Brookline Infill and Small Developments

Matthew said:
So, funny story. I visited two physical bank branches today... actually both of them in Coolidge Corner. I guess that's because there's not a better way to do deposits yet.
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Does you bank have check deposit via mobile app yet? I use Cambridge Savings Bank and they have a really useful feature on their smartphone app where you take photos of both sides of a signed check and can deposit it that way electronically!
 
One of the banks only offers the mobile options for personal accounts, not business accounts. And as for the other, I just wanted to be sure I handed it to a real live person.
 
While we're venting about banks (initiate thread derail sequence)....
There's a former Citibank location around the corner from me. It's a huge location on Chelsea St between City Square and Warren Street - probably 8,000SF. Tons of traffic (both vehicular and freedom trail), and yet somehow it's been vacant for 2 years. So I ran into the property manager and asked him what was up. He told me Citibank has more or less abandoned it's retail strategy in the northeast, but for the most part (at least in Boston) wasn't giving up it's leases. So, Citibank has indicated to him that they will hold onto their lease through 2016 and keep the property vacant.
He said it was the best tenant he's ever had. They pay their rent, pay their utilities, and there's never a tenant complaint. I wanted to throw myself under a duck boat.....
 
Back on thread topic, one of the empty storefronts on Pleasant Street (is that the Durgin Garage?) has a building permit in it. Couldn't tell form looknig at it what was happening.

Anyone have any info?
 
From Wicked Local in January:
"Durgin Garage

The last update on this development was that developer Chestnut Hill Realty purchased the garage on Pleasant Street in Coolidge Corner from Gladys and Joseph Vinograd for $11 million on Feb. 1. The company already owns the adjacent Waldo Garage, an abandoned building.

Since then, there hasn’t been much to report.

The town of Brookline created the Waldo Area Study Committee in summer 2012 to look at development possibilities for both of the underutilized and dilapidated garages, located near the intersection of Pleasant and Beacon streets. Durgin is the more recognizable, since it sits on Pleasant Street, but Waldo is tucked away, and can be accessed through the narrow Waldo Street private way.

Nearby residents have long wanted to see change at the site. Durgin, which has seven storefronts, only has a few tenants currently, including Tiny Hanger, Jerusalem Pita and a convenience store.

Economic Development Director Kara Brewton said the committee could be getting back together soon. Brewton said she was unaware of what plans Chestnut Hill Realty has for the site.

Communicating with the realty company may become more difficult as the town continues its opposition to an almost 200-unit affordable housing development proposed by Chestnut Hill Realty for Hancock Village in South Brookline.

The rest of the Durgin lot is comprised of a parking garage that was originally built in 1927 to hold 225 cars. The Durgin Garage was named a “most endangered” building by Preservation Massachusetts."

What a joke.. I was joking yesterday about the "historic" parking lot on Lansdowne Street. Only in Boston/the area would a parking garage be saved as historic. I mean, the building is OK, but seriously!
 
From yesterday's Boston Business Journal:

Mayor Walsh's backing bodes well for Cleveland Circle plan, despite group's objections

Thomas Grillo
Real Estate Editor-
Boston Business Journal

Despite neighborhood opposition to a plan that would replace the shuttered Cleveland Circle Cinema in Brighton with an $80 million mixed-use development, the Walsh administration appears poised to approve the controversial project.

“It’s a good project and there has been some changes made,” said Mayor Martin J. Walsh during an interview Wednesday. “People have a right to have a voice in the community. If we are building a 60-story tower in an area that’s zoned for three stories, then that’s too much density. But here we are talking about a development that will result in a revitalization of the Cleveland Circle area.”

The mayor's comments came the morning after members of a city-appointed panel and the developer of a plan to redevelop the cinema site clashed during a meeting over the proposed density of the apartment and hotel project.

Boston Development Group of Newton presented its most recent plan to replace the shuttered cinema site at 399 Chestnut Hill Ave. with a mixed-use residential, hospitality and retail complex. But critics at Tuesday's meeting said the latest version was virtually the same as previous iterations, noting that the plan still calls for a 218,520-square-foot development that would feature two buildings — one five stories and the other six stories — housing a 95,030-square-foot, 162-room Hilton Garden hotel as well as 92 apartments totaling 109,490 square feet. The project also calls for 14,000 square feet of ground floor retail space and 188 parking spaces.

