West Roxbury Infill and Small Developments

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palindrome

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...because the news is slow......


Parking and zoning issues with proposed development in West Roxbury
By Stephanie E. Santana
GateHouse News Service
Posted Feb 11, 2010 @ 07:06 AM
West Roxbury ?

Problematic parking concerns arose during discussion about a new proposed housing development at the corner of Washington and Rockland streets at Monday night?s meeting for the West Roxbury Civic and Improvement Association held at the St. Stephen?s United Methodist Church.

Peter Bakas, who has developed various sites throughout Boston for the past 40 years, and Guy Grassi of Grassi Design Group, the architect for the development proposal, presented plans to demolish the existing structures, which include businesses such as Emerald Dry Cleaners.

In place, they proposed a four-story, 32-unit rental apartment complex with 32 underground parking spaces. Residents raised questions about the amount of parking spaces available and the design layout, which would have cars enter the garage through Washington Street.

Additional concerns included the height of the building at 52 feet that, according to the residents, violates the maximum law of 32 feet for buildings in the area.

During the presentation, Grassi discussed the current dilapidated condition of the existing structures as a reason for rebuilding. While he recognized that the area the construction would take place should not have been zoned for single-family homes, he called for a need for rental housing in the community to bring in more residents.

?If you don?t have enough people to support business, then you won?t have good business,? said Grassi. To those who had questions about the high cost of living in the apartments, Grassi said, ?The city will require that some of the units be affordable.?

According to Joe Goode, the vice president of the Civic and Improvement Association, the developers made a good first step by presenting their plans to the members at the meeting.

?There?s a great exchange of ideas here,? said Goode, adding that for now the plan seems to fit into the community well.
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Full article:http://www.wickedlocal.com/west-rox...ues-with-proposed-development-in-West-Roxbury


The site:
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"Additional concerns included the height of the building at 52 feet that, according to the residents, violates the maximum law of 32 feet for buildings in the area."

It's like a running joke isn't it?

I can't wait for someone to propose a 13 foot 7-11 and get shot down because the neighbor is 12 feet.
 
If only we could deal with NIMBYs the way China does...

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Yes, if only we had a totalitarian dictatorship that could tell us what to do at all times and suppress and torture anyone it chose... just so we could have a few more skyscrapers.
 
I hope this gets approved. That area could use some more vibrancy which would come with more/better apartment buildings on Washington Street. Somebody should try to educate the NIMBYs that a better street scape on Washington will mean better property values on the side streets.
 
I do agree with the one guy in the article that makes the suggestion for ground floor retail.
 
Uh...so, like, I just drove down Lagrange St in that border region between Brookline, Newton, and West Roxbury and was shocked to find that a row of SFHs had been replaced by a group of maybe five three- and four-story multifamily dwellings.

It's not exactly urban, but it does prove that change is possible even in...Westie.
 
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blade_bltz said:
Uh...so, like, I just drove down Lagrange St in that border region between Brookline, Newton, and West Roxbury and was shocked to find that a row of SFWs had been replaced by a group of maybe five three- and four-story multifamily dwellings.

It's not exactly urban, but it does prove that change is possible even in...Westie.
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I saw those a few days ago and was somewhat shocked. I Think that's probably Brookline, but I agree they are a radical departure from what you typically find in either Westie or South Brookline.
 
I live 2 mins from those. don't get too excited. It was a loophole that allowed the developer to build those. The area was zoned for that because of the townhouse development down the street. One crafty developer realized the area extended down to that row of houses and built one building. The neighbors fought tooth and nail but there was nothing they could do because it was as-of-right. It got to the point where they changed the zoning, but when they realized that it was too late to stop the first project, they decided to keep the zoning as is so they could sell their houses for cash.
 
Thanks. Looks straight out of san francisco
 
The Residences at Belgrade Place in West Roxbury: Almost 40 New Units to be Created
Broke ground two weeks ago. It's right next to Lord's and Ladies and Roche Bros. Was just a parking lot before.

The BRA Board approved the 446 Belgrade Avenue project in West Roxbury, clearing the way for 39 new units of housing for the area. Five units within the development will be affordable. This proposed development is currently located on a vacant parcel of approximately 18,348 square feet.

The Developer, Skye Realty Trust, proposes to construct one new building, which will include three studio units, 14 one-bedroom units, 20 two-bedroom units and two three-bedroom units. The units range in size from 600 square feet to 1,100 square feet. Additionally, 58 parking spaces will be provided by way of a two level, partially depressed structure beneath the building.

The total project cost is $14 million dollars. The project expects to break ground in fall 2006 and be completed in fall 2007, and will create approximately 60 construction jobs.
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Thanks, AC, I've been trying to figure out what that was going to be. That section of Belgrade Ave. is starting to look much more urban than the rest of West Roxbury. Now, if only we can get something to happen with that gas station on the corner of West Roxbury Pkwy.
 
The whole building is going to be modular. Expected to be completed spring 2012.
 
HenryAlan said:
Now, if only we can get something to happen with that gas station on the corner of West Roxbury Pkwy.
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People are saying it's going to be a small parking garage but I don't know about that. Just recently started seeing cars parked in the lot though.

Edit: Somebody just told me it is going to be an apartment building with two levels of underground parking. I don’t know what’s happening but I know that something is in the works. The For Lease signs are gone, the gates are open during the day and there’s been a few cars parked in there.
 
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