Cambridge Infill and Small Developments

Gameguy326 said:
Are we sure this doesn't have something to do with the MIT expansion next door?
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You're right that it is part of the MIT Kendall Gateway project. I was not aware how extensive the modifications to the existing One Broadway would be. I found some updated info that I'll post on the Kendall Gateway project thread.
 
Brad Plaid said:
Taxpaper block (except barber shop) was demolished today so construction should start soon.
http://www.cambridgema.gov/~/media/...2016/1607massave/lpr_1607mass_plans.pdf?la=en
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The building that was demolished wasn't quite a "taxpayer" in either the literal or figurative sense. It's been contaminated with toxic dry cleaning chemicals and boarded up for years. And since it's also been owned by Harvard for years it hasn't paid taxes. I'm glad to see that one go...

Brad Plaid said:
Surface parking lot has just been scraped away for this odd duck.http://www.cambridgema.gov/~/media/...ve/lpr_1669_mass_ave_plans_20160125.pdf?la=en
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"Odd duck" indeed...
 
JumboBuc said:
And since it's also been owned by Harvard for years it hasn't paid taxes.
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Not to derail this, but non-profits pay taxes on commercial property they own. Merely being owned by a non-profit is not sufficient to avoid taxes. Only property used in pursuit of the non-profit activity (i.e. Harvard's classrooms, dorms, admin buildings) are exempt.

MIT is the top taxpayer in Cambridge.
 
fattony said:
Not to derail this, but non-profits pay taxes on commercial property they own. Merely being owned by a non-profit is not sufficient to avoid taxes. Only property used in pursuit of the non-profit activity (i.e. Harvard's classrooms, dorms, admin buildings) are exempt.

MIT is the top taxpayer in Cambridge.
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Understood. Harvard hasn't been using this site for commercial purposes though, and they will be using it primarily for HLS offices. It's unclear on Cambridge's assessing site if it has been paying taxes.
 
Looks like work is starting on 907 Main St. to transform the existing building into a boutique hotel.

"The boutique hotel calls 67 rooms and a fifth-floor addition, which will feature a partially enclosed rooftop bar. The building’s current parking lot will become an outdoor courtyard, in addition to the new construction housing the future Patty Chen’s. Demotion and reconstruction started last week, and the hotel developer is eyeing a spring 2019 debut.

Plans for the development can be found here: http://www.cambridgema.gov/~/media/Files/CDD/ZoningDevel/SpecialPermits/sp324/sp324_app_plans.pdf?la=en

News links:
http://www.bostonmagazine.com/restaurants/blog/2017/10/16/central-square-hotel-cinderellas-closing-toscaninis/

http://cambridge.wickedlocal.com/news/20171013/construction-of-new-boutique-hotel-begins-in-central-square
 
BostonDrew said:
Looks like work is starting on 907 Main St. to transform the existing building into a boutique hotel.

"The boutique hotel calls 67 rooms and a fifth-floor addition, which will feature a partially enclosed rooftop bar. The building’s current parking lot will become an outdoor courtyard, in addition to the new construction housing the future Patty Chen’s. Demotion and reconstruction started last week, and the hotel developer is eyeing a spring 2019 debut.

Plans for the development can be found here: http://www.cambridgema.gov/~/media/Files/CDD/ZoningDevel/SpecialPermits/sp324/sp324_app_plans.pdf?la=en

News links:
http://www.bostonmagazine.com/restaurants/blog/2017/10/16/central-square-hotel-cinderellas-closing-toscaninis/

http://cambridge.wickedlocal.com/news/20171013/construction-of-new-boutique-hotel-begins-in-central-square
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As part of this, Cinderella's will be closing for good (while transferring delivery services to Beauty's, whatever that means). That's unfortunate, especially since they recently remodeled in 2015 or so. I guess their pivot toward a full-service bar & restaurant didn't pan out?
 
34f34f said:
As part of this, Cinderella's will be closing for good (while transferring delivery services to Beauty's, whatever that means). That's unfortunate, especially since they recently remodeled in 2015 or so. I guess their pivot toward a full-service bar & restaurant didn't pan out?
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I live close to Cinderellas and have stopped in at times for a drink and app or so. I've never seen more then maybe three or four other people in there and walking by on even a weekend night, it's been fairly dead.
 
i worked at toscanini's next door and once bought garlic bread from cinderella's as my lunch for the day. my boss/tosci's owner ate my garlic bread. i quit. good story, yeah?
 
mdd said:
I live close to Cinderellas and have stopped in at times for a drink and app or so. I've never seen more then maybe three or four other people in there and walking by on even a weekend night, it's been fairly dead.
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I work nearby and have observed (and am fascinated by) this and a more general trend I've observed:
People in/near kendall seem to absolutely cram into (saturate) a few specific places while leaving others utterly vacant. There's almost no gradient. Sure, cinderella's after work was nothing special - but they did a decent job with the renovation / bar conversion, and it was (IMHO) a perfectly fine place for an after work drink. I'm sure there's some mechanism at play that I'm not perceptive to....but my point is: why the eff are people willing to line up to cram into the same 3 places, when there's some place almost as good next door that literally no one is willing to go to? (I observed the same thing w/ cinderella's having no more than 4 people on multiple occasions).

I am puzzled at the lack of distribution/diffusion into the 2nd tier places.

EDIT: is it that people live entirely with their faces in their phones these days, and that cinderella's didn't do a good job updating how they were indexed in google maps to reveal the fact that they in fact converted to a bar/lounge? Maybe most people thought it was still a take-out centric pizza place, and no one was actually looking up to realize what was in front of them.
 
I hate everything about this stupid hotel project. Cinderella's wasn't bustling, but it had some of the best low-brow Italian food in the area. And I know we have a hotel shortage in Boston, but we have far more of a serious housing shortage, and this is just going to make it worse.
 
Gameguy326 said:
I hate everything about this stupid hotel project. Cinderella's wasn't bustling, but it had some of the best low-brow Italian food in the area. And I know we have a hotel shortage in Boston, but we have far more of a serious housing shortage, and this is just going to make it worse.
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Unless you consider that it could alleviate some demand for airbnb so that those units may return to regular rentals? I don't think the loss of these apartments is a huge problem. The building is also getting an addition into what is now a parking lot.

The retail space that Cinderella's is in still exists in the same location in the final product. Considering that Patty Chen's and Toscannini's will remain in the building, it sounds like Cinderella's wasn't willing to come to an agreement with the building owner. Others had pointed out that the restaurant was usually empty. Perhaps now was the time for the owner to call it quits? An easy out for their lease?
 
^^ This might just be me, but that render gives off a cheap/cheesy 80's Miami vibe, minus the neon lights.
 
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