Dorchester Infill and Small Developments

Spire property in Savin Hill is listed for sale

Yet another development could be on the horizon in Savin Hill.

The Spire building at 65 Bay Street, adjacent to Savin Hill MBTA station, is on the market for $13.9 million.

The parcel was listed online this week as an “ideal redevelopment site,” according to the listing on commercial real estate website Loopnet.com.

Already, there is a “lot of interest” in the property, according to John Cremen, senior vice president of Boston-based Denenberg Realty Advisors, retained to sell the property. Cremen was reached by the Reporter on Thursday. “We’ve had a lot of people are chasing this.”

The building’s composition is not ideal for Spire, the current owners, Cremen said. The two-story building contains a mix of production, office, and warehouse space, as well as three loading docks and a 90-plus car parking lot.

Earlier this month, plans fell through to provide 15 parking spaces in the Spire lot for a nearby mixed-use residential and retail development over the so-called “Savin Hill hole,” stalling the 14-unit development. The project’s developers are currently re-working parking configurations to be offered on-site.

Isaac “Skip” Dyer, executive vice president of the graphic design and printing company, had no comment for this story.

Spire purchased the 65 Bay Street property from Dorchester Bay Economic Development Corporation in 2013 for $7.1 million. The graphic design and printing company has occupied the building since its opening in 2002– 12 years after Dorchester Bay bought the then-abandoned five-acre site in Savin Hill, the former home of Boston Insulated Wire and Cable, then secured $14.5 million in funding to clean up the property.

As a tenant of Dorchester Bay, Spire had an at-times rocky history with the economic development corporation. In 2007, Spire sued Dorchester Bay, which owned the property through 65 Bay St. LLC until it was purchased last year, alleging defects in the design, construction, and engineering of the building. In April 2008, Dorchester Bay sued Winter St. Architects and the other companies involved in the construction of the Spire headquarters.
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http://www.dotnews.com/2014/spire-property-savin-hill-listed-sale

5 acres right next to the T station. This is going to be a big deal for the neighborhood. Does anyone know if housing can be build at this site or is it zoned exclusively as Light Manufacturing?
 
Nov. 5 meeting set for Neponset Ave. condo, eatery proposal

In July, the Reporter reported that Adamson and co-owner Mark Cummings had paid $300,000 for a liquor license and sought city approval to transfer that license to the Neponset Avenue location. The proposed 5,500 sq. ft. restaurant, called The Dorchester, would serve basic American fare for lunch and dinner with a capacity of 215 seats.

In his letter to the BRA, Stephen Souza outlines the housing component of the project, which will consists of a 26,000 square foot building with parking at grade. The lot itself is bounded by Neponset Avenue and Minot Street. The condo building would include 22 market rate units, three of which would be set aside as affordable, according to the BRA.
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http://www.dotnews.com/2014/nov-5-meeting-set-neponset-ave-condo-eatery-proposal

Rendering included with article.
 
Civic group changes up, green-lights Savin Hill Ave. condo plan

The days are numbered for a longtime “hole” in the Savin Hill business district.

The Columbia-Savin Hill Civic Association last night reversed course and gave its approval to a mixed-use, transit oriented development across from Savin Hill MBTA station. The three-story, 13-unit condo project — with a retail space on the ground level— has taken on citywide significance as the Walsh administration ramps up for a new spurt of housing growth. The project has prompted keen interest in Savin Hill as well: A crowd of 125 packed into the gym at the Little House last night for the debate and subsequent vote.

The project approved by the civic group last night includes just three tenant parking spaces behind the existing Savin Bar and Kitchen— a shortfall that had prompted the civic association to withhold support in past meetings. Driscoll DoCanto and Ken Osherow, who co-own Savin Bar and Kitchen, partnered with developer David Higgins to craft the three-story development. Part of the building will be cantilevered over Savin Bar and Kitchen.

DoCanto said he and his design team worked “every which way” to make parking financially feasible on the site, but taking out the three existing parking spaces to create five underground spaces made little sense.

“No project is perfect, but the alternative to this project is that this lot sits empty for another 20 years,” said DoCanto, adding that the people interested in this development–directly across from the Savin Hill station, would be drawn to those units for their proximity to mass transit.
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http://www.dotnews.com/2014/civic-group-changes-green-lights-savin-hill-ave-condo-plan

Reason prevails!
 
Direct result of McMorrow's Globe editorial?
 
Shepard said:
Direct result of McMorrow's Globe editorial?
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I certainly don't think the editorial hurt. A lot of residents in the area were pretty upset about this project being voted against and they came to the meeting to voice their opinions. I also think that the upcoming sale of the Spire land off Bay street may have forced the civic association to rethink their hardline negotiation tactics. The off site parking that they were demanding would have been at the Spire lots.
 
