Mugar Parcel | Alewife | Arlington

[Arlington]

The forested parcel walkable to the Alewife T will get senior housing and multi family development

Long-opposed Mugar project OK'd -- with many conditions

The town Zoning Board of Appeals has approved, 5-0, the permit for the proposed development of Thorndike Place -- a key step for the long-stalled housing plan for the 17-acre Mugar site near Route 2.

www.yourarlington.com

 

[Charlie_mta]

The forested parcel walkable to the Alewife T will get senior housing and multi family development

Long-opposed Mugar project OK'd -- with many conditions

The town Zoning Board of Appeals has approved, 5-0, the permit for the proposed development of Thorndike Place -- a key step for the long-stalled housing plan for the 17-acre Mugar site near Route 2.

www.yourarlington.com

From the article: " "It was originally envisioned as a shopping center along Route 2."
I remember back in the 1950s seeing the big sign on the north side of Route 2 at this location saying that a shopping center was coming to the site. As I remember it, the huge sign had on it a graphic of the proposed shopping center. I suspect the shopping center proposal was sidelined due to the expected construction of the Northwest Expressway through much of the site in the 1960s.

 

[Arlington]

Access is the other problem: it doesn’t have good frontage on Rt 2 (particularly since whenever Thorndike Field became a town park) and sits behind a block or two of residential Lake Street

 

[RandomWalk]

However, the shopping center proposal probably explains the pedestrian bridge to nowhere.

 

[Charlie_mta]

However, the shopping center proposal probably explains the pedestrian bridge to nowhere.

I don't think so. The ped bridge was built in the mid 1970s (per NETR Historical Aerials), long after the shopping center proposal had died because of the State's 1962 plan to widen Route 2 to an 8-lane expressway flanked by service roads (see1962 expressway plan below). When the expressway was cancelled in 1970, what probably happened was the state decided to eliminate all left hand turns and cross traffic on that stretch of Route 2, so they built the ped overpass to help that.

 

[millerm277]

However, the shopping center proposal probably explains the pedestrian bridge to nowhere.

Pretty sure that is more explained by Alewife not existing until a decade after the bridge was built. Acorn Park was a large employment center at the time, and was much more isolated from any other access to any non-car connections beyond it than it is today.

Somewhat ironic that only a couple years after bus services to the stop were finally discontinued that it might have reason to be worth making a stop again (if you built access to the stop from this project).

 

[Arlington]

So it looks like the earlier link/article was updated in December 2022 based on a further approval?

Long-opposed Mugar project OK'd -- with many conditions

The town Zoning Board of Appeals has approved, 5-0, the permit for the proposed development of Thorndike Place -- a key step for the long-stalled housing plan for the 17-acre Mugar site near Route 2.

www.yourarlington.com

From the Oaktree site, here is the first time I've seen a site plan (That's Rt 2 slashing from upper left to lower center)

 

[Arlington]

Apparently this is the more recent "apartments only" plan with more below grade parking:

 

[Vagabond]

This is a far less impactful plan for the better. I know that area is overgrown and a mess - can the woods be salvaged or are they going to clearcut and replant?