Wellington Station Air Rights Development | Medford

Able Company: Doesn't seem terribly serious.

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Greystar: Much more serious. Teamed with Cube3 for the architecture. Focused on only the eastern side for now.

Interestingly, they don't really accommodate the MBTA BMF, even if they claim that the "bus terminal below" facilitates it somehow.

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Preotle: Explicitly asks to include the LAZ/IHeart Media Site in the program and has worked with Criterion Development Partners elsewhere on Rivers Edge Drive.

Working with Gensler for the architecture.

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Takeaways:

- Only RISE actually draws in the MBTA BMF. Everyone else punts it to Phase 2, over the tracks or off the site altogether. Interesting approach given that the MBTA actually owns the site.
- While some proponents suggest a new Wellington headhouse, no one draws in a rebuild of the station concourse or platforms. They currently suck.
- While some nod to pedestrian circulation, none really touch the current non-climate-controlled walkway, even when they draw in development on that side of the property.

At this point, it's really about qualifications and credibility more than explicit proposals.
 
Oops, forgot Davis: Acknowledges that the MBTA BFM is enormous and doesn't try to deck it, limiting everything else.

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Is there any possibility of stacking the BMF on top of the Orange Line facility? I assume the foundations of the Orange Line facility couldn’t support the loads.
 
I was bothered to see HYM's assessment at first, but reading through their proposal now, it seems like a warning call to the City as opposed to a proposal saying "Just an FYI this is nearly impossible without billions of sunk costs and minimal return!"

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stefal said:
I was bothered to see HYM's assessment at first, but reading through their proposal now, it seems like a warning call to the City as opposed to a proposal saying "Just an FYI this is nearly impossible without billions of sunk costs and minimal return!"

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I have noticed that for the most part, over the last decade, there's been a shift to over-focus on climate and not just to focus on the fact that more wild/undeveloped/greenspace is the ethically right thing to do and aim for, and also vastly better for human wellness. I am all for climate residency but before I even saw this post, I was looking at the current map of the area and I see an enormous surface parking lot on the Malden River that in every plan above, is turned into mostly housing, with a small strip of green kept along the riverbank. It makes me sad that even today, cities and state can't step in and force this development into something even more dense, but also get rid of the parking lot and make it a park. This is an area that has been environmentally devastated, utterly and beyond belief. The estuary systems of the Mystic, Malden, Chelsea and other nearby rivers are almost completely gone, despite the fact that each new development on the shores of them offers an essentially clean slate (being built atop the wreckage of the industrial past and facing little in the way of the usual developmental constraints like neighborhood demands). We could have ended up with a Malden River lined with denser buildings, less parking, and more than a narrow strip of green. We could have been rebuilding marshes and estuaries that actually not only achieve better storm residency, but also are beautiful places for people and for wildlife alike. It's nice to walk along a river, but there is a huge difference between what technically is a green corridor simply because it's a couple hundred feet wide and has some trees and a paved bike path, versus several acres of undeveloped terrain. The massive parking lot is at the junction of two major rivers and there is tons of land on this site that could cram in great density. The parking lot should become a park. It just disappoints me over and over to see these sites where we have a blank slate, always get overbuilt with buildings that are wider and not as tall as they could be, at the expense of making 'real' greenspace. Look at the Seaport--we could have actually had a single, large park and instead get a series of smaller ones that nobody uses. Look at East Boston -- all that new development -- there should have been wetland restoration and we got a riverwalk. Is it nice? It's better than nothing, but a far cry from something that would be a true oasis and that's what people actually need. Time in nature should not require driving an hour+ or only accessible to those who can get to the Fells, Blue Hills, or Lynn Woods. Would that our government and culture were more forward looking.
 
Wow, not too impressed with any of these. I guess Quaker Lane and Gray Start at least appear kind of urban and focus on apartments. New England Development for me is the worst. Basically just a suburban office park at a super high value location. I feel like this site should be all high rises next to each other with no parks and like ten thousand units of housing. Its awesome public transit, in an emerging corridor, and no neighbors, and Medford seems open to a bold proposal.
 
While the Davis proposal is probably the least exciting it also seems to be the most reasonable. Gives the MBTA what it wants, doesn't try any engineering tricks, and squeezes in what appears to be three easily constructed buildings for more housing which everywhere needs.
 
