Ink Block (Boston Herald) | 300 Harrison Avenue | South End

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I know it's a matter of opinion, but seeing the beige cladding go up and cover the red base layer makes me realize how much I prefer the red color palette in Boston.
 
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What does everyone think about this area? Other than what this development brings (some retail not sure, coffee shop maybe?) whole foods and a restaurant- there's not much around there.

How much better can this area possibly get?
 
617 said:
What does everyone think about this area? Other than what this development brings (some retail not sure, coffee shop maybe?) whole foods and a restaurant- there's not much around there.

How much better can this area possibly get?
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If you're talking about property/rent prices, I think this part of the South End has a lot of room to grow. It is in a great location (close to Back Bay and Downtown) and is close to a bunch of restaurants and bars. However there is still a certain "sketchiness" around East Berkeley street that will put people off until it is more gentrified. I think this Ink Block is the first step towards gentrification, but it will be at least 4-5 more years until the area is fully developed.
 
Not to mention the Albany street developments nearby as well as Grey Bar residential redevelopment across the street, net 900+ units of housing. I believe there is a medium sized commercial building planned on the corner of washington and East Berkeley too. Assuming each development contributes to the proliferation of ground floor retail, there is a lot of room for this area to improve.
 
Improving the street lighting and making things brighter will go a long way to making the area feel safer.
 
A 50K square foot Whole Foods should be in the urban dictionary under "gentrification game-changer" or whatever. Folks from Downtown, South Boston, South End and Back Bay will shop there over the small one in Beacon Hill/West End. The opening of that alone will raise a lot of abutting property owners values, perhaps enticing them to sell to a developer.

There's still a few buildings on Washington near East Berkeley (like the one in front of the silver line station across from gas station - the anchor tenant is a pawn shop) that are screaming for redevelopment. Hopefully the Ink Block and the Whole Foods expedites that.
 
FortPointGuy said:
A 50K square foot Whole Foods should be in the urban dictionary under "gentrification game-changer" or whatever. Folks from Downtown, South Boston, South End and Back Bay will shop there over the small one in Beacon Hill/West End. The opening of that alone will raise a lot of abutting property owners values, perhaps enticing them to sell to a developer.

There's still a few buildings on Washington near East Berkeley (like the one in front of the silver line station across from gas station - the anchor tenant is a pawn shop) that are screaming for redevelopment. Hopefully the Ink Block and the Whole Foods expedites that.
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There are also a couple more parking lots that need developers, and the Verizon garage (on Washington) is slated to go as well (it is owned already by Drucker, I believe).
 
AmericanFolkLegend said:
My wife and I bought in Charlestown about a year before the WF took over Johnny's Foodmaster. And I couldn't agree with you more. The pace of gentrification has increased. Property values are absurd. I'm guiltily smiling, twirling my evil mustache, and counting my homeowners equity while at the same time feel bad that the neighborhood is increasingly unaffordable to the middle class.
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Fair enough. I've never lived in Charlestown, but have noticed when visiting or driving through that the projects are numerous and sort of "sandwich" the neighborhood between Rutherford Ave and Medford Street. Are those places safe? Are they all low-income or are any mixed like Harborpoint?

Other than the rebuild of Old Colony, which shrunk its density and capacity, I wonder if the city will ever build "projects" ever again.
 
FortPointGuy said:
Fair enough. I've never lived in Charlestown, but have noticed when visiting or driving through that the projects are numerous and sort of "sandwich" the neighborhood between Rutherford Ave and Medford Street. Are those places safe? Are they all low-income or are any mixed like Harborpoint?

Other than the rebuild of Old Colony, which shrunk its density and capacity, I wonder if the city will ever build "projects" ever again.
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I'm in a similar situation to AmericanFolkLegend...I've noticed property in Ctown increase in value quite a bit...but I'm not sure if it's entirely bc of WF...there seems to be a rising tide across the all the downtown neighborhoods...additionally Ctown has a unique feel to it of "urban burb" cheaper/quieter beacon hill alternative that helps as well. That being said the projects on bunker hill st can be pretty scary. The neighborhood changes abruptly. These are similar to the cathedral homes in the south end. The South end I think has even more projects, plus a meth clinic/homeless shelters but is also a more expensive neighborhood than Ctown mostly due to its proximity to the back bay and gorgeous brownstones. The other projects in Ctown aren't really projects...mishawum on main is some sort of affordable housing but they aren't ugly and the people there are a small step up from the bunker hill development...then there's some affordable elderly housing sprinkled way down main st and on union/Washington behind tedeschis.

Who knows how many more projects will get a nice overhaul like old colony...although aside from making them look nicer I think clientele will be the same...which is the problem.
 
1 more point about projects...in London I read awhile back that some of their projects went market rate and people we're going crazy buying units in former project buildings...in NYC I had a friend who lived in former projects gone market rate and they we're awesome...3+ bedrooms in soho with outdoor space...I wonder if that would ever happen in Boston...there's definitely some projects in Boston (south end especially - San Juan st area) that would prob produce bidding wars lol.
 
Isn't Whole Foods more of a symptom of gentrification rather than a cause?
 
BussesAin'tTrains said:
Isn't Whole Foods more of a symptom of gentrification rather than a cause?
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Can't it be both? WF isn't going to move into an area until it's somewhat gentrified, but I think that instantly makes the area more attractive to more wealthy people (and likely less attractive to less wealthy people).
 
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