7INK (née Ollie) | 217 Albany St | South End

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"Newly approved by the Boston Planning & Development Agency, Ollie is soon to be the latest and greatest addition to the South End’s Ink Block residences. The project will be Boston’s first major co-living project, delivering 250 micro-units and shared suites........."

https://www.bostonrealestate.com/developments/DEV724/Ollie-at-Ink-Block/

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Re: Ollie | 217 Albany st | South Boston

A minor correction for the title if you can still change it ... South End, not South Boston.
 
Re: Ollie | 217 Albany st | South Boston

I just don't get the 150ft height. Fuck the master plan, fuck the BRA, fuck what the south end neighborhood association says(my neighborhood) we need housing, we need more units, we need density. It's in a godforsaken wasteland of ramps and shitty roads and it's right near Broadway station and the silver line and tufts orange.
 
Re: Ollie | 217 Albany st | South Boston

And I'd be one of the people suffering the traffic crunch and possibly the parking crunch although I'm much closer to the McCall project
 
Re: Ollie | 217 Albany st | South Boston

I just don't get the 150ft height.

Perhaps that's all the market can handle, at least profitably. Maybe they decided it wasn't financially worth fighting for extra height.
 
Should have gone to the FAA 325' along the Pike.

i said as much right on Boston TV.

Zero tolerance/no exceptions bullshit put out by a bunch of angry 70 year olds.

They spend their free time ruining Boston just in time to croak.
 
Re: Ollie | 217 Albany st | South Boston

I just don't get the 150ft height. Fuck the master plan, fuck the BRA, fuck what the south end neighborhood association says(my neighborhood) we need housing, we need more units, we need density. It's in a godforsaken wasteland of ramps and shitty roads and it's right near Broadway station and the silver line and tufts orange.

Just to be clear, this project is in the Ink Block PDA, so the as of rights zoning height is 200 ft. along Albany Street.

The Harrison Albany Corridor Master Plan did not limit the height.
The BPDA did not limit the height.
Abutters did not limit the height.

The developer, for commercial reasons, limited the height. National Development has been cautious with heights throughout the Ink Block, never using the available as of rights height or FAR, for whatever reasons make sense to them.
 
I also have to think that this is almost assuredly taller than 150'. It's probably around 175'. With that said I agree with the sentiment that this whole area should be taller/denser than what we're getting.

I also think that the far bigger crime is what's going on in North Point, although that doesn't exactly make this better just because something else is worse.

What is the transit like in this area? Isn't the Broadway T Station nearby? I definitely think things should be taller/denser by transit. This is why I am most disappointed with the residential tower at North Station not going an extra 300'.
 
Broadway Red Line: 5-10 minute walk.
Tufts Medical Center Orange Line: 5-10 minute walk
Silver Line: 5 minute walk
Back Bay Station Orange Line/Commuter Rail: 15 minute walk
 
I don't know why anyone would really want to live here unless its noticeable cheaper than similar buildings in the area. Having to share public bathrooms, showers, living spaces, just doesn't do it for me especially if its commanding extremely high prices. Does anyone know the floor layout? Its described as being dorm-like so Id like to see how much is shared. Whether you just have a bed in a room or you do get a little kitchen and shower or if that would just make it a studio.
 
I knew Jeff would chime in on this, while I dont think he's necessarily wrong... If there were no height limit to begin with and someone could conceivably build a 400 footer they may have IMO
 
I don't know why anyone would really want to live here unless its noticeable cheaper than similar buildings in the area. Having to share public bathrooms, showers, living spaces, just doesn't do it for me especially if its commanding extremely high prices. Does anyone know the floor layout? Its described as being dorm-like so Id like to see how much is shared. Whether you just have a bed in a room or you do get a little kitchen and shower or if that would just make it a studio.

Some people really dig this kind of setup. There are also people who might enjoy knowing that they are regularly sharing toilets and other spaces with strangers. It takes all kinds, and all that.
 
I knew Jeff would chime in on this, while I dont think he's necessarily wrong... If there were no height limit to begin with and someone could conceivably build a 400 footer they may have IMO

I personally wish the Albany Street and Turnpike sides of the area had been zoned higher.

But National Development has not even been using the available height and FAR, so at least one developer thinks the area should be less dense than zoned. Go figure. (I mean the AC Hotel is only six stories!)
 
At least it is taller than all but 1 of the other buildings around it so thats a positive take away at least. Also anoooooother roof deck. We have so many at this point and so many coming on line its insane. We went from barely any at all to having like a dozen shortly. Pretty badass I like this a lot. Theres something about cities that have a lot of roof decks being more "fun" or whatever you wanna call it. You can go to a bar, or you can go to an open air roof top bar with skyline views. Ill take the latter.

Some people really dig this kind of setup. There are also people who might enjoy knowing that they are regularly sharing toilets and other spaces with strangers. It takes all kinds, and all that.

Yea I can see it be pretty cool if they do it right. If the living spaces are nice, which it seems to be but that render has the NYC skyline outside so idk if thats this building but something like that can be cool. For me it would depend just how "dorm-like" it is. If the rooms are tiny and you only get a spot for a bed and a spot for your computer and they want your living room to be a public space I couldn't really do that. If they're closer to studio apartments and you still get like a mini fridge, microwave, little stove top, sink...etc and a spot for a love seat sized chair and a tv that wouldn't be bad especially with the views it will have. I wonder if you get no toilet, or a toilet but no shower. Maybe you get a shared bathroom with a shower between two rooms like when I lived in the Marine barracks. We don't really know yet, but theres a few ways they could go with it. You should still be able to cook some small stuff, but then if you really need a big stove then you go to the shared area.
 
I don't know why anyone would really want to live here unless its noticeable cheaper than similar buildings in the area. Having to share public bathrooms, showers, living spaces, just doesn't do it for me especially if its commanding extremely high prices. Does anyone know the floor layout? Its described as being dorm-like so Id like to see how much is shared. Whether you just have a bed in a room or you do get a little kitchen and shower or if that would just make it a studio.


I don't think that is correct. The kitchens are shared. Everyone gets their own bathroom.
 
I don't think that is correct. The kitchens are shared. Everyone gets their own bathroom.

It looks like I'm wrong.

From their site:

The building will contain up to 250 units consisting primarily of micro-unit studios, but will also include a mix of two-, three-, and four-bedroom units. Each unit has its own private kitchen, bathroom and living areas.

So the bathrooms/kitchens are shared, but with 1 to 3 other people. Your bedroom is your bedroom.
 
When you figure there's a ton of Post-College kids out there living 2,3,4,5 in a 2 bedroom, having a private bedroom at least would be considered an upgrade.
 

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