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

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

Close friend of mine lives there: she agrees!

Spent a couple weeks there, can concur.

And is it just me, or do the site plans of the new res building along O'Brien have a pool facing the elevated Green Line? I can just imagine trying to chill at the pool and get some sun and have people on the Green Line gawking out the window down at me. This just seems somehow, I don't know, like I wouldn't be using the pool that often. Maybe I am misreading the plan, but I don't think so.
 
Re: NorthPoint Cambridge (The one that was train yards, the big plan.)

Spent a couple weeks there, can concur.

And is it just me, or do the site plans of the new res building along O'Brien have a pool facing the elevated Green Line? I can just imagine trying to chill at the pool and get some sun and have people on the Green Line gawking out the window down at me. This just seems somehow, I don't know, like I wouldn't be using the pool that often. Maybe I am misreading the plan, but I don't think so.

I mean, it also shows deck chairs, and presumably people can see you out of their windows...
 
Re: NorthPoint Cambridge (The one that was train yards, the big plan.)

I mean, it also shows deck chairs, and presumably people can see you out of their windows...

Could be.

When you're riding the Green outbound to Lechmere you can actually look down into the indoor pool at Avalon NP, too, and into their courtyard. The pool is open year round, and technically so is that green. But it's chilly now!
 
Re: NorthPoint Cambridge (The one that was train yards, the big plan.)

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After a stoppage to allow for permitting notice, most of "the green building" was demolished today.

In the background you can see (partially) that DivCo is positioning steel for the bathtub around parcel J-K.
 
Re: NorthPoint Cambridge (The one that was train yards, the big plan.)

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For those interested, Avalon's Phase II is progressing swiftly.

That wood is going to take some serious snow tomorrow!
 
Re: NorthPoint Cambridge (The one that was train yards, the big plan.)

As of 17 March, the ugliest building in Northpoint was no more!

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

http://www.bostonglobe.com/business...n-cambridge/aLugL5b9QKTnwRG4MP7LvI/story.html

Not sure where to put this,but since it's in this area..

State is giving EF $6million is tax credits for them to expand. $133 million expansion will include a new building and will add 300 jobs to their US headquarters. Construction of the new building will be done by 2019.
 
Re: NorthPoint Cambridge (The one that was train yards, the big plan.)

Wood frame apartments, right next to the Green Line. That combo will not bode well for those who want peace and quiet.
 
Re: NorthPoint Cambridge (The one that was train yards, the big plan.)

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Site preparation: 1) steel for Lot J-K bathtub construction and 2) continued compacting of what was the staging building...
 
Re: NorthPoint Cambridge (The one that was train yards, the big plan.)

Wood frame apartments, right next to the Green Line. That combo will not bode well for those who want peace and quiet.

Yea, because everyone knows that electric trains on welded rails set in deep ballast on a new concrete viaduct will subject those nearby to Jake braking, tire noise, pothole thumping, and honking during 24 hours of operation.

I guess if people want peace and quiet outside their window they will have to move to pastoral Alewife's Vox on Route2, or someplace else where there's only the whisper of highway traffic and the gentle murmur of box trucks.
 
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Re: NorthPoint Cambridge (The one that was train yards, the big plan.)

I guess if you are looking at an apartment with train tracks outside your window, you must not really care or are willing to make that trade-off.

Yea, because everyone knows that electric trains on welded rails set in deep ballast on a new concrete viaduct will subject those nearby to Jake braking, tire noise, pothole thumping, and honking during 24 hours of operation.

I guess if people want peace and quiet outside their window they will have to move to pastoral Alewife's Vox on Route2, or someplace else where there's only the whisper of highway traffic and the gentle murmur of box trucks.
 
Re: NorthPoint Cambridge (The one that was train yards, the big plan.)

I guess if you are looking at an apartment with train tracks outside your window, you must not really care or are willing to make that trade-off.

