Fenway Infill and Small Developments

Globe: Boston Arts Academy to be demolished for new school

Boston Globe said:
Boston school officials are proposing to tear down the Boston Arts Academy’s current building near Fenway Park and replace it with a state-of-the-art facility for the school, according to a letter from Superintendent Tommy Chang announcing the plan.

The five-story structure will feature an auditorium, a black box theater, four dance studios, a choral room, a band room, and a recording suite, according to the letter, dated May 15.

[...]
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Current building here is mostly three stories.

I'd love to see ground floor retail, but I know it's probably never going to happen. Comparable space in the neighborhood is asking $50 - $60 per foot NNN. The current school's footprint is about 38k sf, so renting half of that would yield $1 million+ per year to BPS. If the space were marketed as a small-scale music / performance venue (albeit likely at lower rents) it could even be in line with the school's mission. Activate street level + cash for BPS sounds like a win-win for me. No reason the city can't extract value from their well-located real estate holdings just like anybody else.
 
JumboBuc said:
Globe: Boston Arts Academy to be demolished for new school



Current building here is mostly three stories.

I'd love to see ground floor retail, but I know it's probably never going to happen. Comparable space in the neighborhood is asking $50 - $60 per foot NNN. The current school's footprint is about 38k sf, so renting half of that would yield $1 million+ per year to BPS. If the space were marketed as a small-scale music / performance venue (albeit likely at lower rents) it could even be in line with the school's mission. Activate street level + cash for BPS sounds like a win-win for me. No reason the city can't extract value from their well-located real estate holdings just like anybody else.
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I'm surprised this isn't done with more government real estate. Would be an easy way to offset costs. If they're already going 5 stories, why not just add another floor and put retail in the bottom?
 
Scipio said:
The Queensberry Street Garage is probably going up on the market:

C1gHwAXXgAIYQwi.jpg


This is a big hole in the center of the neighborhood and would be a great place for some nice contextual 5-10 story brick apartments.
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FenwayResident said:
The article above gives street addresses of the parcels, which translates into this:

pu6TCHB.png


Currently it's a few shops, a huge parking lot and a huge parking garage. Since this is zoned for local service as well as residential, I'm hopeful that they will add on to the already-existing food scene on Peterborough street. Imagine another 5-10 small restaurants wrapping around this block from Peterborough to Kilmarnock to Queensberry.
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Zoning is so Raymond Flynn/1985. it's a center point perfect for what you describe + w/ 10-16 story peak/s.
 
GFC acquires approved 20-unit Fenway condominium development for $4.2 million:
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50 Symphony Road will include 17 market-rate condominiums and 3 on-site affordable condominiums offered to buyers earning 80-to-100% of Area Media Income (AMI). In 50 Symphony Road’s basement will be parking for 11 vehicles, accessed from Public Alley 810 at the rear of the building. All floors of the building will be elevator accessible. Construction of 50 Symphony Road will last 12-to-18 months.
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http://www.bldup.com/projects/50-symphony-road
 
FenwayResident said:
The article above gives street addresses of the parcels, which translates into this:

pu6TCHB.png


Currently it's a few shops, a huge parking lot and a huge parking garage. Since this is zoned for local service as well as residential, I'm hopeful that they will add on to the already-existing food scene on Peterborough street. Imagine another 5-10 small restaurants wrapping around this block from Peterborough to Kilmarnock to Queensberry.
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This deal just closed for $50M.

In that article the developer (Cabot, Cabot & Forbes) states that they will start to demolish the buildings within two years, once the leases of the current tenants expire. They said "we will be sitting down with this neighborhood before we even really conceive of the project or put pencil to paper, and listen to them about what they want." I wonder what sort of things the community associations will try to wrangle out of them?
 
FenwayResident said:
They said "we will be sitting down with this neighborhood before we even really conceive of the project or put pencil to paper, and listen to them about what they want." I wonder what sort of things the community associations will try to wrangle out of them?
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Kathleen Brill, an attorney who helps lead the Fenway Civic Association, said her group will need to review more detailed plans before passing judgment. But she suggested residents would probably support a non-luxury residential project of modest height on the site, as called for by a recent city zoning plan that also created a corridor of high-rises along nearby Boylston Street.

“The uses he’s talked about in general terms seem appropriate for the neighborhood,” Brill said. “The plan envisions that area as a lower-rise section that preserves the residential character and limited mixed-use character of the neighborhood. Most developments that have come online followed that plan, and it’s worked out great.”
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.
 
FenwayResident said:
They said "we will be sitting down with this neighborhood before we even really conceive of the project or put pencil to paper, and listen to them about what they want." I wonder what sort of things the community associations will try to wrangle out of them?
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This is EXACTLY the way it SHOULD be done for every parcel. We need to end the practice of acquiring a site, instantly approving an architect to design something crazy and then try to get it approved. The dialogue with the community needs to happen from the moment of purchase and feedback used to inform the program & ultimately the design. Not everything the community says will be feasible and that's ok, but the end product will undoubtedly be miles better after talking to a community than blindly designing a development in a neighborhood you haven't talked to.
 
^^ Totally agree. It also helps that the Fenway has a master plan in place and a group of mature residents who care about there neighborhood. Not like some neighborhoods who are looking for handouts or to profit.

Now for some news.

A fence is up around 839 Beacon and demolition prep has begun. Design is boring, but it's more (less than Luxury) units for the area.
https://flic.kr/p/UYxPrH

https://flic.kr/p/Wd2Ljv

https://flic.kr/p/W1watP
 
datadyne007 said:
This is EXACTLY the way it SHOULD be done for every parcel. We need to end the practice of acquiring a site, instantly approving an architect to design something crazy and then try to get it approved. The dialogue with the community needs to happen from the moment of purchase and feedback used to inform the program & ultimately the design. Not everything the community says will be feasible and that's ok, but the end product will undoubtedly be miles better after talking to a community than blindly designing a development in a neighborhood you haven't talked to.
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I can see how my post would have read as sympathetic towards the developer, but I agree 100% that it's essential to have a dialogue with the neighborhood beforehand. I was just wondering what sort of benefits the neighborhood could get out of this project (besides the additional housing)?

- A much-needed touchup of The Fens
- Some sort of on-site public space
- Significant amount of retail
 
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