Cambridge Crossing (NorthPoint) | East Cambridge/Charlestown | Cambridge/Boston

Re: NorthPoint Cambridge

Atlantaden asked: "Is this park fairly accessable to families visiting the Museum of Science? Would also be a great spot for families and school groups to visit after a day at the Science Museum."


It would be, if the pedestrian bridges promised as part of the Big Dig mitigation were to be built. The following is mapping from the MTA website showing these proposed bridges. Who knows if/when they will ever materilaize.

charlesparks_lg.gif
 
Re: NorthPoint Cambridge

The Globe has an article about East Cambridge in today's real estate section. It erroneously states that "2700 condos are about to come on the market as part of NorthPoint, phase I". As if. First phase is at best 300 units, and define "about to come on the market" ... they are at least eight months behind schedule, and no idea whether or not they can pass title due to outstanding lawsuits.

LOL!
 
Re: NorthPoint Cambridge

ngb_anim8 said:
Wishful thinking? Has there even been any movement on any of those three buildings (including Nashua St Res?)
Click to expand...

No, but it's just a matter of time. The area is zoned for tall towers.
 
Re: NorthPoint Cambridge

^ Music to my ears.

^^^ It looks from that map that people can still access the park from the museum even without the bridge...its just not as direct. Accessible as it is, it will be even better if/when that bridge gets built. The one that baffles me is how they intend to have a bridge from North Point Park to the other side of the train tracks to the Paul Revere Park.
 
Re: NorthPoint Cambridge

What's the deal with the "North Point Wilds"?
 
Re: NorthPoint Cambridge

ngb_anim8 said:
^ Music to my ears.

^^^ It looks from that map that people can still access the park from the museum even without the bridge...its just not as direct. Accessible as it is, it will be even better if/when that bridge gets built. The one that baffles me is how they intend to have a bridge from North Point Park to the other side of the train tracks to the Paul Revere Park.
Click to expand...

It is very accessible, but you have to know it's there. The green line tracks hide it from view.
 
Re: NorthPoint Cambridge

How old is this? I see that it's put out by the MDC which is no longer (Merged with DEM to create what is now the DCR).

It also says "Fleet Center," so things have obviously changed since then. What this from before the Big Dig?
 
Re: NorthPoint Cambridge

I actually got that map off the current Massachusetts Turnpike Authority website.

I believe all of the pedestrian bridges are still proposed for eventual construction, except for the overpasses above Leverett Circle, which have been dropped.
 
Re: NorthPoint Cambridge

NorthPoint buyer quits deal
Other bidders eye 40-acre project site

A Texas-based investment group has pulled out of a deal to buy NorthPoint, a grand city-within-a-city slated to take shape near the Charles River in Cambridge.

Archon Group, which had won a bidding war for the high-profile project last fall, is out of the deal, said David Fink, one of the development?s owners. However, he said other bidders are circling and are interested in making a deal for the sprawling 40-acre site and its ambitious development plans.

?It?s just the capital markets are in such upheaval,? said Fink, president of Pan Am Railways, the umbrella company for NorthPoint owner Boston and Maine Corp.

The deal?s collapse comes with construction in full swing on the first phase of the project, with NorthPoint?s first two condo buildings set to open next month.

All told, 5.5 million square feet of new homes, offices and shops are planned - as well as a new Lechemere MBTA station.

The project?s owners, a partnership between Boston and Maine and a group of top local real estate executives, agreed to put the property up for sale after a falling out that led to a bitter court battle.

Archon had reportedly agreed to pay $175 million when it won out after a bidding war last fall.

But in a market where lenders are cautious about putting up financing for big deals, finding another buyer may not be so easy, said Hub commercial real-estate finance expert George Fantini. He also suggested NorthPoint?s owners may have to lower the bar when it comes to price.

?The storm flags are up,? Fantini said. ?Banks are being very cautious. When you get to large transactions like this, it is going to be a very difficult property to sell.?

A spokesman for Archon declined comment, other than to say he believed the deal is still in progress.

http://bostonherald.com/business/real_estate/view.bg?articleid=1092811&srvc=home&position=also
 
Re: NorthPoint Cambridge

I recently spoke to someone who works indirectly with this project. He told me that One Earhart has been completed for over 5 months and is still unoccupied. Two Earhart would've been completed around the same time but during construction there was a massive flood on the twelfth floor that caused millions of dollars worth of damage to the 5 floors beneath it. Work is still being done on Two Earhart and it should be finally completed within the next several weeks or so. Construction of the park has been put on hold for the time being while the project is stuck in legal limbo, but he said it is expected that work will resume sometime this summer.

