Harvard Square Infill and Small Developments

#bancars said:
A few updates on the Harvard Square kiosk project:

www.thecrimson.com

Harvard Square Kiosk to Return as Visitor Center, Cultural Space | News | The Harvard Crimson

The City of Cambridge announced Thursday that the kiosk, an iconic Cambridge landmark which has languished under years of slow-moving renovations, will serve as a dual “community gathering space and information center” when it reopens in early 2025.
www.thecrimson.com www.thecrimson.com

www.bostonglobe.com

‘It shouldn’t be this difficult’: Why fixing up a kiosk in Harvard Square is costing millions and taking years - The Boston Globe

The structure that once housed Out of Town News has languished in construction purgatory. Now, Cambridge says its next act will begin soon.
www.bostonglobe.com www.bostonglobe.com
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Ha ha. I used to take the escalator up every morning in that old kiosk on my way to high school back in the 1960s. It was great.
 
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www.bostonglobe.com

End of an era: The Pit, a landmark of Harvard Square, is demolished - The Boston Globe

The spot had been a gathering space for generations of young people in the region’s counterculture.
www.bostonglobe.com www.bostonglobe.com

Very fond memories of late nights when I was going to school at Lesley. Have barely been up that way in the past decade. Always skeptical of people complaining about change but it does seem to have gotten a little sterilized since then in the few times I've passed through.
 
KCasiglio said:
www.bostonglobe.com

End of an era: The Pit, a landmark of Harvard Square, is demolished - The Boston Globe

The spot had been a gathering space for generations of young people in the region’s counterculture.
www.bostonglobe.com www.bostonglobe.com

Very fond memories of late nights when I was going to school at Lesley. Have barely been up that way in the past decade. Always skeptical of people complaining about change but it does seem to have gotten a little sterilized since then in the few times I've passed through.
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Yep. More corporate ownership, more chain stores. more high-end, more sterile, more oligarchs. That's the way of the whole country pretty much.
 
JS38 said:
So this could be interesting...

www.cambridgeday.com/2025/05/23/a-harvard-square-t-tunnel-unused-for-40-years-might-be-turned-into-an-entertainment-venue/
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I much doubt they'd be able to make the finances work with the infrastructure mods required. RR.net posters who've been given BSRA tours of that tunnel say the air quality is absolutely terrible in there with everything choked in inches-thick layers of dust, plus it currently hosts vent fans for the whole Harvard Station complex. And the T would probably be unwilling to give it up, since they use the portion right behind the wall of the old station ticket offices as a makeshift workshop for station maintenance projects.
 
Developers presented a plan to move the home from 17 Story St. to the corner of Story and Mount Auburn streets and restore it. They hope to put up a building behind of up to 67 hotel rooms and 50 residential units. The plan involves demolishing a neighborhood building at 129 Mount Auburn St.
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www.cambridgeday.com

Historical Commission votes Jacobs house study alongside plan for Harvard Square hotel, homes

The Cambridge Historical Commission voted unanimously for a landmarking study of a home in Harvard Square that once belonged to the writer and abolitionist Harriet Jacobs – an obstacle for a proposed mixed-use building.
www.cambridgeday.com www.cambridgeday.com
 
12345 said:
www.cambridgeday.com

Historical Commission votes Jacobs house study alongside plan for Harvard Square hotel, homes

The Cambridge Historical Commission voted unanimously for a landmarking study of a home in Harvard Square that once belonged to the writer and abolitionist Harriet Jacobs – an obstacle for a proposed mixed-use building.
www.cambridgeday.com www.cambridgeday.com
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Fucking cock suckers. Theyre attempting to block the redevelopment of the site due to “historical value” meanwhile part of the proposal was to move and refurbish the house which has been neglected for years. Its so obviously not about preservation. Why didnt they care about it before as it fell apart but now its soooo important? Also… they were going to refurbish it as part of the proposal. They have nothing to stand on. (Unfortunately nothing has been enough in a lot of cases, hopefully now its different.)
 
stick n move said:
Its so obviously not about preservation. Why didnt they care about it before as it fell apart but now its soooo important? Also… they were going to refurbish it as part of the proposal. They have nothing to stand on. (Unfortunately nothing has been enough in a lot of cases, hopefully now its different.)
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“If we don’t go along with this particular proposal or something like it, the house is going to be neglected,” chair of the Commission Chandra Harrington said.
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^What we'd be left with


This is a pretty sharp proposal:
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Update on the Jacobs house redevelopment: https://www.cambridgeday.com/2025/0...th-historic-commission-approval-in-principle/
A Harvard Square hotel project that relocates and revives the historic Harriet Jacobs House won unanimous "approval in principle" on Thursday from the Cambridge Historical Commission, meaning members are supportive enough to want more details.

