BPDA Austin Street Parking Lot Development | Charlestown

617 said:
This looks really good…although it’s crazy how many units they’re adding to charlestown. Everyone going to be trapped on bottleneck island.
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617 said:
What’s the plan? a couple extra buses and a bike lane.
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This is literally across the street from Community College Station on the Orange Line. I mean, I agree that a lot of Charlestown is pretty isolated, and Rutherford Ave should be a lot better. But this project is right on a rapid transit stop.
 
PNF is now posted:

Most of these details were in the LOI, but worth pointing out how much is going into this proposed FIVE ACRE development. Not in love with the location or design, but please just build this thing. You can see this parcel from space, practically.



The Proponent proposes to redevelop the Project Site into a mixed-use development with four buildings collectively containing approximately 800,290 sf of Gross Floor Area (as defined in Article 2 of the Boston Zoning Code, “GFA”), creating approximately 700 new rental and homeownership dwelling units, approximately 1,900 sf of arts and culture space, approximately 13,695 sf of commercial space, approximately 14,631 sf of early childhood education space, approximately 44,801 sf of indoor recreation space, and approximately 172 structured parking spaces and approximately 16 surface onsite parking spaces, together with an urban plaza and athletic fields comprising approximately 3.1 acres of private open space accessible to the public, and related site and public realm improvements.


The project includes approximately 405 rental apartments and approximately 295 homeownership units. Approximately 293 will be market units and approximately 407 will be affordable units.

The only natural gas planned is for commercial kitchen space in building 2, otherwise it's all electric:

National Grid owns and maintains the existing gas mains adjacent to the Project. The Proponent will coordinate with National Grid to determine Project demands, confirm adequate system capacity, and establish connection points and requirements. Currently, a natural gas service is only planned for Building 2 for potential future commercial kitchen use

bpda.app.box.com

2024-05-21_Project Notification Form (PNF)_Austin Street Lots Redevelopment.pdf | Powered by Box

bpda.app.box.com bpda.app.box.com

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curcuas said:
I still find the fields along Rutherford Ave bizarre (toxic fume park!) and the setback antiurban, but love how this is progressing and the affordability mix is great.
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Hopefully this project will create further incentive to push forward with the Rutherford project which will remove the underpass and considerably reduce the number of car lanes. The project seems to be gaining momentum but it seemed that way several times in the past too.
 
1hp said:
Hopefully this project will create further incentive to push forward with the Rutherford project which will remove the underpass and considerably reduce the number of car lanes. The project seems to be gaining momentum but it seemed that way several times in the past too.
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What's the latest on that project?
 
Rhino said:
What's the latest on that project?
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It's stuck in a state of indecision and letting the perfect being the enemy of the good. Not enough residents complaining about the status quo, so the city is sitting on it even though the funds are there (and have been for quite some time). I'm told it's viewed as though there's only downside for the administration to take the project on.

There was supposed to be a community meeting in Q1 2024. I emailed Jascha Franklin-Hodge in June and he said "We've been somewhat delayed in getting back out to the community due to staffing and contracting challenges. We're still hoping to have revised designs out for review later this year.". I'd encourage anyone interested in seeing the project progress reach out: https://www.boston.gov/departments/public-works/jascha-franklin-hodge
 
agree with the above except the tunnel is not going away, just getting narrower. at least it wasnt last time around, but then again there was going to be a tunnel at Sullivan and now there isnt going to be so not sure about here at Austin St.
 
I saw a draft of the current plan a few months back and from my recollection it was back to a full surface plan (Which would be great). Like you said though, who knows. Just wish they'd do something.

A caption on this post (which reports on the most recent disclosure from the city to my knowledge) says: A rendering of new mixed-income housing proposed for the Community College parking lots between Rutherford Avenue and Austin Street. The rendering pictures the existing Austin Street highway underpass (foreground center), which would be eliminated in new City of Boston plans for Rutherford Avenue. Courtesy of the BPDA.

mass.streetsblog.org

Boston's Next Bus Rapid Transit Line Would Link Downtown, Sullivan Square Before the End of This Decade - Streetsblog Massachusetts

An updated new design for Rutherford Avenue would set aside space for a dedicated center-running busway through Boston’s Charlestown neighborhood and eliminate highway-style underpasses through Sullivan Square. Last month, Boston Chief of Streets Jascha Franklin-Hodge presented the City of...
mass.streetsblog.org mass.streetsblog.org
 
1hp said:
It's stuck in a state of indecision and letting the perfect being the enemy of the good. Not enough residents complaining about the status quo, so the city is sitting on it even though the funds are there (and have been for quite some time). I'm told it's viewed as though there's only downside for the administration to take the project on.

