Friday, May 17, 2013
A development company this week filed plans to build a mixed-use building at the entrance to the arena and North Station that would feature retail and office space, a hotel and up to 500 residential units.
Just three months after the city approved a 38-story mixed-use development that will be connected to TD Garden, a second major project has been proposed in that area of Boston's West End neighborhood, also with plans to connect to the arena. Developers Boston Properties Inc. and Delaware North Companies Inc., through the Boston Garden Development Corporation, filed a letter of intent this week with the Boston Redevelopment Authority seeking to construct a mix of retail and office space, hotel rooms and up to 500 residential units on about 2.8 acres of land at 80 Causeway Street. The proposal calls for a new entrance to the arena and MBTA station, up to 300,000 sq. ft. of multi-story retail space, 500 residential units (600,000 sq. ft.), …
42.365
-71.062139
80 Causeway St, Boston, MA
/articles/another-major-project-proposed-for-td-garden-area
/locations/9398438
Charlestown residents were asked their thoughts on the development of parks and other open space in the area once Rutherford Avenue is reconstructed.
Though the completion of the Rutherford Avenue and Sullivan Square roadway project is possibly a decade away, the city is asking Charlestown residents to begin looking at what they want the land around the new corridor to look like. Ted Schwartzberg, a neighborhood planner with the Boston Redevelopment Authority, led a meeting at the Schrafft’s Center cafeteria Thursday night that kicked off the “Sullivan Square Disposition Study” process—an approximately eight-month review of what the community would like to see done with new parcels created by the roadway project as well as an overall vision of the finished corridor. The BRA in March awarded the disposition study to consultant team Crosby Schlessinger Smallridge, and the process will …
42.3722
-71.06194
City Square
City Sq & Main St, Charlestown, MA
/articles/community-begins-to-share-vision-for-sullivan-square
1508753
/locations/9396605
42.383814
-71.07236
Schrafft Center
529 Main St, Charlestown, MA
/articles/community-begins-to-share-vision-for-sullivan-square
1563893
/locations/9396606
42.383851
-71.074539
Sullivan Square Station
1 Cambridge St, Charlestown, MA
/articles/community-begins-to-share-vision-for-sullivan-square
1663601
/locations/9396604
Thursday, May 16, 2013
The recently released draft document sets standards in Boston for bee- and hen-keeping, composting, rooftop farms and other activities.
After more than a year of discussions, the city has published a draft document outlining new rules for urban agriculture in Boston. From the keeping of hens and honey bees to regulation of composting, aquaculture, rooftop farms and farmers markets, the new document sets standards for a variety of urban agriculture activities that are not currently addressed in Boston’s zoning code. The Boston Redevelopment Authority, Mayor’s Office of Food Initiatives and Mayor’s Urban Agriculture Rezoning Working Group have been meeting monthly since January 2012 to work on the document. The new regulations, Article 89 of the Boston Zoning Code, will “create clarity and predictability for anyone interested in commercial food growing and creating farms in …
Friday, May 10, 2013
A team looking to renovate and preserve the old navy rope factor in the Charlestown Navy Yard met with residents Wednesday to present plans for 68 rental units.
A new development team has stepped forward with plans to renovate the long-vacant Ropewalk building in the Charlestown Navy Yard, hoping to turn it into apartments with a museum mural located the length of the building. The group, led by Joe Timilty of Timilty Development, Stephen Sousa of Sousa Design Architects and John French of Neshamkin French Architects, presented their plans Wednesday evening before the Charlestown Neighborhood Council and a room packed with Navy Yard residents. They are seeking tentative designation as developer of the building, which requires Boston Redevelopment Authority approval, and wanted community input on the proposal. If the team were able to secure that designation, it would allow them to continue to …
Charlestown residents attending a presentation about development of the Ropewalk Building said the Boston Redevelopment Authority must first fix the parking problem.
Before any presentations were given or questions were solicited at the Wednesday night meeting on a new proposal for the Ropewalk Building, one Charlestown resident spoke up about parking. She was asked to wait to speak, to allow the developer and members of the Boston Redevelopment Authority to give their presentations, but her message was loud and clear and echoed by nearly everyone in the room: Parking in the Navy Yard must be addressed. The meeting, held at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital’s new community room and led by members of the Charlestown Neighborhood Council, was set up to give the Ropewalk development team a chance to explain their plans to the community and gather support when seeking tentative designation as the developer…
42.37535
-71.05629
Chelsea St & 5th St, Boston, MA
/articles/residents-parking-top-priority-in-navy-yard
/locations/9370824
Friday, April 5, 2013
Representatives from several city departments will attend a meeting hosted by the Charlestown Neighborhood Council on Wednesday, April 17.
