Braintree infill and small developments

ZOM Living Wins Approval for South Shore Plaza Multifamily Project​

“The Braintree Town Council approved new zoning allowing ZOM Living to construct a 300+ unit apartment complex on an unused section of the parking lot at The South Shore Plaza. Plans for this development have been in the works for several years with many neighbors speaking out against the so-called "monster project" causing ZOM to withdraw and redesign its original proposal. The approved plans include 1, 4-story building to include 325 apartments, a small retail building, and a tall landscaped berm as a larger buffer to the nearby neighborhood.”
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https://www.bldup.com/posts/zom-living-wins-approval-for-south-shore-plaza-multifamily-project
 
stick n move said:
"...and a tall landscaped berm as a larger buffer to the nearby neighborhood.”
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Do what you gotta do to get the thing approved, but holy cow is that some dystopian exclusionism. It lays the true reasoning for fighting this so bare that I don't know how the town can't be embarrassed by it (well, actually, I know how but I'll never be able to fully put myself in their shoes). Is the neighborhood watch now going to assign sentinels to the top of the berm to keep an eye on the invaders?
 
Braintree has over twice as many people as Charlestown and is almost equal in population to East Boston. This project is the same distance from Boston as Riverside Station in Newton. I think there should be a better forward thinking transportation plan instead of the same old bus service and 1.5 parking spaces per unit. Someday soon the mall is going to close and a huge development opportunity will open up that could dwarf this
 
Scott said:
Braintree has over twice as many people as Charlestown and is almost equal in population to East Boston. This project is the same distance from Boston as Riverside Station in Newton. I think there should be a better forward thinking transportation plan instead of the same old bus service and 1.5 parking spaces per unit. Someday soon the mall is going to close and a huge development opportunity will open up that could dwarf this
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What's' the comparative density per square mile? Jacksonville has a 50% higher population than Boston.

Look, I'm as anti-car as anyone here, but that location is Braintree/route 128. It kinda is what it is. One can't change it's basic nature. In fact, I would prefer it as a perimeter parking capacity for mass transpo into Boston for suburbanites to leave their cars there.
 
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While I will be critical of parking inside of the 95/128 loop, South Shore Plaza is served by two bus routes that is not so direct to the two nearest subway stations. This development is talking about 1.5 spaces per unit, which is pretty average for multi-family. Even better when considering Braintree's parking requirement is 2 spots per unit.
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The 238 has 30 minute headways, not very reliable if we are expecting renters to not have cars.
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Also this is being built in a very auto-centric environment with the highway off-ramps, vast parking lots and so on. I presume the mall would not want to lease parking spots to the development.

I dug around on the city's website and found some public documents on the project.
The most preposterous thing to me is the requirement of the Landscape Berm to "buffer the nearby neighborhoods". I'm sorry, but the closest SFH property is over 550' away and has a school between the property and this development. The school is most likely generating more traffic and noise that impacts this SFH than this development ever would.
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The berm is designed to be 10' tall.
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The retail building mentioned on BldUp is actually an existing retail building that is to remain with rearranged parking. It appears the project will maintain the public ROW for Lakeside Drive
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Maintain, but vegitate
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Overall I would say it is a pretty solid win from a housing standpoint. Especially considering this is the surrounding site. I fully expect the units overlooking Quincy Reservoir and other points south to command the biggest rents.
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While I agree that this is a pretty solid development for the area, I do think @Scott is right that we should be considering how this could be done better. The SSP has hundreds of never used surface parking spots to the east of Nordstrom adjacent to the development. There is New England's largest mall literally steps away from the front door, including groceries at Target. There's daycare within walking distance.

Bumping up 238 frequency would be great, the trip time to QA is pretty quick. A bike path connecting SSP and Crown Colony would make QA and the employment center there much more accessible. There are already improvements coming to Rt 37 for pedestrians.

We're stuck in a chicken-egg loop where we don't build sustainable transportation systems because we don't have sustainable land use and we don't build sustainable places because we don't have sustainable transportation systems. At some point we have to build for what we want.
 
Plans for Battery Storage Site Shot Down by Fire Chief

BRAINTREE – A proposal to build lithium-ion battery storage on a Greek Orthodox church property won’t be moving forward after the acting fire chief refused to give his blessing.

Convergent Energy and Power last month submitted a letter to the planning department withdrawing plans to construct four trailer-like structures on a portion of the Saint Catherine Greek Orthodox Church parking lot on Common Street. The lithium-ion batteries would have a capacity of 5 megawatts and 15 megawatt hours.

[...]

“Following detailed research, including consultation of industry publications, input from employees, guidance from the Department of Fire Services of Massachusetts, and discussions with municipal fire chiefs in communities managing similar facilities, I have concluded that I cannot support this location for the (battery energy storage system) facility,” Viola wrote in a Dec. 2 letter.

[...]

Safety officials recommend a minimum one-third mile evacuation radius for hazardous material incidents including lithium-ion battery fires. The project would be 200 feet from the church hall and 159 feet from the closest home.

[...]


A BELD official noted in an October planning board meeting that it tried to look for nonresidential locations for the new battery storage site, but they were either too expensive or wouldn’t functionally be feasible. Convergent was going to pay $4,000 to the church to use its excess parking space.

In a Dec. 9 letter to Braintree’s planning director, Convergent noted that it would “conduct a thorough site search to explore potential alternative locations for this project.”
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Torrington Properties Seeks Changes to Former Motel 6 Site from Zoning Board

Despite losing Chick-fil-A, Boston-based Torrington Properties is forging ahead with new plans to redevelop the former Motel 6 site in Braintree.

The developer is proposing more retail space and another restaurant at 125 Union St., compared to what was approved in December 2023.

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According to plans submitted to the town in November, the standalone fast-food restaurant on the eastern portion of the property would shrink to 3,120 square feet.

On the west side of the property would be an 11,400-square-foot building with three retail spaces, a restaurant with outdoor patio seating and a bank with a drive-thru lane. Eighty-three parking spaces would serve the site

No details on potential tenants were provided by the developer's attorney, Frank Marinelli, on Friday. If an interested tenant comes forward, the developer may request another zoning board continuance to February to redesign for that tenant, Marinelli said.
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Sprawl oriented development across the street from a red line/commuter rail station.
 

Work Begins for Braintree Affordable Housing Development​

“Site prep work is underway for Watson Place, Braintree, an affordable housing development that replaces Braintree's Electric Light Department building. When completed, this mixed-income project will include 56 total units serving five income bands, including 30 units restricted for families at less than 60 percent of AMI and additional units restricted at 110 percent and 120 percent of AMI…….”

44 allen


44 allen

https://www.bldup.com/posts/work-begins-for-braintree-affordable-housing-development
 
Don't love 2 spaces per unit, but given that it's over a half mile to Braintree station I think that the number of units and no setback is a big win.
 
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