There was supposed to be a community meeting in Q1 2024. I emailed Jascha Franklin-Hodge in June and he said "We've been somewhat delayed in getting back out to the community due to staffing and contracting challenges. We're still hoping to have revised designs out for review later this year.". I'd encourage anyone interested in seeing the project progress reach out: https://www.boston.gov/departments/public-works/jascha-franklin-hodge
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As I recall, the Rutherford project limits extended all the way to the foot of the Alford Street bridge. Given the ... nebulousness ... of the stadium proposal's transportation plan and absent any published traffic studies, pedestrian or otherwise, I wouldn't be surprised to hear if it's still on hold until they know if a) they can get Kraft to pay for a lot of it, and b) exactly how the stadium in Everett will drive changes to the circle/underpass.
 
I agree, that could certainly be the case, which would push the project out another 10-15 years...... As it stands, Boston is contributing 12% of the funds and they could lose the $160M in fed funds (they almost did if Trump won re-election in 2020, I'm told they were going to green light the project had that happened). So, I'd hope it isn't about getting Kraft to pay for it. I can certainly see the traffic argument, but that goes back to letting the perfect being enemy of the good and who knows where things will stand if/when that stadium ever gets built.... There are a lot of projects in progress which are negatively impacted by the current state, but I'm told those developers aren't trying to influence the project.

There's a new effort to reduce the scope of the project to make it more approachable. There are some obvious wins between the bridge and the rotary that could be addressed without waiting another 10 years. Hopefully the administration is receptive to that approach.




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1hp said:
I agree, that could certainly be the case, which would push the project out another 10-15 years...... As it stands, Boston is contributing 12% of the funds and they could lose the $160M in fed funds (they almost did if Trump won re-election in 2020, I'm told they were going to green light the project had that happened). So, I'd hope it isn't about getting Kraft to pay for it. I can certainly see the traffic argument, but that goes back to letting the perfect being enemy of the good and who knows where things will stand if/when that stadium ever gets built.... There are a lot of projects in progress which are negatively impacted by the current state, but I'm told those developers aren't trying to influence the project.
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I would imagine, given the momentum the stadium seems to currently have, that it's need for improved pedestrian infrastructure between Alford and Sullivan would actually tend to drive the project forward - it would, and has, put the existing conditions much more in the public and political consciousness.

Look at Worcester's Kelly Square. That intersection was quintessential New England Terribleness - but the moment the WooSox was a sure thing, the new peanut moved from first meeting and 10% design concept to construction within a year - albeit overall a much smaller project.
 
type001 said:
What community? The people commuting into Boston everyday?
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Same meetings dating back to at least 2008.

www.boston.gov

Rutherford Avenue / Sullivan Square Design Project

January 2023 Update: The Boston Transportation Department is supporting the ongoing PLAN Charlestown initiative. LEARN MORE ABOUT OUR COLLABORATION March 2022 update: The City of Boston is currently reevaluating the Rutherford Avenue design to better align it with its Go Boston 2030 goal of...
www.boston.gov www.boston.gov
 
Stlin said:
I would imagine, given the momentum the stadium seems to currently have, that it's need for improved pedestrian infrastructure between Alford and Sullivan would actually tend to drive the project forward - it would, and has, put the existing conditions much more in the public and political consciousness.

Look at Worcester's Kelly Square. That intersection was quintessential New England Terribleness - but the moment the WooSox was a sure thing, the new peanut moved from first meeting and 10% design concept to construction within a year - albeit overall a much smaller project.
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Good point. It’s a death trap for pedestrians and bicyclists.
 
type001 said:
What community? The people commuting into Boston everyday?
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The residents of Charlestown who live right next to it. It also separates a good chunk of Charlestown from the main section - transforming that into a boulevard format rather than a highway would help connect the two sections and further drive business development over there.
 
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Rhino said:
The residents of Charlestown who live right next to it. It also separates a good chunk of Charlestown from the main section - transforming that into a boulevard format rather than a highway would help connect the two sections and further drive business development over there.
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Sorry, completely my bad everyone. I totally misjudged where the parcels actually were. Disregard my question.
 
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