I should note I fully support this project. My earlier comments on it being comically large were on first pass - with time, it'll hopefully bring equally sized developments across all the open parking lots and industrial office space directly adjacent to this. There's absolutely no reason Sullivan Square can't become a new major development epicenter. There are about a dozen open lots adequately sized for hundreds of residential units just steps from the T, and hopefully this project opens some eyes for developers. Little risk - no NIMBYs, easy site development, easily marketable/sellable.
How difficult/expensive would it be to deck over the tracks to connect this area to Assembly? Without the decking, these areas will always be isolated enclaves instead of integrated neighborhoods.
It'd surely be nice, and surely be expensive. It'd also be a while before that happens. There's no incentive currently with all the open/redevelop-able lots both around Assembly and here. I imagine as both mature, though, that a pedestrian overpass might be included in some larger scale planning. Again, that's years out. Hood Park to Assembly is currently a dull, grey, and heavily auto-centric trip. It'd be nice to someday see that connection come to fruition. Maybe it could even pass Hood Park over to Community College and the parks along the Charles.
Hopefully the MBTA can get smart here in their public private partnerships over the next decade. They're there to stay, but their land value is likely going to go up a pretty penny if this development and subsequent ones succeed. That will come at a time when most of the buildings here will be coming to their absolute end of lifecycle needing full replacement or substantial renovation, add-on, and/or repair.