He also told me that the Cambridge Housing Authority has agreed to purchase 50-something units in One Earhart that will then be made available to section 8 and low-income families. This struck me as particularly hard to swallow, but he assured me that he had heard it straight from someone on the development team.

If true, this would be extremely interesting to say the least. Anyone else hear anything like this? Jimbo?
 
Re: NorthPoint Cambridge

OMG, that is an awesome rumor! I have not heard anything of that sort ...

Hilarious. That would certainly help solve two problems - excess supply and low-income housing.

I'm all for it. Any other buyer would be extremely unwilling to pay market-value, though, and there's no way a bank would let it happen, at least not at the prices they were asking, before.

How about buying HarborView in Charlestown and doing the exact same thing. Homes at $700 per square foot for the poor? Sure, why the hell not?
 
Re: NorthPoint Cambridge (The one that was train yards, the big plan.)

This is an awesome thread with sweet pictures.
So I notice that closing has finally begun at Northpoint.
Does anyone have any updates on the buyer situation for Northpoint? Is it still up in the air?
 
Re: NorthPoint Cambridge (The one that was train yards, the big plan.)

I have been viewing this forum for a few years and have learned a lot from it. I purchased a condo in the Tango building of Northpoint back in October 2005. I finally closed last week on June 20th after a very long and sometimes distressing wait. I have followed the ups and downs of Boston area real estate through this forum and hope to contribute in the future. Now a few facts about Northpoint. The sales office told me that Archon is still in the picture but is seeking a partner to develop the condo portion of the project. Archon is primarily interested in the business portion. There are 5 persons moving into Sierra (the smaller building that was ready in Spring 2007) and about 45 persons moving into Tango at the present time. More persons are viewing or in different phases of buying. Work is still continuing on the tower section of Tango and should be complete in late summer/early fall. The central park is being worked on every day but still needs a lot of work. The Northpoint Park which was part of the Big Dig is beautiful and is being discovered by more people every day. The apartment building by Archstone (which is next to the Northpoint project) is now lit up at night providing a beacon for the area. Npoint
 
Re: NorthPoint Cambridge (The one that was train yards, the big plan.)

Yes, the Archstone tower is lit up ... it is either a remarkable site or a monstrosity, depending on your point of view. (I think it looks quite good ...)

So, Tango is still under construction but the banks let people close? Amazing.
 
Re: NorthPoint Cambridge (The one that was train yards, the big plan.)

Just wanted to confirm briv's report that the Cambridge Housing Authority has bought some units at NorthPoint for sale to low- to moderate-income families. There are several units in both Tango and Sierra, as well as a few at One First Street.

Are people really (and finally!) moving in over there? The park looks like a wonderful rape park, at least until more people start moving into the area.

I heard at one point that they were planning on building a skate park somewhere in NorthPoint. Does anyone know if that's still in the plans?
 
Re: NorthPoint Cambridge (The one that was train yards, the big plan.)

Skate park would not be in the North Point development, but rather under the loop ramps to the Zakim (on state property).
 
Re: NorthPoint Cambridge (The one that was train yards, the big plan.)

Golden Calf, where can we read more about this?
 
Re: NorthPoint Cambridge (The one that was train yards, the big plan.)

That's great, thanks for the tip.

I wonder though whether this is new, or whether the developer always had an agreement to set aside units as "affordable".

It's a requirement in Boston, of course.
 
Re: NorthPoint Cambridge (The one that was train yards, the big plan.)

The inclusion of affordable units has been in the plans from the beginning (at least since 2005 when I signed the Purchase and Sales Agreement). They want to have some municipal workers such as teachers, police officers, fire department personnel, etc. be able to afford to live in the city. I have not heard anything about Section 8 subsidies however. Maybe this was confused with the affordable housing plan. The large park was supposed to have a community center built into one of the hills but this was nixed. The NorthPoint area is still considered private property so we have our own security for now. But more eyes on that park would definitely be a good thing....I know that many members of this forum are not crazy about the NorthPoint future plans (too much park) but I am encouraged that this development has finally turned the corner. Also the 1 billion dollar life sciences bill just signed by the governor will hopefully spur on some development in Cambridge.
 
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