South Huntington Ave Infill and Small Projects

I'm withholding judgment until I see more pics. That's one flat-ass rendering.
 
"I don't know how to come up with a unique style of my own, so I'm just going to flip through this materials catalog, stagger these windows right here, push/pull this random line in sketchup, and ARCHITECTURE!"

...I actually watched kids in my studios do this. HUGE part of why I switched to historic preservation (even though I want to build new).
 
BeeLine said:
Nimbys going to court to halt/change 161 S. Huntington (Home for Little Wanderers).

http://bostonherald.com/business/re...eighborhood_group_sues_stop_apartment_project
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I guess THFLW and the new 13 story proposal are two separate developments...

THFLW
In December, the Jamaica Plain Neighborhood Council filed a lawsuit against the city’s Zoning Board of Appeals and the project’s developer in an attempt to overturn the board’s approval of the plans. The case was dismissed on May 17, online court records show.

NEW
A Boston developer will soon unveil its latest proposal to build a 13-story building with 195 apartments and ground-floor retail space on a wooded lot on South Huntington Avenue in Jamaica Plain.
 
This is right before the Green Line terminal at Heath St so it's a good place for density. Also it's across the street from the Back of the Hill apts so it has a precedent.
 
YES PLEASE!

My work is primarily within the VA hospital, and there's a desperate need for development around it. Especially with ground floor retail! Joseph's Pizza and Subway are the only places in walking distance on break, and there's definitely a demand for anything but the cafeteria food.

I always look at this plot (if it is what I think it is) and wish it were developed. :)
 
vanshnookenraggen said:
Also it's across the street from the Back of the Hill apts so it has a precedent.
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I've found the NIMBY complaints of 'too high' kind of spurious given both the Back of the Hill apartments and the hulking VA Hospital tower (and the VA's charming new 5-story parking garage). And the locations right next to the Heath St T stop and the 39 bus seem like good TOD opportunities.
 
elemenoh said:
I've found the NIMBY complaints of 'too high' kind of spurious given both the Back of the Hill apartments and the hulking VA Hospital tower (and the VA's charming new 5-story parking garage). And the locations right next to the Heath St T stop and the 39 bus seem like good TOD opportunities.
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It just wouldn't feel like Boston if every proposed building taller than three feet wasn't called "too tall."
 
Neighbors voice support for proposed 13-story, 195-unit apartment building in Jamaica Plain
Posted by Matt Rocheleau June 11, 2013


Most residents and business owners at a meeting Monday night expressed support for a proposal to build a 13-story building with 195 apartments and ground-floor retail space on a wooded lot on South Huntington Avenue in Jamaica Plain.

The developer hopes to clear a major hurdle in the city approval process Thursday night, when the proposal will be voted on by the Boston Redevelopment Authority board.
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more + rendering: http://www.boston.com/yourtown/news/jamaica_plain/2013/06/neighbors_voice_support_for_pr.html
 
Hey, good to hear. I could never figure out why that area was so desolate.

Most opposition to the projects has come from Jamaica Plain residents, while most support has come from residents of Mission Hill.
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Oh right. Reliable ol' JP NIMBYs.
 
Matthew said:
Hey, good to hear. I could never figure out why that area was so desolate.



Oh right. Reliable ol' JP NIMBYs.
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Mission Hill folks: common Joe Schmoe who can see what's reasonable.

JP NIMBY's: "No, I know what's best for you!"
 
105 S. Huntington

061413jprendering.jpg


Image from Herald article.
http://bostonherald.com/business/real_estate/2013/06/city_ok_s_195_apartments_off_south_huntington

The rendering makes the lot look bigger than one acre.
 
At what point do we organize a "take over" of these JPNC meetings? Because there is no way these folks can defend their decision on a rational vs. emotional basis.

No bond needed for JPNC lawsuit appeal

August 30, 2013
By Rebeca Oliveira
The judge in a Jamaica Plain Neighborhood Council (JPNC)-backed lawsuit against the 161 S. Huntington Ave. redevelopment project has ruled that the JPNC does not need to post a $750,000 bond to appeal the decision.

The appeal will likely take a year to 18 months, Jeffrey Wiesner, an attorney and JPNC member representing Day in the case, told the Gazette. The JPNC is slated to hold its biannual election in October.

Boston Residential Group (BRG), the company attempting to redevelop the former Home for Little Wanderers site, repeated its criticism of the lawsuit this week.

