High-rise apartment development raises community concern by Dan Murphy
High-rise apartment development raises community concerns
By Dan Murphy
A planned18-story apartment building could change the face of Sullivan Square, but it also calls attention to ongoing concerns about traffic in the area.
?I think [the developer?s] project is a bold initiative to transform Sullivan Square,? Brian Callahan, the attorney representing Stoughton-based Conroy Development Corporation, said during a presentation at last week?s Charlestown Neighborhood Council meeting at Knights of Columbus Hall. ?One way you can affect change in Sullivan Square is bring people there to live and work.?
The 556,000 square-foot project has an estimated cost of $120 million and would be built in the area of Spice and Cambridge streets. Construction is expected to take 18 months to complete, following a nine-month to a year permitting process. The building would contain 350 rental units, 168 of which would be two bedrooms and the remainder would be one bedrooms. (Forty-five units would be affordable). The bottom four levels of the building would contain 156 parking spots, and its top eight stories would be located above Interstate 93. A fitness center would also be located on the premises.
Callahan said the building would be tall and slender in design in an effort to minimize its impact on the skyline.
CNC member Mike Charbonnier said he was concerned that the building?s height would set the precedent for future developments in the area.
Charbonnier, who represents Precinct 7 where the project would be sited, also said his constituents hadn?t been adequately informed of the project and that he hoped that dialogue between the developer and the community would be more open in the future.
A consultant for the project said a preliminary study indicated that 50 percent residents would walk or use public transit because of the building?s close proximity to the Sullivan Square MBTA station. ?A lot of these care quite frankly will sit during the day, and people will use them on weekends,? he said.
Bill Galvin of the CNC, meanwhile, said that the parking provisions would fall short of the two spaces per living unit required by the Neighborhood Council.
CNC member George Morton expressed concern that the project could further exasperate traffic in Sullivan Square that would already be strained by the IKEA furniture store planned for Assembly Square and other new developments in the area.
?I think the developer has an obligation to explore the traffic problems,? Morton said.
In response, the consultant said the traffic study was still in the preliminary stages and that potential traffic impacts had not been thoroughly examined yet.
The Conroy Development Corporation and Charlestown resident Doug McDonald are also redeveloping the Charlestown Armory, the former book repository for the Boston Public Library at 374-398 Bunker Hill St., into 37 condominium units.
CNC Chairman Tom Cunha requested that the developer provide the Neighborhood Council with a two-page summary of the proposal. Jim Conway of the CNC and Charbonnier will serve as co-chairs of the CNC?s committee for the project.
http://www.charlestownbridge.com/#ST2514
High-rise apartment development raises community concerns
By Dan Murphy
A planned18-story apartment building could change the face of Sullivan Square, but it also calls attention to ongoing concerns about traffic in the area.
?I think [the developer?s] project is a bold initiative to transform Sullivan Square,? Brian Callahan, the attorney representing Stoughton-based Conroy Development Corporation, said during a presentation at last week?s Charlestown Neighborhood Council meeting at Knights of Columbus Hall. ?One way you can affect change in Sullivan Square is bring people there to live and work.?
The 556,000 square-foot project has an estimated cost of $120 million and would be built in the area of Spice and Cambridge streets. Construction is expected to take 18 months to complete, following a nine-month to a year permitting process. The building would contain 350 rental units, 168 of which would be two bedrooms and the remainder would be one bedrooms. (Forty-five units would be affordable). The bottom four levels of the building would contain 156 parking spots, and its top eight stories would be located above Interstate 93. A fitness center would also be located on the premises.
Callahan said the building would be tall and slender in design in an effort to minimize its impact on the skyline.
CNC member Mike Charbonnier said he was concerned that the building?s height would set the precedent for future developments in the area.
Charbonnier, who represents Precinct 7 where the project would be sited, also said his constituents hadn?t been adequately informed of the project and that he hoped that dialogue between the developer and the community would be more open in the future.
A consultant for the project said a preliminary study indicated that 50 percent residents would walk or use public transit because of the building?s close proximity to the Sullivan Square MBTA station. ?A lot of these care quite frankly will sit during the day, and people will use them on weekends,? he said.
Bill Galvin of the CNC, meanwhile, said that the parking provisions would fall short of the two spaces per living unit required by the Neighborhood Council.
CNC member George Morton expressed concern that the project could further exasperate traffic in Sullivan Square that would already be strained by the IKEA furniture store planned for Assembly Square and other new developments in the area.
?I think the developer has an obligation to explore the traffic problems,? Morton said.
In response, the consultant said the traffic study was still in the preliminary stages and that potential traffic impacts had not been thoroughly examined yet.
The Conroy Development Corporation and Charlestown resident Doug McDonald are also redeveloping the Charlestown Armory, the former book repository for the Boston Public Library at 374-398 Bunker Hill St., into 37 condominium units.
CNC Chairman Tom Cunha requested that the developer provide the Neighborhood Council with a two-page summary of the proposal. Jim Conway of the CNC and Charbonnier will serve as co-chairs of the CNC?s committee for the project.
http://www.charlestownbridge.com/#ST2514
