Roslindale Infill and Small Developments

mssrro said:
59-63 Belgrade Avenue (31 units)





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I assume they did the 4th floor in that black and stepped back to make this not look so "large", but because of the grade of the street and this being ground level (no couple steps up to ground floor), it actually looks too short to fit in properly.
 
JumboBuc said:
It is incredible for me how little the 130+ page “Roslindale Square Small Area Plan” actually includes as far as tangible proposals. The entire “Squares and Streets” initiative has been a master class in talking a lot and saying very little.

Just give me a damn before and after map to show the changes. This doesn’t have to be so hard.
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To paraphrase a local sports radio host, I could re-zone Roslindale Square on the back of a napkin in an hour. Keep in mind this is only the plan to rezone, not the actual zoning plan. That involves another round of plans, meetings, workshops, and it goes on and on.
 
JumboBuc said:
It is incredible for me how little the 130+ page “Roslindale Square Small Area Plan” actually includes as far as tangible proposals. The entire “Squares and Streets” initiative has been a master class in talking a lot and saying very little.

Just give me a damn before and after map to show the changes. This doesn’t have to be so hard.
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Wealthy urban cities have become very adept at this, a big part is graphic design. Compare municipal documents of today to the stuff you find on archive, it’s so snazzy looking but often all fluff.

I think this is all a step in the right direction, but it’s sad to think that probably there won’t be any major revision to this for many more decades. I do think a few more owners on Washington are likely to build up. But the main thrust of the plan is “ hey let’s rezone the MBTA parking lot“ as if the MBTA is ever, in a million years going to develop it.
 
Squares and Streets will allow the former "bank of America building" to be sold and rebuilt to multiple stories without zoning relief needed, an absolutely huge selling point. And the current Co-Operative Bank is now proposed to be zoned so that they can expand in-place, without having to buy/rent more satellite parking lots. Lots of opportunities elsewhere as well.
The plan also goes far above just zoning with public space initiatives and proposed traffic pattern changes that restore some pavement back to a more public realm.
 
SuffolkHeights11 said:
To paraphrase a local sports radio host, I could re-zone Roslindale Square on the back of a napkin in an hour. Keep in mind this is only the plan to rezone, not the actual zoning plan. That involves another round of plans, meetings, workshops, and it goes on and on.
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The convoluted process is all done to placate the NIMBYs who are distinctly not the majority population in Roslindale. That said, as a visioning process, I think it did a pretty good job and also to some extent gave us ammunition against the NIMBY response, which has been fairly muted.
 

375 cummings hwy
1743538608178.jpeg
 

Eight-unit condo building approved for vacant lot in Roslindale​

Rendering of proposed 4471 Washington St.


“The Zoning Board of Appeal yesterday approved plans to build an eight-unit condo building with four parking spaces on a vacant lot at the corner of Washington and Cornell streets in Roslindale.
Jeff Drago, attorney for developer Jon Wardwell, said the building does not need more parking because it is across the street from a bus stop for several lines and within "walking distance" of the Roslindale Village commuter-rail stop. Access to the parking will be through an existing driveway on Cornell Street.
The building will have solar panels installed on the roof, he said…….”

https://www.universalhub.com/2025/eight-unit-condo-building-approved-vacant-lot-roslindale
 
I hate to say this, because I really want to cut down on parking induced car reliance, but for that particular location, I do not think less than one parking spot per unit is viable. It's a mile walk to Forest Hills, or there is the infrequent 14 bus that isn't particularly useful unless your destination is in Roslindale or Roxbury. And that's it. The area is reasonably bikeable, but without a transit option, we can't really expect people to not rely on cars. Between this and other projects near the American Legion-Walk Hill intersection, it might be time for the MBTA to start looking at some sort of Walk Hill bus route. But without that, it is really a very auto-centric location.
 
HenryAlan said:
I hate to say this, because I really want to cut down on parking induced car reliance, but for that particular location, I do not think less than one parking spot per unit is viable. It's a mile walk to Forest Hills, or there is the infrequent 14 bus that isn't particularly useful unless your destination is in Roslindale or Roxbury. And that's it. The area is reasonably bikeable, but without a transit option, we can't really expect people to not rely on cars. Between this and other projects near the American Legion-Walk Hill intersection, it might be time for the MBTA to start looking at some sort of Walk Hill bus route. But without that, it is really a very auto-centric location.
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hmmm, I see what you are saying. I'm kinda surprised there isn't already a bus that would say connect Mattapan to Forest Hills, but then again, Morton Street, Walk Hill Ave, and Cummins Highway all feel roads that wouldn't justify a bus route along them. Cummins does have a bus along it already though.

That being said, the 14 may be pretty infrequent, but a very short walk up to Hyde Park Ave via Neponset Street (0.5 miles) is very doable, especially with the 15 minutes headways the T shows for the 32 bus. If the developers have pushed their pro-forma to say that it this development will work with the minimal parking, I applaud them, this is what we should aspire to from a development standpoint.
 
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