“It’s unfortunate that the legal maneuvering of a few individuals, designed simply to delay or stop this project, is denying Jamaica Plain new housing, including 33 affordable units and 200 construction jobs, and denying the Home for Little Wanderers tens of millions of dollars. We plan to vigorously pursue the appeal,” BRG President Curtis Kemeny said in a written statement to the Gazette.

JPNC chair Benjamin Day last year sued the City’s Zoning Board of Appeals and BRG alleging that zoning approvals for the controversial apartment project were improperly granted. A judge threw out the case in May, ruling that neither Day nor the JPNC had “standing,” or legal grounds, to sue.

“Because of the long delay, the defendant [Boston Residential Group] filed a motion to request us to post bond. They know we can’t pay [that amount],” Wiesner said. If the judge had granted that request, it “would effectively end the case,” he added.

The redevelopment likely will remain on hold pending the outcome of any appeal. A successful appeal potentially could lead to the end of the project.
 
The state of S. Huntington development

S. HUTINGTON—S. Huntington Ave. is about to experience a lot of simultaneous construction now that projects at 105A and 161 have been approved by the City and resolved neighborhood conflicts.

The luxury apartments and retail project at 105A S. Huntington Ave., named “The Serenity,” was approved by the City’s Zoning Board of Appeals earlier this month, clearing the way for construction to start on the 130-foot-tall building.

Construction is expected to begin in late spring or early summer 2014 and to complete in early fall of 2015, spokesperson Tom Palmer told the Gazette. As for a community contact person, Palmer said he’s “sure thre will be someone attached on call, that goes without saying.”

The project is currently finalizing design and getting financing, Palmer added.

The Serenity is being developed by Anthony Nader. The 195 luxury rental units in the multi-building development would include townhouses and apartment buildings of one-, two- and three-bedroom units targeted at graduate students and families. The project would also include 26 affordable units, 1,600 square feet of ground-floor retail space and 176 parking spaces in an underground garage.

Olmsted Place

Construction on “Olmsted Place,” the luxury apartment project at 161 S. Huntington Ave., is slated to begin “early next year,” spokesperson Janey Bishoff told the Gazette last week.

Construction on Olmsted Place was delayed for a year, due to a lawsuit filed by the Jamaica Plain Neighborhood Council. The suit was settled earlier this month.

According to former JPNC chair Ben Day, the lead plaintiff in the lawsuit, of those 37 units, five will be rented at reduced rates to lesees who make 60 percent of the area median income (AMI), a range of up to $56,650 for a family of four. Rent for a three-bedroom apartment for such a family would be $1,317.

Thirty-two of the units will rented at reduced rates to lesees with 70 to 90 percent AMI income, and one unit will be rented at 100 percent AMI income rate.

“We’re still talking about a pretty high income bracket. When we looked at the latest census data for JP, folks with incomes at 100 percent of AMI were just not those who needed the most help, or who were spending huge chunks of their income on housing costs,” Day told the Gazette.

Market-rate monthly rents were originally estimated to be in the range of $1,900 to $4,000. Exact rent amounts for the affordable units depend on the size of the unit, the size of the family moving in and their AMI income level. Those rents are available on the City’s Redevelopment Authority (BRA) website at bit.ly/BRAaffordablerents.

The settlement also added more larger, family-sized units to the affordable roster and created a pedestrian walkway between S. Huntington Avenue and the Jamaicaway, on the other side of the property.

“I think it could really transform that part of the neighborhood by connecting it with the Emerald Necklace, though, and hopefully will encourage other developers along South Huntington to do the same,” Day said.

Olmsted Place is being developed by Boston Residential Group (BRG). It will create 196 units consisting of studios and one-, two- and three-bedroom units in a four- to five-story building on the former site of the Home for Little Wanderers. The plans were controversial even before the lawsuit. They involve knocking down a historic building and building dense, market-rate apartments with such high-end amenities as concierge service and a fitness center.

The JPNC’s lawsuit to block it was controversial as well. The council had never before sued anyone. And the suit was based on an apparently unprecedented claim that the JPNC is a municipal body crucial to the zoning process—which both the City and a judge said is not true. The JPNC voted to approve the settlement deal on Oct. 29, as the Gazette previously reported.
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http://jamaicaplaingazette.com/2013/12/20/the-state-of-s-huntington-development/
 
Just walked by and there's fencing and bulldozers galore at 161 S Huntington aka the Home for Little Wanderers aka Olmsted Place. The little red wooden building at the north end of the site is already toast while the main brick building is still intact, though it looked like interior demolition is underway.
 
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