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

[stellarfun]

Re: NorthPoint Cambridge (The one that was train yards, the big plan.)

Decided to post this here, rather than in transit.

T line?s extension at risk
Failed NorthPoint sale delays new Lechmere station
By Scott Van Voorhis
Saturday, July 5, 2008

A grand plan to extend the Green Line to Somerville and Medford could be in danger of derailing.

The collapse of the multibillion-dollar NorthPoint project in Cambridge has thrown a monkey wrench into long-standing plans for a new Lechmere Station to anchor the $600 million extension.

Under plans for a new city-within-a-city at NorthPoint, the project?s developers agreed to build the MBTA a new, $70 million-plus Lechmere Station. In return, the builders, a partnership between Boston and Maine railroad and local real estate executives, were to have been granted additional land.

But the project?s development team has since split up amid a bitter legal feud, while a deal to sell the property recently collapsed.

And local officials who have championed the rail extension are now watching nervously.

?We all know that until the station is relocated, there is not going to be an extension,? said state Rep. Denise Provost (D-Somerville). ?There is a contract in place, but that developer is gone so there is no successor to the developer to carry out the contract.?

State transportation officials say they are beginning to draw up contingency plans to move ahead with the station without help from a developer.

That would likely mean either borrowing more for the project, using state bonds, or trying to cover the extra costs with federal transportation dollars, one official explained.

?We are aware of the situation and we are undertaking contingency planning,? said Klark Jessen, a spokesman for the state Executive Office of Transportation.

But it may be easier said than done finding extra money amid hard budget times and competition among various projects for scarce resources, Provost said.

Meanwhile, state officials are under an increasingly tight deadline to complete the project. Under an agreement aimed at staving off a threatened Conservation Law Foundation lawsuit, state officials have agreed to have the new Green Line extension up and running by 2014.
Preliminary applications for federal funding are due this September.

?Lechmere station is critical for the expansion,? said Somerville Mayor Joseph Curtatone. ?Making sure that happens is critical.?

http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1105080

 

[Charlie_mta]

Re: NorthPoint Cambridge (The one that was train yards, the big plan.)

For major transportaion projects like this, $70 million is chump change. There's something seriously wrong with transportation priorities in this age of $4.50/gallon gas if they can't scrape up $70 million to help fund this vital rail transit project. On the Big Dig project, no one would even blink an eye at an extra $70 million, yet on this rail transit project it's supposedly a project stopper. Wow, the out-of-date transportation priorities revealed in this are amazing. We should be developing a post-automobile transportation system.

 

[BostonSkyGuy]

Re: NorthPoint Cambridge (The one that was train yards, the big plan.)

We should be developing a post-automobile transportation system.

Bingo. The problem with the governmental thinking (I include city/state/federal officials in my "Government" generalization) is that it's always short sighted. Eventually cities are going to have to plan for a public transportation that can handle more and more passengers due to the increasing expense of owning cars. In my opinion in 25+ years, cars will be a luxury that not everyone can afford. They're going to have to add this type of thing in the future anyways, why not spend the 70 million NOW and not spend 250 million later when materials, labor, and general expenses go up?

 

[stellarfun]

Re: NorthPoint Cambridge (The one that was train yards, the big plan.)

Cambridge minicity may soon have buyer
By Scott Van Voorhis
Friday, July 11, 2008

A potential new buyer has emerged for Cambridge?s troubled NorthPoint project, with national developer Forest City taking a look at the massive ?city-within-a-city? building plan, project officials confirmed.

Forest City Enterprises Inc. is one of at least three or four real estate firms preparing to offer bids for the sprawling tract of longtime industrial land near Lechmere station in East Cambridge, according to NorthPoint.

But Forest City is particularly interested, having a long track record of developing property in Cambridge, including the well-regarded University Park development with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

As part of the NorthPoint deal, the new owner will be expected to follow through on plans to build a new Lechmere T station, a vital jumping-off point for a long-planned extension of the Green Line into Somerville and Medford, said David Fink, president of Pan Am Railways, the umbrella company for NorthPoint owner Boston and Maine Railroad.

Overall, the NorthPoint plan calls for 5.5 million square feet of homes, offices and shops spread over a 40-acre site.

?We are trying to move the property,? Fink said. ?That is the bottom line.?

The emergence of Forest City, which declined comment, as a contender for the property comes on the heels of the collapse of a deal to sell NorthPoint to a Texas developer.

Archon Group, the real estate investment arm of Goldman Sachs, had struck a tentative deal last fall for the site, reportedly in the $175 million range.

But that agreement later unraveled, with Archon pulling out of the deal this spring.

NorthPoint?s owners now are preparing to call for bids from Forest City and other would-be buyers, with plans to push forward with a new sale in a matter of a month or so, Fink indicated.

http://www.bostonherald.com/business/real_estate/view.bg?articleid=1106353

Lets hope Pan Am Railways, nee Guilford, nee B&M, sells out its stake and walks away from the property. Then something might actually happen.

 

[Tim Jackson]

Re: NorthPoint Cambridge (The one that was train yards, the big plan.)

Toomey: Move Middlesex courthouse to NorthPoint development

By Jillian Fennimore/Chronicle staff
Thu Sep 11, 2008, 08:39 AM EDT

Cambridge -

At least one politician is looking to put the Middlesex Superior Court back where it used to be ? in Cambridge.

And the sprawling NorthPoint development may be the place to do it, according to City Councilor Tim Toomey.

On Monday night, Toomey expressed his interest in looking at the mammoth East Cambridge parcel to build a new courthouse facility.

?It would be nice to have a courthouse presence back in Cambridge,? said Toomey, who?s also a state representative.

