East Boston Infill and Small Developments

[Smuttynose]

Four-story residential building rejected on stretch of Paris Street in East Boston with mostly two- and three-story buildings

The Zoning Board of Appeal today rejected a proposed four-story, three-unit residential building at 304 Paris St. in East Boston. Read more.

www.universalhub.com

It's complete insanity that we have a 30-foot height limit and a floor-area-ratio maximum of 1 within five blocks of a subway station in one of the city's densest neighborhoods. Conservatively, the FAR should at least be quadrupled and four to five stories allowed by right. It's also discouraging that the 'new ZBA' under Wu, which is dominated by members from the city's more far flung 'hoods (Hyde Park, Roslindale, West Roxbury, etc), acts just like the old one. It's even more discouraging that the issue of zoning reform to support new housing is not gaining more urgency in the city, especially when it's being pushed so hard in the 'burbs under the new law. Alright, end of rant.

 

[stick n move]

A four-story residential building wins approval on East Eagle Street in East Boston

The Zoning Board of Appeal today approved plans to replace a triple decker at 221 East Eagle St. in East Boston with a new four-story, six-unit condo building with six parking spaces and an elevator.

Although older buildings on the block are technically three stories, they tend to have the first floor elevated above the basement and the street level, while the new building would have its entrance right at ground level, for accessibility reasons, so it would not be any taller than the existing triple deckers or newer four-story buildings on the street, attorney Richard Lynds said. The builidng needed several zoning variances, including for height - the lot's zoning called for no more than three stories.

Lynds said owner Jose Carlos Medeiros latest plans show some green space to the rear of the building, unlike earlier proposals for the lot, which showed the building extending further back.

Several nearby residents spoke in favor of the proposal, citing the addition of both new homes and parking spaces for them.

The board voted 5-2 in favor; members Hansy Better Barraza and David Aiken cast the no votes.

https://www.universalhub.com/2023/four-story-residential-building-wins-approval-east

 

[Justbuildit]

So limiting new street parkers and absolute building height with no other apparent limitations is what’s needed for an approval. Got it. What was Barazza’s excuse for a No vote here? That someone is going to make some amount of money somewhere in the neighborhood?

The moderate position is eliminating all zoning everywhere in the city of Boston other than what the FAA limits. What an absolute miserable day at the zoning board.

 

[curcuas]

Barraza comes from the school of architects that believes nothing should be built unless she personally approves of it.

 

[Justbuildit]

Ah, close cousin to the BANANA:

Build Absolutely Nothing Anywhere Near Anything

 

[stefal]

So limiting new street parkers and absolute building height with no other apparent limitations is what’s needed for an approval. Got it. What was Barazza’s excuse for a No vote here? That someone is going to make some amount of money somewhere in the neighborhood?

The moderate position is eliminating all zoning everywhere in the city of Boston other than what the FAA limits. What an absolute miserable day at the zoning board.

Board member Hansy Better Barranza called for rejection because the building would just be too dense for the small site it's on. "It's maximizing completely the whole site, without consider of open space," she said. In addition to being just one foot away from a building to the rear, it would have a floor-area ratio of 3, compared to the 1 allowed, and would be 43 feet high, compared to the maximum of 30 feet allowed under its zoning.

Open space is apparently required on this lot, and 3 units is too dense for their taste.

 

[stick n move]

Board approves total of seven new housing units in East Boston, rejects six

The board approved a six-unit, four-story building on East Eagle Street that will replace an existing triple decker.

The board also unanimously approved plans for a four-unit, three-story building at 124 Leyden St. that will have four parking spaces.

The board also approved the expansion of a three-family house at 169 Maverick St. to four units.

Rejected: A three-unit, four-story building on Coppersmith Way and another three-unit, four-story building on Paris Street. The Coppersmith Way proposal was rejected as too dense for its lot; the Paris Street one as being too large for the context of Paris Street, where most of the other buildings are two or three-stories.

Both buildings were denied without prejudice, which means developer Joseph Trichilo can try again within a year - with smaller proposals.

https://www.universalhub.com/2023/board-approves-total-seven-new-housing-units-east

 

[HelloBostonHi]

Not my best photography but oh well

 

[AndrewOnTheMBTA]

I live right near these spots and it's so refreshing that after some delay during covid, all of these projects got going so fast. There is another one in Maverick that has yet to be approved and lots more infill in Jeffries Point. Lots.

Once more is built I hope some more community businesses and resources start to add up.

 

[FK4]

Nowhere did I say somerville wasnt dense. The premise was that east boston buildings are built abutting up to eachother and in many other neighborhoods the buildings are built with space between them. Yes there are exceptions, but overall east boston has a lot more abutting buildings than the other outer core neighborhoods. The question I was asking is why did this happen in east boston and not those neighborhoods mentioned.

East Boston

Somerville

See the difference? Both are dense, both have pros and cons, I was just asking why east boston is different to the other outer core neighborhoods. My guess is its small size but chelsea is small too and isnt like this so idk.

What’s interesting to me about East Boston is the fact that there are so many abutting multi family dwellings that are made of wood. Usually, at least in Boston, you get two family homes, then separate triple deckers and then the next level up is either stone-clad triple deckers, or stone- or brick-clad townhomes that abut each other. There’s really nowhere else in Boston where you get long streets like Chelsea St, with a continuous wall of wood (now aluminum or vinyl) sided houses. I think in other cities you see this (I’ve certainly seen walls of what I’d call 2 story triple deckers in Brooklyn that are abutting, I think Baltimore and Philly also have abutting 2- and 3-family houses). But for Boston this is unique. The idea that East Boston was developed slightly later maybe holds some truth but there must be other factors. The book Streetcar Suburbs really gets into very specific details of housing stock and might be one place to look, off the top of my head I don’t remember if it mentions East Boston.