The Charlestown Neighborhood Council is asking the Boston Redevelopment Authority to shed light on its process for choosing a planning consultant for the upgrade of Sullivan Square. The CNC has scheduled a meeting with the BRA for this purpose on Wednesday, April 17 at 7 p.m. at the Knights of Columbus Hall. At the meeting, representatives from the BRA Economic Development Department will be available to answer questions about the BRA land disposition process related to community review and input. And a representative from the Department of Neighborhood Development will discuss the City Affordable Housing development requirements and process, according to a meeting notice submitted by CNC Development Committee chairman Mark Rosenshein. …
Monday, March 25, 2013
The Boston Redevelopment Authority is considering a change to Charlestown's zoning regulations regarding off-street parking for new small residential developments.
Charlestown residents who turned out to public meeting last week had quite a few ideas for solving the community’s parking problem, from building a new multi-story garage to car sharing to someday having vehicles that park themselves. But for now, the city is addressing the problem by taking another look at Charlestown zoning rules that allow developers to install new curb cuts without any input from neighbors. The Boston Redevelopment Authority held its first community meeting on the matter on Thursday, March 21. About a dozen residents attended along with five members of the Charlestown Neighborhood Council, BRA Planner Ted Schwartzberg and Danielle Valle Fitzgerald from the Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood Services. The discussion …
Thursday, March 14, 2013
All but nine senior staff members at the Boston Redevelopment Authority will receive their first raise in five years.
Boston Redevelopment Authority staffers will receive raises for the first time in five years, the Boston Herald reported this week. With a budget separate from the city’s budget, the BRA recently approved 3 percent raises for all employees except for nine senior staff members, including Director Peter Meade and Chief Planner Kairos Shen. The increase puts eight staff members above the $100,000 salary level, for a total of 34 BRA employees who make six digits, according to the Herald. BRA spokeswoman Susan Elsbree told the newspaper that the raises represented a cost of living increase. BRA employees have worked without raises since 2008 and even received a pay cut one year, in 2009, the Herald reported. The BRA employs 207 people today—a …
Wednesday, March 6, 2013
The Boston Redevelopment Authority and Charlestown Neighborhood Council are looking for public feedback regarding a possible zoning bylaw change.
[UPDATED Wednesday, March 20, 12 p.m.] Charlestown residents are encouraged to attend a public meeting on Wednesday, March 20 to consider a potential change to the neighborhood’s off-street parking rules. The meeting, hosted by the Boston Redevelopment Authority at the request of the Charlestown Neighborhood Council Development Committee, will be the second public meeting on the proposed changes and the first hosted by the BRA. Currently, Charlestown zoning rules require one off-street parking space per unit for each new single-family residential project containing one to three units as well as rowhouse and townhouse projects, according to a press release submitted by CNC Development chairman Mark Rosenshein. “The [current] requirement for…
42.383661
-71.070517
Knights of Columbus
545 Medford St, Boston, MA
/articles/bra-considering-change-to-off-street-parking-rules
790055
/locations/9058444
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
The Boston Redevelopment Authority has scheduled a series of public meetings and tours to kick off review of the area between Long Wharf and the Moakley Bridge.
The city will kick off its latest round of waterfront development planning with a series of public meetings and tours in mid-March. This newest planning process, which is expected to last 18 months to two years, involves the redevelopment of the Downtown Waterfront area, from Long Wharf down to the Evelyn Moakley Bridge (Seaport Boulevard) and the James Hook & Co. lobster business, said Chris Busch, waterfront planner for the Boston Redevelopment Authority. “The events in March are sort of a kick-off, an introduction and orientation,” Busch said. “Then we’ll get into monthly meetings to develop the municipal harbor plan specific to the downtown waterfront area between Long Wharf and Hook Lobsters.” Over the past 20 years, the city has …
42.35654
-71.050776
70 Rowes Wharf, Boston, MA
/articles/downtown-waterfront-planning-begins-march-13
/locations/8883992
42.35976
-71.050919
1 Central Wharf, Boston, MA
/articles/downtown-waterfront-planning-begins-march-13
/locations/8883993
42.36091
-71.05281
Atlantic Ave & Cross St, Boston, MA
/articles/downtown-waterfront-planning-begins-march-13
/locations/8883994
Chris Nicodemus
8:53 pm on Friday, May 10, 2013
The ropewalk was built in the 1830's not 1930's and is the most significant historical structure in the yard being an early example of rope spinning with roots at the start of the industrial revolution and late in the age of sale. Solve parking and this plan is a creative solution to the space more ›