Quincy General Developments

Interesting. There's already 14 bedrooms in the three buildings that are already there, but spread among a mere 6 units. Basically increases the number of bedrooms by 10 while adding no parking. W I guess.
 
I was doing a little bit of digging after I realized that the New Quincy Courthouse had an announced construction contract, even if no renders have been posted yet. It's smaller than originally proposed, comprising 130k sqft and 11 courtrooms rather than the 210k and 14 courtrooms previously contemplated. Projected completion in 2029. What I have tracked down appear to be early renders, but appear to still be representative. I must say I'm not hugely into the design, nor the continued presence of so much surface parking this close to the Red Line.

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NEWS

W.T. Rich
www.wtrich.com
 
Stlin said:
nor the continued presence of so much surface parking this close to the Red Line.
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Agreed. It's a soulless design and right across the street from the perpetually empty municipal garage. That pedestrian plaza on the west side needs something to activate it or it will be dead space like the dog pooping lot parklet next to One Chestnut across the street.
 
Developer tweaks condo proposal near Adams' birthplaces. What has changed

“Four stories is still too high and inappropriate for this historical setting,” said Richard Sweeney Jr., funeral director of Sweeney Brothers Home for Funerals that sits directly across from the proposed development at 10 Independence Ave. “The historical nature of our neighborhood should be recognized, promoted and enhanced.”

Quincy developer Anton Cela had originally filed the planning board application to tear down the existing Quincy Auto Tech on the corner lot and replace it with a four-story structure, which was to have nine condominium units and retail space on the first floor.

Through conversations with neighbors and city staff, the retail element was removed. Cela ultimately withdrew the proposal in June. But the project returned at the Nov. 20 planning board meeting with a new developer, Marina Bay Management Services, led by Tom O’Connell. Cela still owns the property, purchased for $900,000 in May 2023.

[...]

Instead of retail on the first floor, there would be a common room, package delivery space and gym for residents. The condominium units would be roughly 1,300 square feet, with two bedrooms each. The parking area would have 18 spaces and a bike rack. Ideally, the developer would like to find a way to work with the city and bury the power lines in the intersection to improve the area as a whole.

[...]

Tocchio compared the condominium project’s 44-foot, 10-inch height to the nearby 19th century multifamily home at 160 Franklin St., which stands at 39 feet, 7 inches, and Sweeney Brothers, which reaches 38 feet, 11 inches to the main roof ridge.
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This whole project is a perfect case study for everything wrong with how housing gets built. Vastly outsized importance given to disingenuous bad actors who are arguing in bad faith. Voiced support for the project is marginalized in comparison (the article closes with an "oh yeah here's a neighbor in support") and the vast majority of passive support is ignored entirely.

The bad actors have made a project that was already pitched to be conciliatory to the busy-bodies even worse by removing the commercial element.

Not only is this parcel less than half a mile to Quincy Adams, it's directly located at a bus stop for 3 routes and within a 2 minute walk of another. It's hard to think of a location more primed for increased density!
 
KCasiglio said:
Developer tweaks condo proposal near Adams' birthplaces. What has changed



This whole project is a perfect case study for everything wrong with how housing gets built. Vastly outsized importance given to disingenuous bad actors who are arguing in bad faith. Voiced support for the project is marginalized in comparison (the article closes with an "oh yeah here's a neighbor in support") and the vast majority of passive support is ignored entirely.

The bad actors have made a project that was already pitched to be conciliatory to the busy-bodies even worse by removing the commercial element.

Not only is this parcel less than half a mile to Quincy Adams, it's directly located at a bus stop for 3 routes and within a 2 minute walk of another. It's hard to think of a location more primed for increased density!
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Which project is it? I dont have an account with patriotledger.
 
“Four stories is still too high and inappropriate for this historical setting,”
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Through conversations with neighbors and city staff, the retail element was removed.
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Four stories is too high for Quincy near the Red Line? The retail element was removed after neighbors gave input? What the actual fuck are these people thinking?

NIMBYs care way too much about buildings they don't want to look at. There's a housing shortage, that's an actual problem. Wanna know what isn't an actual problem? People having to look at buildings they don't like.
 
themissinglink said:
Four stories is too high for Quincy near the Red Line? The retail element was removed after neighbors gave input? What the actual fuck are these people thinking?

NIMBYs care way too much about buildings they don't want to look at. There's a housing shortage, that's an actual problem. Wanna know what isn't an actual problem? People having to look at buildings they don't like.
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The craziest part too is when you stop and really look around most of the proposed buildings will actually make the place nicer to be in. Theres so many crooked ass triple deckers littered around everywhere with faded and chipping paint, auto zone parking lots, old ass dunkin donuts…etc. Wanting to keep all of that trapped in amber like its the Champs-Élysées in Paris is crazy.
 
stick n move said:
The craziest part too is when you stop and really look around most of the proposed buildings will actually make the place nicer to be in. Theres so many crooked ass triple deckers littered around everywhere with faded and chipping paint, auto zone parking lots, old ass dunkin donuts…etc. Wanting to keep all of that trapped in amber like its the Champs-Élysées in Paris is crazy.
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This is what I mean when I think it's disingenuous/bad faith. You're telling me the existing auto garage is so pleasant and complementary to the HiStOrIc ChArM? The sprawling dunkin mega drive through next door wasn't offensive enough for the director of a funeral home to clutch his pearls? Give me a break. These are unserious people who are not representative of the community.
 