BussesAin'tTrains said:
^ What's the project entail?
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The former St. Kevin’s campus will be redeveloped as 80 units of mixed-income affordable workforce housing, and will include civic space on the ground floor in the newly constructed building at the corner of Davern & Columbia. The development includes three multi-story buildings, two newly constructed (35 Bird St and 530 Columbia St) and the adaptive reuse of one of the existing buildings (516 Columbia).
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http://www.stkevinsredevelopment.org/about-st-kevins/
 
A mixed reaction to BRA plans for Mount Vernon St.

The plan described last week includes the addition of new crosswalks, more street lighting, significant landscaping, and signage to inform pedestrians of their whereabouts. It will also make significant changes to the street’s layout that include such things as eliminating the back right-turn lane that takes drivers from Mount Vernon Street up to Day Boulevard; extending the curb at the tricky pedestrian crossing from the JFK/UMASS station to Morrissey Boulevard; and reducing Mount Vernon Street from four to two lanes of vehicular traffic starting near the Geiger Gibson Community Health Center and continuing down to the end of the street in order to allow for bicycle tracks.

Planners say these changes are meant to make the street safer and more accessible for pedestrians and to balance all modes of transportation. Today, “the car is king” on Mount Vernon Street, said BRA Senior Planner Tad Read, who pointed to the need to enliven “dead” spaces by “animating the space with activities” such as retail or social activity encouraged by possible additions like outdoor furniture or public art. He also spoke of giving the area more of a defined “identity,” perhaps through the addition of public art to the Morrissey Boulevard overpass that would serve as a kind of “gateway” to the neighborhood.
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The best quote from the story:

Angel, a 15-year-old Harbor Point resident, said he feared that the change in the street layout would cause congestion and “a lot of frustrated drivers [who] could hurt a student,”
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http://www.dotnews.com/2014/mixed-reaction-bra-plans-mount-vernon-st
 
Three pitch city for Maxwell site in Uphams Corner

“We did get three strong proposals from three strong teams, which is once again exciting,” she said. “The staff here are reviewing the proposals right now and will then make determinations about who would go out to make presentations. If they all submitted complete proposals, and it looks like they did, they all will go out and present to the community.”

One of the development teams is led by the Dorchester Bay Economic Development Corporation (EDC ), which teamed up with Boston Capital, a real estate investment firm, and Escazu Development, owned by former VietAID leader My Lam.

Their plan calls for a mix of homes, rental units, and a 20,000 sq. ft. space to house a light industrial business on the site. The housing mix will include 92 residential units, of which 50 percent will be classified as affordable, with the balance marketed as “moderate or market-rate.” The Dorchester Bay plan would include a public green space and community room and a new street with a village feel.

Another proposal comes from the Dorchester-based Corcoran-Jennison Companies, the firm that transformed the old Columbia Point project into today’s Harbor Point development. Corcoran-Jennison is a for-profit company that builds and manages residential communities across the country. They recently submitted a proposal to buy and redevelop another city-owned parcel along the Fairmount Line, the former Cote Ford property on Cummins Highway in Mattapan.

Like their Mattapan proposal, Corcoran-Jennison’s plan for the Uphams Corner site focuses on building a mix of 123 rental units, most of which will target so-called “workforce” tenants. Sixteen of the units would be set aside as affordable. Their plan includes two new residential buildings28,355 square feet of commercial or light industrial space and a 7,300 sq. ft. green space.

A third proposal, from Boston-based Weld Management Co., Inc., has no housing component, according to a summary provided by DND. The Weld plan would create a 40,000-square-foot light industrial building with 40 parking spaces.
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http://www.dotnews.com/2014/three-pitch-city-maxwell-site
 
Savin Hill said:
The best quote from the story:
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Having seen first hand the way some people drive through bike lanes he isn't wrong in his worry. Boston drivers are a special kind of asshole.

Having said that I have also seen that every time a cycle track is proposed people flip out because it's new and they think it will take space away from their cars, that somehow it will make things MORE dangerous. Forcing people to bike down an unmarked 4 lane road is far more dangerous; Of course there aren't many bikers there now. Upgrade the street and it will be safer for all users. These residents will see that when it happens.
 
That area is a prime example of the worst of 50s-80s car centric design. It's all swooping ramps that take forever to drive through, let alone walk through. It's acres of concert interspersed with a few patches of grass in useless medians and sidings. JFK Station is right there, and yet it's hard to get to. Added bonus that the area not only works like shit, but looks like shit.
 
Savin Hill said:
A mixed reaction to BRA plans for Mount Vernon St.