The proposal is "by no means detailed enough for the commission to approve," executive director Charles Sullivan said in explaining the vote, "but the applicants are entitled to have some indication from the commission of support … so they can continue with design development."
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The landmarking study, which the CHC approved last meeting despite the majority of the people who signed that petition being immediate neighbors (a clear indicator it's an attempt to block the project, rather than genuine interest in preservation) and no signatures from the people on the actual Harriet Jacobs Legacy Committee (who are supportive of the development), is expected to take 4 months according to the article.

Worried that this "approval in principle" is an attempt to slow-roll things until the landmarking study is complete - though there's also the fact that the CHC apparently has (or at least believes they have) the authority to act like it's already been landmarked:
The Jacobs house is already in the Harvard Square Conservation District, which offers some oversight of changes "visible from a public way," but a landmark study adds oversight of such things as the appropriateness of a project’s size and shape, just as though landmark status had already been granted, Sullivan said.
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Thankfully the City Council, which will have final say on landmark status, seems majority supportive of the redevelopment - see their recent op-ed.
 
JS38 said:
So this may actually be progressing? If they can get this going & revive the old cinema site into a
new performing arts facility we could be getting somewhere in renewing Harvard Square...

www.boston.com/news/local-news/2025/09/30/harvard-square-tunnel-music-venue/
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I unfortunately think that the opposite is happening. The Harvard Square Theatre is empty and will continue to be empty for the foreseeable future. The American Reparatory Theater is leaving. This tunnel doesn't even have funding for a study to determine feasibility, much less an investor interested in forking over the cash.
 
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pfd12 said:
Update on the Jacobs house redevelopment: https://www.cambridgeday.com/2025/0...th-historic-commission-approval-in-principle/


The landmarking study, which the CHC approved last meeting despite the majority of the people who signed that petition being immediate neighbors (a clear indicator it's an attempt to block the project, rather than genuine interest in preservation) and no signatures from the people on the actual Harriet Jacobs Legacy Committee (who are supportive of the development), is expected to take 4 months according to the article.

Worried that this "approval in principle" is an attempt to slow-roll things until the landmarking study is complete - though there's also the fact that the CHC apparently has (or at least believes they have) the authority to act like it's already been landmarked:


Thankfully the City Council, which will have final say on landmark status, seems majority supportive of the redevelopment - see their recent op-ed.
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Back before Historical Commission a couple of days ago with some modifications - stood back from the property line slightly (8ft vs 5ft), increased chamfers and stepbacks, resulting in a “certificate of appropriateness with a condition.” Apparently such minor changes to the square footage are enough to drive changes the hotel / residential towards more residential heavy, although details are lacking.
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www.cambridgeday.com

Closest neighbors aren't satisfied with changes made to plan for Harvard Square hotel and homes

Designs for an eight-story hotel-and-homes project incorporating the historic Harriet Jacobs House in Harvard Square drew debate at a Historical Commission meeting, which ended with a vote for work to continue.
www.cambridgeday.com www.cambridgeday.com

Meanwhile, Harvard plans to replace this older historically listed but severely deteriorated house here at 15 Mt Auburn with a new structure to house its Native American Program.
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Stlin said:
Meanwhile, Harvard plans to replace this older historically listed but severely deteriorated house here at 15 Mt Auburn with a new structure to house its Native American Program.
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What the hot mess is this new building?

The old building doesn't look very deteriorated in the photos - certainly much less so than 17 Story Street further up in the thread! If that can be rehabbed, so can this.

Even if this building were in bad shape, there is no institution on earth with the same combination of money, facilities /construction management capabilities, and expertise in rehabbing 19th-century New England homes - in other words, if Harvard can't rehab a historic property in decent shape then who on earth can?!

As an organization that doesn't pay taxes because of the supposed civic benefits it confers - and as an organization that builds some of the worst modern architecture in the Northeast US - Harvard is making a mess of things here and should be ashamed of itself.
 
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