In March, the Middlesex County Superior Court moved from its Thorndike Street high-rise to a newly built 140,000-square-foot, seven-story building at 200 Trade Center in Woburn as its former 22-story home undergoes major renovations.

But chances are the hefty price tag for repairs at the Edward J. Sullivan Courthouse, which includes asbestos cleanup, building and security upgrades, and replacement of the courthouse?s aging elevators, could be too much of a burden for the court to move back.

?It?s 550,000 square feet, but not all of it is usable space,? said Middlesex Clerk of Courts Michael Sullivan.

Instead, Sullivan said building a brand-new facility in Cambridge to house all branches of the judicial system might be the route to follow.

?The idea is to be able to bring all resources under one roof,? Sullivan said.

But it won?t be for another seven years before a move is made, considering the lease in Woburn has been extended from five to seven years, according to Sullivan.

In total, more than 180 employees have moved to the newly built Woburn facility, which includes 15 courtrooms, 15 jury deliberation rooms, 22 holding cells with separate areas for men and women and record storage space.

Toomey earlier this week requested that the city explore the possibility of renegotiating NorthPoint?s special permit to include a new courthouse for Cambridge. A special permit was granted by the city in order for the project to move forward in working under specific design and zoning guidelines.

Despite being deadlocked in a Delaware court due to a dispute between developers, the riverside site has welcomed millions of square feet worth of laboratory and office space, residential units, parking spaces and open space, along with the pending relocation of the Lechmere T station.

But Toomey said the process has been ?frustrating and disappointing? since the state?s Executive Office of Transportation is now footing the bill for the new station in order to prevent any construction delays. The relocation will be incorporated in the state?s project of extending the Green Line into Somerville and Medford.

Originally, officials behind the NorthPoint development agreed to build the Lechmere Green Line station off Monsignor O?Brien Highway, in exchange for obtaining the property at the existing Lechmere station.

But councilors are now questioning if that deal can be taken back because of the state?s takeover.

One fellow city councilor agreed that Cambridge should be more proactive as the site develops.

?Let?s get aggressive with this and not be blindsided,? said Councilor David Maher.

LINK

 

[jass]

Re: NorthPoint Cambridge (The one that was train yards, the big plan.)

 

[vanshnookenraggen]

Re: NorthPoint Cambridge (The one that was train yards, the big plan.)

So wait, they ran out of money to build the buildings but built the park? Well, ok, looks really nice (I totally want to take my mountain bike over there).

 

[czsz]

Re: NorthPoint Cambridge (The one that was train yards, the big plan.)

Looks like Boston's McCarren Park (minus all the people).

 

[jass]

Re: NorthPoint Cambridge (The one that was train yards, the big plan.)

So wait, they ran out of money to build the buildings but built the park? Well, ok, looks really nice (I totally want to take my mountain bike over there).

Might have been a legal obligation, or a ploy to get residents in.

 

[ablarc]

Re: NorthPoint Cambridge (The one that was train yards, the big plan.)

No matter how hard they try, they just can't get it right.

Not here, not at the Seaport.

The planning model is all wrong.

 

[underground]

Re: NorthPoint Cambridge (The one that was train yards, the big plan.)

Beautiful buildings. Beautiful parks.... but it's just a nicer Charles River Park.

 

[ablarc]

Re: NorthPoint Cambridge (The one that was train yards, the big plan.)

^ As you say, the planning model is all wrong. It could be more like where you live, but it's Charles River Park.

Can't get Suburbia out of the planning bloodstream.

 

[tinyyogini]

Re: NorthPoint Cambridge (The one that was train yards, the big plan.)

Well, they really are beautiful. I saw about 15 units in both buildings. I'll be moving there in the next couple of months.

And to clear up the rumors, yes, they set aside a certain number of units to sell to low-moderate income folks like me, a public school teacher. It's the only opportunity I'll ever have to own property, short of moving to Lawrence, and it's really a dream come true. I couldn't me more thrilled.

 

[Boston02124]

Re: NorthPoint Cambridge (The one that was train yards, the big plan.)

^cool! I look forward to pictures of your view from your condo!

 

[RugbyGod]

Re: NorthPoint Cambridge (The one that was train yards, the big plan.)

So, how many apartments are occupied in Sierra and in Tango building currently (also, which one is which? Sierra = 1 Earhart?)?

If anyone is actually living in the unit, how is it after it is dark? Do you feel safe walking to and from lechmere station? (12AM or 1AM)? How is the build quality?

Thanks.

 

[Lrfox]

Re: NorthPoint Cambridge (The one that was train yards, the big plan.)

^I was interested in this as well. The prices seem pretty reasonable, but it just looks dead to me.

 

[kennedy]

Re: NorthPoint Cambridge (The one that was train yards, the big plan.)

RugbyGod? Who do you think you are, Tana Umaga?

just playin with ya

 

[Tango]

Re: NorthPoint Cambridge (The one that was train yards, the big plan.)

We just had our first condo meeting tonight. There are 37 persons who have already moved in with more that have signed purchase and sales agreements. Sierra is One Earhart and Tango is Two Earhart. There is an interested buyer for the NorthPoint property who has signed a purchase and sales agreement but they could not disclose the buyer's name. If all goes well the property will be sold within 45 days. We usually find out about this stuff in the Boston Globe or Herald before it is official. The area is pretty safe at night but I would only use the park during the daytime.

 

[Boston02124]

Re: NorthPoint Cambridge (The one that was train yards, the big plan.)

I drove by here tonite around 530 pm and it looked well occupied,with the top all lit up to match!

 

[jass]

Re: NorthPoint Cambridge (The one that was train yards, the big plan.)

I was surprised to see police call boxes, as I associate them with unviersities