A savvy developer would've proposed a decked Bus Maintenance Facility large enough that MBTA could cease operations at the Charlestown and Everett maintenance facilities; preserve a 200' setback from the Malden & Mystic Rivers for wetland regeneration and recreation; construct 1000-2000 condos in skyscraper towers atop the remaining lot site; upgrade the subway station into a climate-controlled Grade A station; and negotiate a land deal with MBTA for the Charlestown and Everett facility sites to redevelop into uses consistent with demand in 7 years.

Conservationists get more permeable surface at the Wellington peninsula and wetland regeneration.
MBTA gets its modernized, all-electric, climate-controlled bus maintenance facility.
Housing advocates get a huge shot in the arm with more transit-oriented housing.
City of Medford gets a boon to its taxable real estate, hits the checkmarks on Section 3A of the Zoning Act, and gets the waterfront skyscrapers the Economic Development office can champion on materials for years to come.
Developer's reward for project well done are two terra firma sites strategically located in 1) City of Boston near Sullivan Station and along the water, and 2) City of Everett adjacent to Greater Boston's only licensed casino establishment, and already zoned for anything from thousands of hotel rooms to expanded gaming area connected to (but operated by) Wynn Resorts, or even a Revolution Stadium.
The public gets more transit-oriented housing, more green space, superior electrified bus service, improved air quality, the added services the Cities of Medford, Boston, and Everett can afford with more intensely leveraged taxable real estate, and above all this would wholly improve the livability of these areas.

^^THAT is how everyone would win.
 
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dshoost88 said:
A savvy developer would've proposed a decked Bus Maintenance Facility large enough that MBTA could cease operations at the Charlestown and Everett maintenance facilities; preserve a 200' setback from the Malden & Mystic Rivers for wetland regeneration and recreation; construct 1000-2000 condos in skyscraper towers atop the remaining lot site; upgrade the subway station into a climate-controlled Grade A station; and negotiate a land deal with MBTA for the Charlestown and Everett facility sites to redevelop into uses consistent with demand in 7 years.

Conservationists get more permeable surface at the Wellington peninsula and wetland regeneration.
MBTA gets its modernized, all-electric, climate-controlled bus maintenance facility.
Housing advocates get a huge shot in the arm with more transit-oriented housing.
City of Medford gets a boon to its taxable real estate, hits the checkmarks on Section 3A of the Zoning Act, and gets the waterfront skyscrapers the Economic Development office can champion on materials for years to come.
Developer's reward for project well done are two terra firma sites strategically located in 1) City of Boston near Sullivan Station and along the water, and 2) City of Everett adjacent to Greater Boston's only licensed casino establishment, and already zoned for anything from thousands of hotel rooms to expanded gaming area connected to (but operated by) Wynn Resorts, or even a Revolution Stadium.
The public gets more transit-oriented housing, more green space, superior electrified bus service, improved air quality, the added services the Cities of Medford, Boston, and Everett can afford with more intensely leveraged taxable real estate, and above all this would wholly improve the livability of these areas.

^^THAT is how everyone would win.
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I appreciate the zeal, but the Everett Shops alone have roughly the same acreage as the entire Wellington Site, and the Charlestown Garage is larger in footprint than the deckable northern part of Wellington Yard.

Fit a bus garage? Sure. Fit everything? Unlikely.
 
Equilibria said:
I appreciate the zeal, but the Everett Shops alone have roughly the same acreage as the entire Wellington Site, and the Charlestown Garage is larger in footprint than the deckable northern part of Wellington Yard.

Fit a bus garage? Sure. Fit everything? Unlikely.
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Even so, I just think it makes more sense to concentrate the functions of the Charlestown MBTA Garage and Everett shops (bus and rail maintenance) at a centralized facility that the MBTA has not only said they'd like to construct a new Bus Maintenance Facility, but one that already has a rapid transit rail yard (*and abuts the commuter rail). We're a region thin on developable real estate opportunities, and MBTA has 3 sprawling 1-story sites scattered across many acres within a square mile. A multi-story bus and rail maintenance operation planned from the get-go to make the most efficient use of space is possible on the Wellington footprint.
 
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