The best quote from the story:



http://www.dotnews.com/2014/mixed-reaction-bra-plans-mount-vernon-st
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Well, first of all, the street hasn't been four lanes for a little over a year now. The only portion that remains 4 lanes is owned by the DCR which wouldn't let the City continue the cycle track any further. Yes, there are currently cycle tracks on Mt Vernon St. The meeting was about the upcoming reconstruction project which will move those cycle tracks from street to sidewalk level.

I find it annoying that they don't want bike accommodations because "there aren't enough bikes", yet volume studies have shown no need for 4 vehicular lanes either, but they NEED them.
 
Owner wants to replace building behind Bayside Exposition Center

The Boston Teachers Union Health and Welfare Fund wants to replace a building behind the Bayside Exposition Cetner in Dorchester, the union-affiliated group has informed the Boston Redevelopment Authority.

A representative for the fund tells the BRA in a letter that the single-story building on Mount Vernon Street is expensive to keep up. The new building would be three stories tall and situation differently on its lot, the letter states. Square footage would increase to 51,000 from 32,000.

The union fund says a credit union branch and other businesses would have homes in the new building.
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http://www.bizjournals.com/boston/r...and-near-bayside-exposition-center-wants.html
 
92-unit housing build-out plan for Dot Ave./Hancock Street block

Developers and architects introduced a 92-unit residential housing plan that would replace a forlorn industrial block between Dorchester Avenue and Hancock Streets to the Columbia-Savin Hill Civic Association Planning Committee on Tuesday night.
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The complex, still in the design stages, would include seven four-story, eight-unit buildings along Pleasant and Greenmount streets, with one larger 36-unit apartment building sited on the parcel’s Hancock Street boundary. The property would feature one parking space per unit and 52,000 square feet of usable open space.
The development is being promoted as transit-oriented, with attention being drawn given to the nine-minute walk from the site to the Savin Hill T Station. A longer hike to mass transit would be down Dorchester Ave. to Fields Corner.
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Residential development is only part of the puzzle for the parcel bounded by Hancock Street, Pleasant Street, Greenmount Street, and Dorchester Avenue. The Dorchester Avenue-facing side of the parcel will feature a commercial component that has not yet been finalized.
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http://www.dotnews.com/2014/92-unit-housing-build-out-plan-dot-avehancock-street-block

I presume this would replace that vacant industrial property here.


I've secretly dreamed of trying to rent out this place and carving it into rehearsal studios for musicians but I'll take this giant influx of residences. The project could have a major impact towards sprucing up the scruffy feel of the southern end of Pleasant Street and the Glover's corner area in general. I'm excited to see what the proposal looks like.
 
Savin Hill said:
92-unit housing build-out plan for Dot Ave./Hancock Street block







http://www.dotnews.com/2014/92-unit-housing-build-out-plan-dot-avehancock-street-block

I presume this would replace that vacant industrial property here.


I've secretly dreamed of trying to rent out this place and carving it into rehearsal studios for musicians but I'll take this giant influx of residences. The project could have a major impact towards sprucing up the scruffy feel of the southern end of Pleasant Street and the Glover's corner area in general. I'm excited to see what the proposal looks like.
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This is great. also, there's what looks like to be an apartment building under construction between hancock/savin hill on pleasant. I'll snap a pic sometime.

w/r/t to this new proposal, this whole area is surprisingly abandoned, and shitty, compared to the rest of the area directly to the north. there's a burnt out building or two that hasn't been torn down yet... and all sorts of shitty activity around that part of dot ave/hancock. this will be good to connect savin hill and fields corner a bit in terms of urbanity, and hopefully get the element out of the area a little bit. not calling for full on gentrification, but let's get some of these abandoned buildings up to their highest and best use.
 
Max Power said:
w/r/t to this new proposal, this whole area is surprisingly abandoned, and shitty, compared to the rest of the area directly to the north. there's a burnt out building or two that hasn't been torn down yet... and all sorts of shitty activity around that part of dot ave/hancock. this will be good to connect savin hill and fields corner a bit in terms of urbanity, and hopefully get the element out of the area a little bit. not calling for full on gentrification, but let's get some of these abandoned buildings up to their highest and best use.
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I always wonder about that whole Hancock-Pleasant Street intersection - so much pavement, and shitty all around. Kane Sq was a big streetcar turnaround so perhaps it has something to do with streetcars, but I doubt it, since Bowdoin St is not like this. Was there some ill fated urban renewal project here? I know when they were building what's now MLK Blvd the plan was for a large boulevard to connect JP (i95) to i93 via the Quincy Street corridor - which comes out right here. Maybe there was a little flurry of clearance from the i93 end of things? Does anyone know?
 
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