It's all a symptom of a total lack of imagination. No one sits around thinking about how to improve things. Their relationship with their physical world is topical and reactive. "This line of cars I'm sitting in while waiting for the Dunkin drive thru sucks. I wish it were shorter." So they raze a block of commercial business to expand the Dunkin and that's good and no one sheds a tear over another step towards auto sewer and a step away from walkable neighborhood center.

With this project, it's different with no clear benefit to abutters, therefore it sucks to them. There's no in between, unless another abandoned garage was proposed to replace the one that's there.
 
If I was a developer I'd steer clear of Quincy. Between the way the city government operates and how development goes, not a great place to put some money in.
 
stefal said:
If I was a developer I'd steer clear of Quincy. Between the way the city government operates and how development goes, not a great place to put some money in.
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At the end of the day there's a 1% vacancy rate and a municipal government that is much friendlier to development than most.
 
stefal said:
If I was a developer I'd steer clear of Quincy. Between the way the city government operates and how development goes, not a great place to put some money in.
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I don't think Quincy has the market cornered on NIMBYs and I don't see the surrounding communities doing much to build housing. Close to Boston with 4 stops on the red line, yeah better put money elsewhere. The mayor is a lot of things but I would not call him anti development
 

50 Units Proposed in Quincy​

“Plans are under review to replace an abandoned nursing home at 11 McGrath Highway in Quincy with a multifaimly project. The new 50 unit building would contain 12 one-bedroom and 38 two-bedroom units on five (5) residential floors constructed over a grade level parking garage containing twenty-four (24) parking spaces.”

11 mcgrath

https://www.bldup.com/posts/50-units-proposed-in-quincy
 
.5 parking spaces per unit, LFG! Finally some Quincy Center development that's appropriate for Quincy Center.

EDIT: I want to follow up, this development is a great example of why I don't like the "well this is fine considering the area that it's in" argument. This development is pretty ideal for the spot it's in.

There's another world where the recent developments of One Chestnut, the courthouse, 74 McGrath, etc had been better, than this development could be so much better and fit in with a really vibrant pocket of a new Quincy Center. Build. For. What. You. Want.
 
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5 takeaways on the proposed new lease of city land to Granite Links golf course

QUINCY ‒ The city council could vote on a new lease Monday − its last meeting of the year − that would give Granite Links, a semi-private golf club, control of some 250 acres of public land into the 22nd century.

Opponents of the deal at a Dec. 9 public hearing questioned whether the deal maximizes the city's financial interest and makes the vast tract with beautiful views sufficiently accessible to residents unable to afford the greens fees.

Supporters praised Granite Links for transforming a landfill and abandoned quarry pits into a first-class golf course and successful business that pumps hundreds of thousand of dollars into city coffers each year ($9.6 million since operations began, according to Granite Links), while providing a home for high school golf teams and donating money to charitable causes.

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Koch asked the council to approve a home-rule petition asking the legislature to waive the city's obligations under two state laws designed to safeguard the public interest regarding government land, Chapter 40 and Chapter 30B.

Chapter 40 limits the leasing of public lands by a city to a private entity to 30 years. The proposed lease, which would begin in 2056 after the current lease expires, extends for 50 years.

Chapter 30B requires cities to solicit bids when selling or leasing public property. "Fair, robust competition for larger procurements saves money and promotes integrity and public confidence in government," a state webpage says. The proposed agreement would grant the lease to Quarry Hills Associates without competitive bidding and also gives the company the exclusive option to buy 12 acres of the leased premises to build a 110-room hotel.
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Waiving state requirements to extend the lease out so far into the future when there's already 32 years left on the current lease seems ridiculous to me. I hope the state denies the waiver.
 
This is fill from the Big Dig. The supporters suggest that it was disused, and that they are doing the taxpayers a huge favor by "transforming a landfill and abandoned quarry pits." The truth is that even before the last quarry finally closed in the 1960's this land has been used for passive recreation. Hikers, climbers, dog walkers etc... and of course, swimming back when the beaches were unusable. Also, golf courses are land pigs, and the runoff of chemicals needed to grow grass like that destroys lakes, rivers, and streams

I hope they deny this waiver too because it doesn't benefit everyone like the park does. The law limiting such leases was made for exactly this purpose
 
Especially after they failed to provide the hiking connections to the blue hills as they promised. This is all about making money, not community benefit. Granted, many love the golf course, but at least play nice with the community while you run your business.
 
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