Columbus Ave Student Housing | 10 Burke St | Northeastern University

Tito's running for mayor. He needs to rack up his list of things he opposes Marty on, regardless of how stupid they are.
 
elemenoh said:
I hope the Ali's Roti Wraps shop doesn't get priced out the neighborhood (it's right on the corner of Tremont at Coventry St.). That is one of the great cheap eats in that part of town.

And I dread when the students and Northeastern administration start complaining about the SRO that's right there on Coventry St., too. That's important housing for people who would most likely otherwise be homeless, but it's not nice by any stretch of the imagination.

Bringing in well-heeled students will certainly put upward pressure on retail rents for the small businesses that serve the nearby low-income population, which will be impacted by the sudden influx of 800 students in a high-rise housing complex.

Northeastern and the YMCA have really wanted to kick the Cardinal Medeiros men's housing program out of the YMCA on Huntington, but thankfully it managed to stay despite the lack of basic maintenance over the years. Again, that program serves a very disenfranchised population in a part of town that used to be very gritty but is now brick sidewalks and Starbucks.

Here's what it was like in 2008, and it wasn't much better when I lived there in 2012:
https://www.boston.com/news/local/a...r_men_in_need_is_called_deplorable/?page=full
Click to expand...

But college kids love cheap, divey eats. Having 800 Northeastern students move in around the block would probably help Ali's more than it would put them at risk.
 
There is a NU Task Force meeting for this project tonight (about to start now, actually). I'm sitting in the back row if any of you that might be attending want to say hi. Blue flannel and glasses.
 
I think a lot of people forget that most college students even in Boston are really poor. Yes some maybe even more than average have wealthy parents but that doesn't mean they act entirely differently or that most will have higher standards than usual. One of my friends was from a very wealthy family but went to most of the same stores and restaurants as the rest of us. College students generally just don't have much of their own money bottom line so how wealthy the family they are from is doesn't always mean as much as might be expected.
 
I attended the latest meeting for this tonight. Took a butt load of notes and photos for you guys. I won't be able to upload the photos until tonight/tomorrow, but here are my notes from the meeting:


NU Task Force Meeting May 19, 2016
- 10 Burke Street, Boston, MA

Manfredi presenting latest plans
- update on design based on input from this group, BCDC, and task force; they've had good input, the public realm improvements have "made the project better, especially with respect to surrounding buildings"
- ground floor plan... General configuration has stayed the same. Loading area was outdoor space beneath the building. They found there was concern it wasn't good for public realm or wind conditions. They filled it in.
- still active edge along Burke
-proposed gate at building edge due to irregular property line
- unit configurations have not really changed, except on south side of building where 9th floor of building up is pushed back by 13 feet. They recovered that by adding an extra floor, but keep it within 230 feet
- a little more refinement in material pallets... 8-story building matches height of neighbor... Looking at a metal panel with a rich, copper-like color to it. The vertical curves will be accentuated up
- from Tremont, you can see how building splits into its two parts and to make it as translucent as possible. They're trying to break up facade to contextual ice it to the neighborhood
- you can see now how SW corner pulls back a bit from the 8-story component from the existing condition.
- the east tower was more monolithic; by giving it a base, it's more palatable
- bay windows projected a little on Burke facade. Texture and depth given to Burke Street wall
- NE corner is no longer 90 degrees, instead has been curved a little
- the light fixture up the building has been left behind, meant to be a better neighbor.
- they want to create a social place out front at entrance of building, and a little bit of outdoor space
- concrete sidewalk, Pacers... Bleacher type seating along entrance edge; permeable pavers in alley (Burke facade and street experience look great!)
- 3 areas of concern for wind around site (none of them are dangerous); the trees here help mitigate these.
- there's a canopy cantilevered to make the sidewalk experience more comfortable
- shadow studies (no surprises)
- Moriarty Construction will be general contractor on the project (privately owned). Their priority is to start looking for Bostonian workers--women and minorities are priority. They work hard to make sure all goals are reached for employing diverse people.

key dates
- 6/9, request for BRA public hearing on 7/14
- zoning commission in August
- key construction start in January of 2017, goal of move-in occupancy of Fall of 2019
- send comments to Katelyn Sullivan by June 10th to be addressed by the BRA/NU.


Please excuse several grammar or spelling errors--I was typing these quick fire from an iPhone. iApologize.
 
LOL, I appreciate the defense data. However, I did promise the forum photos. Here's the photos I snapped last week:

IMG_5098 by Derek Shooster, on Flickr

IMG_5095 by Derek Shooster, on Flickr

IMG_5096 by Derek Shooster, on Flickr

IMG_5100 by Derek Shooster, on Flickr

IMG_5102 by Derek Shooster, on Flickr

IMG_5103 by Derek Shooster, on Flickr

IMG_5104 by Derek Shooster, on Flickr

IMG_5105 by Derek Shooster, on Flickr

IMG_5107 by Derek Shooster, on Flickr

IMG_5108 by Derek Shooster, on Flickr

IMG_5109 by Derek Shooster, on Flickr

IMG_5111 by Derek Shooster, on Flickr

IMG_5112 by Derek Shooster, on Flickr

IMG_5115 by Derek Shooster, on Flickr

IMG_5116 by Derek Shooster, on Flickr
 
Last edited:
NEMfcakh.jpg


Full Resolution here.
 
Thanks for the photos, BeeLine. If I've been following this correctly, it's likely the tower's final height will be about 3X the height that the core is currently in your photos. So if that's still true, then we'll probably see a crane jump some time this fall.
 
This one's going to be quite visible from way up Columbus Ave

36838541666_915c1fcd06_b.jpg
 
If I'm looking at this correctly, is this the core of the shorter tower?
 
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