 

[HenryAlan]

What’s interesting to me about East Boston is the fact that there are so many abutting multi family dwellings that are made of wood. Usually, at least in Boston, you get two family homes, then separate triple deckers and then the next level up is either stone-clad triple deckers, or stone- or brick-clad townhomes that abut each other. There’s really nowhere else in Boston where you get long streets like Chelsea St, with a continuous wall of wood (now aluminum or vinyl) sided houses. I think in other cities you see this (I’ve certainly seen walls of what I’d call 2 story triple deckers in Brooklyn that are abutting, I think Baltimore and Philly also have abutting 2- and 3-family houses). But for Boston this is unique. The idea that East Boston was developed slightly later maybe holds some truth but there must be other factors. The book Streetcar Suburbs really gets into very specific details of housing stock and might be one place to look, off the top of my head I don’t remember if it mentions East Boston.

The form is not completely unique to East Boston:

Charlestown:

South Boston:

But it is definitely fare more relevant in Eastie.

 

[Jahvon09]

Not my best photography but oh well
View attachment 32933View attachment 32934View attachment 32935View attachment 32936

Matchbox!!!! Seems like ALL new apt buildings in Boston are made like this!!

 

[curcuas]

There's some of thes

The form is not completely unique to East Boston:

Charlestown:
View attachment 32942

South Boston:
View attachment 32943

But it is definitely fare more relevant in Eastie.

There's some of these in Cambridgeport + Area IV in Cambridge, too. Seems like it's one of the oldest existing mass housing types around?

There's also a lot of them in Brooklyn, though usually hidden through vinyl siding.

 

[AndrewOnTheMBTA]

2/3 of the way up. I love this project for Maverick Square. Now if we could consistently build 6+ stories in the area

 

[Lrfox]

2/3 of the way up. I love this project for Maverick Square. Now if we could consistently build 6+ stories in the area

This one's moving fast. This one right around the corner, however, seems to be completely stalled. I've seen very little work on it and I don't think anything has changed since this 9/22 street view shot.

 

[HenryAlan]

2/3 of the way up. I love this project for Maverick Square. Now if we could consistently build 6+ stories in the area

The 7-11 and the Eddie C's building both need to increase their height to match this and the Health Center. There shouldn't be any single story buildings in Maverick Square.

 

[Lrfox]

This one's moving fast. This one right around the corner, however, seems to be completely stalled. I've seen very little work on it and I don't think anything has changed since this 9/22 street view shot.

I lied, looks like it's moving again. I notice new doors installed late last week and saw a crew at work this morning.

The 7-11 and the Eddie C's building both need to increase their height to match this and the Health Center. There shouldn't be any single story buildings in Maverick Square.

Absolutely, along with something substantial to anchor this corner. There's no reason that the one-story retail spaces should stick around a dense urban square/transit hub. And anything new directly ringing the square should be no less than 4-5 stories. I'd also like to see a bit of a redesign of the square itself to improve the pedestrian experience (it's often chaotic on the Maverick/Chelsea/Meridian side since there's no crosswalk from in front of Jak to the center of the plaza for pedestrians connecting to bus/trains), but I'm not sure what can actually be done without displacing buses and adding cars to nearby streets.

 

[HenryAlan]

I'd also like to see a bit of a redesign of the square itself to improve the pedestrian experience (it's often chaotic on the Maverick/Chelsea/Meridian side since there's no crosswalk from in front of Jack to the center of the plaza for pedestrians connecting to bus/trains), but I'm not sure what can actually be done without displacing buses and adding cars to nearby streets.

Not great for biking through, either, which I do a few times a month. I think the biggest issue is that the flow is counterclockwise. Why did they do that? It means that for a pedestrian crossing the square, vehicles are not coming from the expected direction, and that makes things far more dangerous.

 

[Lrfox]

Not great for biking through, either, which I do a few times a month. I think the biggest issue is that the flow is counterclockwise. Why did they do that? It means that for a pedestrian crossing the square, vehicles are not coming from the expected direction, and that makes things far more dangerous.

It's pretty terrible for biking, as are the double parking bike lanes extending out of the square along Chelsea St. I live nearby and avoid it entirely when I'm biking. It might be excusable if cyclists could access the square directly via the Community Path, but it's not that easy since you have to exit at either Marginal or Gove and navigate a few blocks on surface streets. So the overall experience of getting to or going through Maverick Square on a bike isn't all that great. Again, I'm not sure what the answer is. I'm not sure it's workable, but my (admittedly amateur) thought was to convert the street on the Health Center side of the square (NW, I guess) to a two-way, and convert the street on the opposite (SE) side to a park/plaza extending from the existing sidewalk to the T head house with a bi-directional bike path extending the length of the square (and align it with Lewis Mall and an upgraded bi-directional, separated bike lane along Chelsea St). But I don't have a solution for the buses (maybe reclaim some parking along Meridian and Chelsea for bus stops?) which are essential and I know there would be an outcry over the loss of parking.

 

[HenryAlan]

When I ride through, I'm crossing the T on Maverick St., heading toward Border St. I consider myself a fairly skilled urban cyclist, and my comfort level with challenging spots is much higher than many, but for most people, the best option is to take the greenway all the way to Lewis Mall, then follow the harbor path and side streets over to Summer, bypassing the Square altogether. But it shouldn't require the extended detour.