The cinema closed in 2008 after a 68-year run. BDG has an agreement to purchase the property for an undisclosed amount from National Amusements, pending project approval. Today, a portion of the property is occupied by an Applebee’s restaurant that would be razed to make way for the development. The theater and restaurant parcels are assessed at $4.1 million.

Last night’s meeting of the Cleveland Circle Impact Advisory Group and Boston Development Group at the Alexander Hamilton School came a month after the Boston Redevelopment Authority removed the project from its agenda amid neighborhood opposition. Residents say while they support the project, it is too dense and will exacerbate traffic problems in Cleveland Circle.

During the two-hour session, ADD Inc. architect Larry Grossman outlined a few changes that included a modest redesign that increased the setbacks of the buildings by nearly 14 feet from five feet. The new design reconfigured the hotel’s ground floor to include a restaurant that opens to an outdoor dining terrace that overlooks Cassidy Park.

Five of the six IAG members said the changes fail to address the density issue.

“I believe that we really need to revisit a much lower building ... in order to achieve a harmony,” said IAG member Mary Cronin. “The original proposal called for a four-story building on that site. The alternative is to reduce the number of apartment units which would be a good thing.”

But John Meunier, Boston Development Group's vice president of project management and development, dismissed the plea to lower the apartment building by one story, or as many as 10 units.

“If we reduce the units by this relatively small number, the impact on traffic is not significant,” he said. “We have been in a position where we are asked to do additional things based on a certain project program. After we agreed to do those additional things, then at the next meeting there’s a call for us to reduce density further. It’s a cycle that continues to repeat and we are at the point that we believe that improving the Cleveland Circle intersection is a very positive for the community and the project and we would like to do that. But we are doing it in a package that is requesting 92 units.”

Anabela Gomes, another IAG member, disagreed with the majority and said she favored the development.

“I think this project is great,” she said. “I’m fine with the height.”

The BRA has not yet decided when the project will be reconsidered for a review and potential approval by its board.
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Nice breath of fresh air to hear the Mayor taking a stand in support of sensible projects such as this.
 
While this thread is active, two Brookline questions-

1) what's going on with Waldstein Park/playground? They seem to be reconstructing all the tennis courts, playground and field. I haven't found anything online except for mentions last year about the possibility of a skatepark.

2) anyone been to the new home brew retailer in Coolidge Corner? Seems like a great addition. I've dabbled with home brewing in the past. Haven't made it to the new store yet.
 
Shepard said:
1) what's going on with Waldstein Park/playground? They seem to be reconstructing all the tennis courts, playground and field. I haven't found anything online except for mentions last year about the possibility of a skatepark.
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The five-year open space plan has this work as a line item for FYs 2012 and 2013. See here on page 10. Not sure why they'd just be getting around to it now, but looks like it's been in the works.

Shepard said:
2) anyone been to the new home brew retailer in Coolidge Corner? Seems like a great addition. I've dabbled with home brewing in the past. Haven't made it to the new store yet.
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I walked by on their opening weekend and it looked well stocked. Did not have the chance to stop in, but hopefully it sticks. Also hopefully: tasting events.
 
Still on the extreme lower end of acceptable density for that lot. But at least it's moving forward.
 
Here's the hotel planned for Boylston Street/Route 9:

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F-Line to Dudley said:
I was thinking this + 3 floors. It's pretty much the same chain-hotel cookie cutter.
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Unpopular opinion alert: without fail, out of town friends will tell me "that's kinda cool" when I walk them by that Holiday Inn. It's far from the urban ideal, but the fact that you can see into it and that they've done some non-standard design there with the trees and the open hallway makes it passable. This thing, however: no passability to be found. Not exactly encouraging the Route 9 Renaissance that was discussed a little while ago in the highway thread.
 
Ernie - I have always agreed with your friends about the Holiday Inn. May not be the best urban form for Beacon Street but it does show elements of design that just somehow works, even across the majority of an entire block. (Side question: what was there before? How did an entire block open up for development? Pre-war teardowns?) The Route 9 design is characterless and bland - there's really no comparison.
 
Shepard said:
Ernie - I have always agreed with your friends about the Holiday Inn. May not be the best urban form for Beacon Street but it does show elements of design that just somehow works, even across the majority of an entire block. (Side question: what was there before? How did an entire block open up for development? Pre-war teardowns?) The Route 9 design is characterless and bland - there's really no comparison.
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This is replacing a 3 family and a warehouse that has been vacant for 15+ years, the old Red Cab Company building
 
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