New England Revolution Stadium | 173 Alford Street | Boston-Everett

[Blackbird]

So is there really not such an 'affordable housing' problem, but it's just a convenient and simple talking point for people who are annoyed that houses are expensive (as they have been since time immemorial)?

I mean, it’s a matter of fact that housing prices in the area now are much higher relative to the median income than they’ve been for at least a century. Perhaps since 1630.

Or is there actually an 'affordable housing' problem, but no politicians in Boston/Cambridge/Somerville/Everett/etc want to do solve it, and they hope the suburbs will somehow 'deal with it'?

It’s the opposite, actually. Everett, Somerville, etc. are doing they’re best to solve it, but it’s harder to jam more people into an already dense area than it would be to densify the suburbs. But it’s those towns (Westin, Carlisle, etc.) that expect Boston/Cambridge/Somerville/Everett to ‘deal with it’.

 

[jklo]

So, honest question: We hear TONS about 'affordable housing.' Yet every time a large piece of developable land comes up within Boston and the immediately surrounding cities, the project almost immediately flips to lab space.

Because market rate units have to be 700k+ for the numbers to work. There's some risk involved with stuff priced that high when you get out of the prime millennial-friendly apartment areas.

Lab Space is basically risk free.

 

[RandomWalk]

Most landlords don’t want affordable tenants, because they can come with regulations governing what they can and cannot do if things go sideways.

 

[itchy]

I get all that - I'm just asking, why is it that a Michelle Wu keeps allowing every massive construction project to be lab space while claiming her No. 1 priority is 'affordable housing'? Feels like a disconnect / joke...

 

[HenryAlan]

I get all that - I'm just asking, why is it that a Michelle Wu keeps allowing every massive construction project to be lab space while claiming her No. 1 priority is 'affordable housing'? Feels like a disconnect / joke...

You kind of need to build both housing and places that stimulate economic growth. As for the mayor's priorities, I think we are discussing a project that was well along the approval path before she was elected.

 

[itchy]

i think Boston has more than enough jobs / office space to stimulate the economics growth required for housing demand

 

[kingofsheeba]

I get all that - I'm just asking, why is it that a Michelle Wu keeps allowing every massive construction project to be lab space while claiming her No. 1 priority is 'affordable housing'? Feels like a disconnect / joke...

I’m waiting to see
a) proof that lab space is anymore of a priority than it has been for the past three administrations.
b) how this turned into a discussion about affordable housing in a Revs stadium thread.
c) why I even bother?

 

[Suffolk 83]

I get all that - I'm just asking, why is it that a Michelle Wu keeps allowing every massive construction project to be lab space while claiming her No. 1 priority is 'affordable housing'? Feels like a disconnect / joke...

How is a mayor supposed to force private land owners to build what the city wants? It cant, it can incentivize them and that's about it

 

[king_vibe]

How is a mayor supposed to force private land owners to build what the city wants? It cant, it can incentivize them and that's about it

How many of these lab buildings have been built as-of-right?

 

[Suffolk 83]

How many of these lab buildings have been built as-of-right?

yea they have to get approved just like everything else. Doesnt change my correct point

 

[king_vibe]

yea they have to get approved just like everything else. Doesnt change my correct point

I’m saying that most of them have not been built as-of-right, which means the city has a say.

 

[Aprehensive_Words]

If you look at a few of the proposals that have landed during Wu's tenure...

• https://www.bostonglobe.com/2022/07...l-that-will-greenlight-big-development-there/
• https://bankerandtradesman.com/housing-expands-redevelopment-plans-at-wbz-property/
• https://bankerandtradesman.com/tram...l-affordable-housing-in-brighton-development/

...it's pretty clear the city is leaning on developers to add housing components to lab projects, even if lab commands way higher rents/returns right now. That WBZ project feels like a prime example.

With construction costs putting upward pressure on rents/sale prices for each unit, they're making developers use the higher returns on lab space to achieve higher affordability levels in the housing component than might otherwise pencil in an outlying neighborhood like Allston.

 

[Suffolk 83]

I’m saying that most of them have not been built as-of-right, which means the city has a say.

I acknowledged that

 

[king_vibe]

Getting back on topic, this soccer stadium obviously shouldn’t be built in a transit desert in a chemical wasteland in Everett.

 

[Johnnyrocket891]

Getting back on topic, this soccer stadium obviously shouldn’t be built in a transit desert in a chemical wasteland in Everett.

It's a done deal- Kraft, Wynn, Mayor, Could see the world cup in Everett someday.

Wynn Resorts buys Everett power plant site. Is a Revs stadium on the Mystic next?

The gaming operator closed a deal to acquire 45-acre site across Broadway from its casino, where Everett’s mayor envisions an entertainment district, perhaps anchored by a soccer stadium.

www.boston.com

Everett Mayor pulled the Monsanto card. Who would have thought that the old Monsanto site would turn into an Entertainment district.

 

[BosDevelop]

Could see the world cup in Everett someday.

Not going to happen. The World Cup is played in large stadiums (usually 50,000+ capacity) not the 25,000 or so capacity "soccer specific" stadiums.

 

[Equilibria]

It's a done deal- Kraft, Wynn, Mayor, Could see the world cup in Everett someday.

Wynn Resorts buys Everett power plant site. Is a Revs stadium on the Mystic next?

The gaming operator closed a deal to acquire 45-acre site across Broadway from its casino, where Everett’s mayor envisions an entertainment district, perhaps anchored by a soccer stadium.

www.boston.com

Everett Mayor pulled the Monsanto card. Who would have thought that the old Monsanto site would turn into an Entertainment district.

The article goes to pains to mention that the Krafts have no official involvement with Wynn whatsoever. A soccer stadium could happen, but it could not. Same as anywhere else Kraft has tried to build hype.

 

[jklo]

Getting back on topic, this soccer stadium obviously shouldn’t be built in a transit desert in a chemical wasteland in Everett.

It's not that far from the Chelsea CR stop. It's probably this+retail,etc or Lab Space for redev.

 

[king_vibe]

It's not that far from the Chelsea CR stop. It's probably this+retail,etc or Lab Space for redev.

It's an extremely unpleasant 40 minute walk.

 

[gac108]

If they're really serious about this, they (Kraft plus Wynn) should invest in a new T line (the yellow line?) going from North Station up through Charlestown kind of along rte 99 and have some much-needed stops in Charlestown, for the stadium, then casino, and continue on up through Everett, into Malden (Granada Highlands area), and ending somewhere in Saugus near rte 1. That is a HUGE community area that desperately needs something other than painfully slow buses that take forever to get into downtown. That would alleviate a tremendous amount of the traffic that currently drives to the casino, new developments and an entertainment complex and would certainly entice people who are meh on soccer but love live sports and hate driving around there (people like me and most of my friends).