New Bedford Developments

I grew up in the New Bedford-Fall River area and everyone in that area seems to think New Bedford is awful. Admittedly when my boyfriend told me he found an apartment there I was reluctant to say the least. After three months I can say I love living in New Bedford, it's such a hidden jewel.

The downtown is really coming alive and I hope it continues to attract unique retailers and galleries. If the city can continue to tap into the creative class/artistic community they'll be able to gain a population of younger, well-educated residents with more extra income that can fund more bars, restaurants, and stores.

Many of the residential areas are starting to improve with a great stock of beautiful historic houses that is relatively affordable.

All the festivals, events, concerts, and shows just make the city such a great place to live. I hope the city continues this improvement and maybe one day people will start to recognize New Bedford for the city it is.
 
My girlfriend and I are heading to New Bedford for a Three Dog Night concert in August and are looking forward to dinner downtown and checking out the sights. Have not visited NB in several years and have always felt it was a classic New England port city with plenty of potential.
 
The boutique hotel planned for the corner of Elm, Water, and Route 18 has moved forward quite a bit. Most of the permitting is complete. The last step is the variance on parking to allow the developer to stay well under the minimum number of parking spots required. That shouldn't be a problem considering the massive garage diagonally across the way.

Some local businessmen are griping about the increased traffic on the streets, but they seem to be minor complaints so far.



The project calls for a five-story building with a "boutique" hotel occupying the first four floors. The fifth floor would hold six condo units and each condo would have two underground parking spaces. A 160-seat restaurant will open in the Candleworks building and its second floor will be used for office space.

The project jumped through numerous zoning hurdles but still has one to go.

The city's Historical Commission granted Rockett a "certificate of appropriateness" earlier this month, allowing him to build in the downtown Historic District. The Planning Board approved the project's "site plan" Oct. 9.

The Zoning Board of Appeals granted the project a needed variance at its Oct. 24 meeting with the condition that Rockett demonstrate he possesses adequate parking before being issued a building permit.

On Nov. 13, the Planning Board will hear arguments on whether the required parking spaces for the restaurant will be waived.


http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20131102/NEWS/311020338
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Good luck with the final hurdles, looks like a great project. Very similar to the Marriott under construction on Commercial Street in Portland with brick and granite, five floors of hotel rooms and condos on the top floor.
 
Thought I would post a few photos from a couple of weeks ago in New Bedford.

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gregrc75 said:
New Bedford Regional Airport completes runway extension project:

http://http://t.southcoasttoday.com/article/20141018/News/410180324
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Got a spelling error there in the URL:

http://www.southcoasttoday.com/article/20141018/News/410180324


Interesting. They have any air carriers interested in flying bigger planes there, or is this just first step of making the sales pitch for some new services?

It's a nice little airport. I've eaten at the restaurant/lounge there a few times before. Fairly easy to get to from the 195/140 interchange. They can probably attract a few more local destinations than just the little Vineyard and Nantucket pond-skippers that make up the bulk of their flights.
 
F-Line to Dudley said:
Got a spelling error there in the URL:

http://www.southcoasttoday.com/article/20141018/News/410180324


Interesting. They have any air carriers interested in flying bigger planes there, or is this just first step of making the sales pitch for some new services?

It's a nice little airport. I've eaten at the restaurant/lounge there a few times before. Fairly easy to get to from the 195/140 interchange. They can probably attract a few more local destinations than just the little Vineyard and Nantucket pond-skippers that make up the bulk of their flights.
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Thanks for correcting that. The runway had not been paved since the 70's or 80's I believe. In order for the FAA to put money towards repaving it, it had to be brought up to "code" with safety overruns on each end. This resulted in the usable length going from 4997' to 5400'. As of now many corporate jets use the airport to service the southern portion of I-495 belt, New Bedford and Fall River, Newport and Providence. While Cape Air serves only the islands, it has been doing it for more than 20 years. There have been efforts to attract another regional airline but it has been difficult. Bridgewater State University's flight program has their aircraft and training based there.

These are all photos I have snapped at EWB (New Bedford Airport):

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I saw that this morning. Usually I roll my eyes at these headlines because there's so much that needs to happen for these "visions" to be realized; but after reading, I feel pretty good about it. The property owner and developer have a pretty significant record of sucess. They've also identified a construction partner by name (Consigli). All good signs. Hopefully it gets done. If it does, it'll fill one of the major anti-urban holes on Union St. downtown (St. Annes, the YMCA, and the surface lot at Water/Union being the others).

gregrc75 said:
Thanks for correcting that. The runway had not been paved since the 70's or 80's I believe. In order for the FAA to put money towards repaving it, it had to be brought up to "code" with safety overruns on each end. This resulted in the usable length going from 4997' to 5400'. As of now many corporate jets use the airport to service the southern portion of I-495 belt, New Bedford and Fall River, Newport and Providence. While Cape Air serves only the islands, it has been doing it for more than 20 years. There have been efforts to attract another regional airline but it has been difficult. Bridgewater State University's flight program has their aircraft and training based there.
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I think NB's best hope is for a runway expansion to accommodate freight traffic. I doubt a major passenger route would be established. If RJs were still popular, it's possible but those seem to be going by the wayside. It's too close to both BOS and PVD to really draw anything away from those two. Worcester has had trouble keeping passenger flights and Worcester seems like it has more potential as a passenger airport than EWB (though EWB would be great for Cape Cod residents who detest having to go to PVD or BOS).

The problem with both of those suggestions is that in order to further expand the runway at EWB, wetlands would need to be filled and that's all but impossible as far as approval from the Feds is concerned.
 
New Bedford says city would get $12.5m per year if casino approved

The City of New Bedford and the group proposing a casino on the New Bedford waterfront reached an agreement Thursday under which the casino would pay the city $12.5 million a year to compensate for increased traffic and other impacts of a casino, the city announced.

The New Bedford casino proposal is one of three the Massachusetts Gaming Commission is considering for the Southeastern Massachusetts casino license, the last of the state’s three resort casino licenses that will be awarded.

An Eastern Massachusetts license and Western Massachusetts license have already been awarded.

Also competing for the Southeastern Massachusetts license are proponents of casinos in Brockton and Somerset are also being.

The Gaming Commission Thursday was expected to consider extending its deadline for proposals for the New Bedford and Somerset casino to allow them to remain in the competition.
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http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/20...no-approved/HNTipoeHKeLtxveVEjR4zN/story.html
 
As a Brockton resident, I have been pulling more for the hometown team to win. I'm glad the state extended the extension to the other potential bidders for the license however. I think the competition will ultimately lead to a better finished project. That is, if they award one at all.

That being said, New Bedford and Somerset have continued to miss the deadlines for submission, and Somerset already looks like a no-go. Brockton had their application substantially completed within the allotted time.

Building on a brownfield and having waterfront proximity Make the New Bedford proposal promising. Better central location to southeastern MA populations make Brockton more attractive. Just like Big 3 Football. It'll be a Boxers/Whalers showdown.
 
As a Brockton resident you should be pulling for New Bedford or Somerset. Brockton is circling the drain and a casino would suck that turd under posthaste.
 
New Bedford Seaport Artwalk. Photos are not mine, they are from New Bedford Guide's Facebook page.

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Can the argument be made that New Bedford is coming along faster than Lowell?
 
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