Isn't that sort of the definition of TOD: train tracks outside your window. [I realise this case is rather extreme]
 
Re: NorthPoint Cambridge (The one that was train yards, the big plan.)

Lot JK's bathtub construction is in progress (began last Friday, 19 May).

Images from 23 May:

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*Also ... From the MBTA website and signs in the lot:

Starting June 22: Lechmere Station Parking Lot will close permanently at 6:00 pm on Thursday, June 22 due to the Green Line extension project.
 
Re: NorthPoint Cambridge (The one that was train yards, the big plan.)

can we start a dedicated thread for this building? w/name, address, renders, etc.?
 
Re: NorthPoint Cambridge (The one that was train yards, the big plan.)

Lot/parcel JK was a combination of the old Master Plan (Canyon Partners) lots named J & K across from the Northpoint "Sierra" condominium building. The current bathtub, built to secure the site from water intrusion, will be bordered by North Street, North First Street, Dawes Street, and Baldwin Park.

Several of us presented documentation and materials about the early progress, but it was Equilibria who added plan submissions that might interest you...post #828. Datadyne007 subsequently posted images from the linked PDFs.

According to materials we (S+T owners) received last week, the building should be between 130'-150', differing slightly from the original plans (now 9 stories instead of 11, plus mechanicals: 455k gross ft^2).

According to DivCo West, the schedule is thus (there is no building name yet):

- Spring 2017: mobilization of project crews/excavation and installation of steel;

- Fall 2017: preparation for concrete;

- Winter '17-'18: concrete pours and structural steel erection;

- Spring 2018: MEP+elevators and exterior wall cladding and roofing systems

- Finish: interiors...

Consistent with owners' meetings is that DivCo West plans to build the road layout - and part of the area's main utilities - in and around the construction area while JK is built.
 
Re: NorthPoint Cambridge (The one that was train yards, the big plan.)

Lot/parcel JK was a combination of the old Master Plan (Canyon Partners) lots named J & K across from the Northpoint "Sierra" condominium building. The current bathtub, built to secure the site from water intrusion, will be bordered by North Street, North First Street, Dawes Street, and Baldwin Park.

Several of us presented documentation and materials about the early progress, but it was Equilibria who added plan submissions that might interest you...post #828. Datadyne007 subsequently posted images from the linked PDFs.

Awesome. Thanks.

How do you like living in the area and how is the parking situation there? I'm thinking about Avalon NP II after its finish.
 
Re: NorthPoint Cambridge (The one that was train yards, the big plan.)

Awesome. Thanks.

How do you like living in the area and how is the parking situation there? I'm thinking about Avalon NP II after its finish.

We have lived here for years as owners and love it.

S+T through Northpoint Common and into the developing parcels is owned by DivCo West (excluding Twenty|20, owned by Prudential, and Zinc, which isn't in Northpoint) so we own the roads. Parking for residents' guests has not been a problem given the access to surrounding private roads (note to readers: Cambridge parking stickers/cards are useless here). The MBTA lot's impending closure might affect a few residents on the biggest holidays since spillover won't head to that lot. Our buildings have 1 or 2 floors of underground parking and then a surface lot (Lot U).

Avalon (Tower) has several underground parking decks, and Avalon Lofts residents are served by those. AVA (Avalon Phase II) will have proprietary parking for residents.

When we moved here we sold the car. Biking and two metro lines work great for us. If you need a car for work, parking will not be difficult (the two non Northpoint buildings provide lots of space, either as part of their podium or underground (Zinc).

Also, if you don't want to wait for AVA to finish, Twenty|20 is quite nice, with solid amenities. I'm partial to S+T, though! :p
 
Re: NorthPoint Cambridge (The one that was train yards, the big plan.)

2 June 2017: morning.

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About 70% of the bathtub is in place (high), with ~20% of that sunken to ground level.

I don't have an evening shot, but it would have revealed impressive progress since this AM.
 

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