planned out (or thought out, say...as you are doing).

That's an interesting parallel analogy comparing colonial and industrial emergences of new towns to present day development patterns of TODs.

Historically, most towns were settled because some necessary natural environment (i.e., a flowing river for industry), or as a convenient stop along a travel route. The commuting concept based on TODs certainly seems like a present day version of it.

Still don't see how that impacts a N/S rail link. Are you thinking that people in the Attleboros would commute to a job in Peabody, for example, by transit if they could transfer from South to North Stations more easily?
 
garbribre said:
^ I'm not denying that this is not necessary or not a good thing, just that it will not be as meticulously planned out (or thought out, say...as you are doing).
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You're probably right. (And thanks! If only we could bring the decision makers into these discussions...)

Still don't see how that impacts a N/S rail link. Are you thinking that people in the Attleboros would commute to a job in Peabody, for example, by transit if they could transfer from South to North Stations more easily?
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Personally, if I had a job in Peabody, I'd want to live in Peabody, or in the city. But, if I lived in Attleboro and had a reason to go to Peabody, I'd want to take the commuter rail to get there: comfortable, relaxing ride with no traffic. I can even imagine the system becoming a good option for certain longer within-Boston trips.

What I have in mind actually comes from my experience using BART while living in the SF bay area: One unified system with short headways, super-accurate schedules, and a nifty little thing they call timed transfers. BART really makes the area a cohesive area from a transit perspective: If I wanted to go visit my sister in Berkeley or go into the city or even go to Pittsburg (not there's any reason to go to Pittsburg), all I had to do was hop on BART. (Well, technically I had to catch a bus to Dublin/Pleasanton since I was living in Livermore.) Now that system is new and modern while MBTACR is old and archaic (not even electrified!), so it might not be able to do everything BART does, but it can provide the same connectedness. Incidentally, aren't a lot if not most of BART stations are the same commuter parking lot stations we've got? I recall Californians, even non-SF/Berkeley bay area residents as having far more of a car culture than the Boston area ever will. Ironic, because they're also main leaders of the environmental movement.

A unified and enhanced commuter rail system would be bigger than BART and would really make our region feel bigger and better connected. And for the love of cartography, get us a geographically accurate system map already!
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ZenZen said:
Attleboro has great potential. The downtown is not bad now. It definately has some good bones and a great park (is it called Capron Park or Capron Zoo?). It just needs more housing and retail. I wonder what else could work here?
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Great zoo? More housing? I think they might be listening to you...

Alligator removed from Attleboro apartment

ATTLEBORO, Mass. State environmental police removed a three-and-a-half foot alligator from a third floor apartment in Attleboro earlier this week.

Police say the reptile's owner left a message with the city's animal control office Monday morning notifying officials that the alligator was present and granting permission for the reptile to be removed.

Police say the reptile was discovered by the owner's landlord.

Police say the owner will be summonsed to court because possession of an alligator is illegal without proper permits.

Less than two weeks ago, two men paddling kayaks on the Ten Mile River in Attleboro captured a baby alligator.

Copyright 2006 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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I know this is an old thread but there has been a lot of progress in Attleboro. There's a 7 story building going up called renaissance station. The city and gatra just finished the intermodel transportation center. The city also secured money to finally build the road along the 10 mile river that the mayor has been talking about for a long time. Construction on the will start this year and will b completed next year with the park along the river following after. The attleboro redevelopment authority also scored a deal with a developer to build a $40 million sports complex in unused industrial business park off tiffany street. Sorry if the links dont work. I'm trying to do this from my phone.

http://www.gatra.org/index.php/attleboro-intermodal-transit-center/

http://www.thesunchronicle.com/attl...cle_c476f690-8ce2-51de-88e1-e01a78ec8e53.html

http://www.crugnaleproperties.com/inprogress.html
 
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EvoNeonLover19 said:
I know this is an old thread but there has been a lot of progress in Attleboro. There's a 7 story building going up called renaissance station. The city and gatra just finished the intermodel transportation center. The city also secured money to finally build the road along the 10 mile river that the mayor has been talking about for a long time. Construction on the will start this year and will b completed next year with the park along the river following after. The attleboro redevelopment authority also scored a deal with a developer to build a $40 million sports complex in unused industrial business park off tiffany street. Sorry if the links dont work. I'm trying to do this from my phone.

http:// http://www.gatra.org/index.php/attleboro-intermodal-transit-center/

http:// http://www.thesunchronicle.com/attleboro/gov-pledges-m-pledge/article_c476f690-8ce2-51de-88e1-e01a78ec8e53.html

http:// http://www.crugnaleproperties.com/inprogress.html
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Your links are broken, because your phone attached an extra http:// so that all links now direct to "http:// http://www..."

I took the extra http:// out of the quoted post content and the links in the quote will therefore work, but you will need to go back in and edit your post accordingly because I am not capable of changing your post itself.
 
Kids, we're going to the Olive Garden right next to the Market Basket that still isn't open...


YAAAAY!
 
@ commuting Boston student

I didn't even realize my phone attached a second http to all three links to be honest haha. Thanks for letting me know. They should be working now.
 
"Bordered by winding Riverfront Drive with its concrete and brick sidewalks and shiny black historic lampposts on the east and the slender, shimmering Ten Mile River on the west, the new downtown green space, bedecked with new trees, shrubs and a swathe of soon to be verdant lawn in the heart of the city appears to be a jewel in the making for the Jewelry City."

http://www.thesunchronicle.com/news...cle_7b3005ea-333b-5323-a7e8-ac4dd4431aec.html

Will be interesting to see what business/retail/housing can be attracted to the area
 
^This sounds pretty cool, just read a bunch of Sun Chronicle articles and did some googling but couldnt find any decent images of the plans. Sounds like this is demo'ing a bunch of crappy buildings along the river and putting in a road and park in their place; road will access the T station and open the surrounding area up for TOD. Nice stuff.
 
EvoNeonLover19 said:
It's been a while since I've posted here so forgive me for any mistakes. I know this is an older link, but it's still relevant. The article is from march and talks about renaissance station south being downsized due to funding. Was hoping this thing would have been built by now.


http://https://www.thesunchronicle.com/news/local_news/developer-downsizes-downtown-attleboro-project/article_04b42e71-b13c-58cb-be84-351e2aa0609a.html
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Seems like a dead link :/
 
They are hoping to start construction around September on this apartment building. Permits are being pulled now. The land behind this, along the new road, is starting to be cleaned up (was polluted) so hopefully it wont be much longer, maybe a year or so, before that can be developed.
There is also chatter that one of the old factories that is next to the train tracks will be turned into apartments.
There is a separate factory just outside of the downtown area that is being turned into 55+ housing. https://www.livesterlinglofts.com/?...TTV--YQCi0rFt3VMHgmYiS-dK06koySjHdpzEycUJJ2_c
 
@Shawmut

There's so much potential in Attleboro. I can't wait for the downtown to really shine again. Adding apartment buildings next to the train station is a great start. Once more people move to the center, hopefully more stores/restaurants will follow. I love the little bike path that was just built too.
 
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