Roxbury Infill and Small Developments

12345 said:
http://www.bostonherald.com/business/real_estate/2017/03/more_apartments_planned_for_roxbury
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Nice - the area bounded by Mass Ave, Tremont, and Melnea Cass has so much potential. I bet all that undeveloped/underdeveloped land southeast of Washington (including the 5+ acres of Boston Water and Sewer parking lots) will be the "Ink Block area" of the late 2020s-2030s.

This could all become a great mixed-income neighborhood, especially if the sprawling subsidized housing projects are rebuilt and densified (while maintaining all subsidized units). There's no reason the "South End" (as we see it as a neighborhood) can't extend all the way from the Pike to Melnea Cass.

Reznor said:
Is this what it's replacing?

https://www.google.com/maps/@42.334...4!1sZmurbz0TBvkS3D3fOxWaxQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

If so, that's a shame.
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It's going here.
 
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This area has fascinated me, as these 2 blocks are all that remained of a decades-ago urban renewal. If you look down from google-maps you can see these buildings as an island among a sea of parking lots (for the water commission I believe).

There's a great store around the corner called Restoration Resources.

With the Mariott hotel going in a block southwest of here, maybe this might be the start of a de-methadone-mile-ing.
 
Rezone the parking lots to 250 ft and build a tunnel under Melnea instead of this idiotic widening project. Then wait for the proposals to come in.
 
There's a fairly large (for the area) contruction zone on Washington Street between Valentine and Oakland. It's actually visible on Google Earth, interestingly enough. I think I've mentioned it before but things are moving on it again.
 
I do wish the BRA had gone through with their plan to extend MLK Blvd to Columbus Av/Centre St. It would have required bulldozing many homes but it would have opened up Washington Park and lower Roxbury to the relocated Orange Line much better than it is now.

Although the problem with the original plan was that MLK was a suburban artery and not a proper boulevard. This is something I wish the city was more forward on; rezoning the old BRA arteries to be more parkway like with new buildings actually fronting the road.
 
vanshnookenraggen said:
Those look great!! I'd live there!
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Out of sheer curiosity Van, are you being serious or sarcastic? These buildings are so average that, whether sarcastic or serious, I don't get the passion.

Having said that, while I wouldn't go out of my way to comment on buildings like these, I am certainly glad they are being built.
 
Serious. I really like them. I'm not looking for some minimalist masterpiece, I appreciate well done infill and background buildings. Look at all the other shit going up which is all trying to be something but ends up looking like a strip mall motel. These are honest and unpretentious.
 
vanshnookenraggen said:
I do wish the BRA had gone through with their plan to extend MLK Blvd to Columbus Av/Centre St. It would have required bulldozing many homes but it would have opened up Washington Park and lower Roxbury to the relocated Orange Line much better than it is now.

Although the problem with the original plan was that MLK was a suburban artery and not a proper boulevard. This is something I wish the city was more forward on; rezoning the old BRA arteries to be more parkway like with new buildings actually fronting the road.
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I say this all the time and agree 100%. I think even better would've been a full crosstown boulevard all the way to 93, as originally planned. But by far the most important segment would be getting it to Columbus, and in reality, so many homes got bulldozed anyway, and there's still enough vacant lots plus that park, that this would still be feasible without a lot of taking.

If urban renewal could be done all over again, the entire Boston area would benefit/would have benefited from smaller crosstown boulevards and arterials that would have been a lot less destructive than massive interstates but still relieve some of the disastrous chokepoints due to absurd and antiquated roads.

At this point, though, MLK is ridiculous, and there is really no need for it to be so wide. I'm skeptical about what benefit there would be to making it a true Boulevard. Rather, it should just be narrowed, and the opened up land sold for private development to create a streetwall on the north side.
 
vanshnookenraggen said:
Serious. I really like them. I'm not looking for some minimalist masterpiece, I appreciate well done infill and background buildings. Look at all the other shit going up which is all trying to be something but ends up looking like a strip mall motel. These are honest and unpretentious.
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They are a lot better than a lot of the small projects we see going in around the city: decent detailing, proportions, and relationship to the street. Solid housing design. I hope they are built well.
 
Developer eyes old police union HQ for apartment building

The Holland Cos. hopes to build 50 market-rate and seven affordable apartments at 13 Shetland St., on three parcels a short distance from the MBTA’s Newmarket commuter rail station, according to plans submitted to the Boston Planning & Development Agency.

The total project cost is estimated at $11.35 million.

The new tiered, four-story building, designed by VMY Architects LLC of Newton, would include 27 studio apartments, 18 one-bedrooms and 12 two-bedrooms, including four handicap-accessible units and three for hearing-impaired tenants.

The ground floor of the building would have an elevator lobby, leasing office, bicycle storage room, and a club room and fitness center for residents, while the roof would have a common deck. The Holland Cos. also plans parking for 52 vehicles primarily within an open garage, and almost 5,000 square feet of landscaped open space in an interior courtyard.
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http://www.bostonherald.com/busines...es_old_police_union_hq_for_apartment_building

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Not sure what the project is but site/foundation prep has begun at about 2535 Washington. The site is between the Gately Cadilac Bldg. (to the south) and Archer Terrace (to the north). It is not the 2541 Washington project which is north of Archer Terrace..

https://flic.kr/p/Xoo6ni
 
This project generated significant controversy due to the demolition of a large turn of the century beaux arts school building
 
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