Somerville Infill and Small Developments

“People working in the financial district, they should be getting the market,” Faisal said.

Just because you can, doesn't mean you should. It's people like this guy that is part of the problem.
 
sm89 said:
No proposed connection to the new Green Line station? A ped bridge would be nice.
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For security reasons I expect they'll have people required to walk the long way around from the station to the front entrance on the south side of the building. A high school like this tends to limit its entry points. Ped bridge to and from the station would only make sense if it reduced the walk to the entrance. VE'd out from the get-go.
 
mdd said:
“People working in the financial district, they should be getting the market,” Faisal said.

Just because you can, doesn't mean you should. It's people like this guy that is part of the problem.
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What a dumbass. If he's going to justify price gouging by citing a nearby high paying industry he can at least pick the right one - the 85 bus goes right from these apartments to tech jobs in Kendall Square. Somebody with a high paying job in the financial district would be better off living on a T line.
 
Progress on Webster/Prospect development (former U-Save lot); sorry for the crap lighting:

Wh5ZD8H.jpg


pUxWz4n.jpg
 
I wouldn't really call that "crap lighting". Maybe not the most photogenic but it's the sun, what are you going to do? I can't help but feel as if that project really slipped under the radar though. I followed Union Sq developments closely starting a couple years back and feel very much in the dark as to what this particular building is supposed to be. Predictably it looks like more luxury condos/apartments. Technically this was within the "disposition blocks" (D-4), an area which I assumed was to be under control of the Master Developer (US2), but I guess there is something more going on here.
 
Scipio said:
Oh boy, Anwar Faisal's Alpha Management has purchased some big apartment buildings in central Somerville: http://somerville.wickedlocal.com/n...ed-in-spotlight-series-buys-100-units-in-city

Not sure what the long term bet is here, but looks like some pretty hefty rent increases are coming in the short term.
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Some of the rent increases are here now according to my facebook feed. They generally range from 500$-1000$ a month. One place went up 2000$ because they turned the common area into a "bedroom" and classified it as 4BR rather than 3.
 
Good news in Winter Hill. Former MetroPCS storefront has now been rebuilt as a brewery/cafe. I went to the soft opening last night and have nothing but praise. The owner says his goal, in no uncertain terms, is to be an anchor business that starts the transformation of the neighborhood. Stop by sometime to see if you think he's on the right track.
Check out what they did on the inside: http://boston.eater.com/2016/3/17/11253404/winter-hill-brewing-company-gallery-somerville

Before:
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Mayor Curtatone will be on Channel 5 Sunday morning at 11:00am. (Show's called "On The Record")
 
JumboBuc said:
I wish them the best, but I'm skeptical that Davis can support a foot-traffic-only grocery store with Star Market 0.4 miles to the SE and Pemberton Farms 0.3 miles to the SW.
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From personal experience, Pemberton Farms is hardly an accessible grocery store and Star Market isn't a convenient stopover on the way home from work. Were I still living in Davis (more like Teele Sq), I'd probably be more likely to stop over here than get out at Porter, walk across the chaos of that parking lot during rush hour, and then hop onto the 87 to crawl through Davis Square traffic.

This fits exactly with the lifestyle of a lot of the people I know living in Davis these days - more accessible trips by foot on the way home from work to allow for more frequent, buy-only-what-you-need grocery shopping. Now if only Stop and Shop weren't so similarly inconveniently set back from the street near Jackson Square...
 
I'd say there are 3 reasons to hope foot traffic only can work:
1) So many people are already car free
2) Small household sizes = 1 or 2 bag lot sizes (easily carried or backpacked)
3) A clientele already grabbing food on the go

In this, it seems a lot like the Broadway Market (Cambridge/ HvdSq, and not particularly good transit)

Or flip that around: whats *wrong* with Pemberton Farms, it that it has to rely on its parking, because it *isn't* "between work and home" (not nearly "on the way" enough for folks walking to/from Porter or Davis.
 
Full disclosure: I live between Davis and Ball, don't have a car, take the T every day, and do just about all of my grocery shopping on foot. This means that over the last 3.5 years I've probably carried food home from the "Porter Shaws" close to 500 times.

The way I see it, bfresh will rely about 100% on Davis T users who buy groceries on foot. People who don't T through Davis probably won't shop there, and people who do T through Davis but drive to the grocery store probably won't shop there either. This leaves a core group of customers, but not a huge one. I wonder if that group will be large enough to keep the store in business.

I also wonder what bfresh, if it's successful, will do to McKinnon's. On the one hand, McKinnon's now has a competitor directly across the street. On the other hand, I know there have been times when I've purchased meat at the "Porter Shaws" instead of at McKinnon's only because I also had other groceries to buy and didn't want to make trips to two squares. I can imagine shoppers now going to McKinnons+bfresh who previously would have gone somewhere bigger.
 
Re: Green Line Extension to Medford & Union Sq

FK4 said:
Way to go Curtatone. Good 'n' fervent. I also like the shout-outs to the R-B connector, BLX and NSRL.
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FK -- this guy needs to get his priorities straight -- he's looking out for everything except for what the Mayor of a City has to focus on -- in particular he's got his one and only high school ready to lose its accreditation -- how many people will that screw

http://patch.com/massachusetts/some...igh-too-hot-too-cold-accreditation-jeopardy-0
Tour Somerville High: Too Hot, Too Cold, Accreditation in Jeopardy
Residents can see for themselves why building a new school or renovating the current building is necessary.

Somerville, MA

By REBEKAH MARCARELLI (Patch Staff) - March 16, 2016 1:58 am ET
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