LeftCenterLeft wrote an interesting post the other day examining three articles from the Boston Globe regarding growth and development of cities, both as that growth occurs now and as it happened nearly 100 years ago. Echoing that a bit, articles in the most recent two editions of the Boston Banner have highlighted real estate development plans and speculation going on in Roxbury and the reaction of local residents.
1. What caught my eye first was an article on page 3 of the June 9th edition which announced that a developer had been chosen to redevelop the vacant parcels of land around Jackson Sq Station. When I first heard about this project and saw the presentations at Roxbury Community College, there were two development teams - local Partners for Jackson Square and corporate Mitchell Properties - competing to win the bid. After the meeting, the Banner ran a series of ads by Mitchell Properties in which the company touted that it was the better candidate to develop the area, with the caveat that since there was so much work involved, that a partnership between the two bidders might be in the best interest of all involved (especially if the other team won). Well, lo and behold, this week's article states that Partners took Mitchell "under its wing." Perhaps this is better for all involved. Partners is basically a coalition of area non-profit organizations, none of which has a track record for development on the scale involved. On the other hand, Mitchell has very deep pockets, but not much of a connection to the community. So, we'll see how this new partnership works. The project is due to break ground in 18 months and include a 40,000 sf youth and family center, 34,000 sf of indoor recreational space, 430 units of housing (245 being permanently affordable), and an unspecified amount of retail space on 6.5 acres of land. It's an area that can certainly use all of that, as well as the narrowing of Columbus Avenue (another suggestion mentioned at the RCC meeting).
2. This week there's an ad from The Mayo Group announcing plans to build new housing on Heath St. on Mission Hill. There's not a great deal of information which can be gleaned from the ad (and the website didn't have anything about these development plans when I checked earlier today), but it looks like another brewery on that street is being converted into a mix of market-rate and affordable lofts and condos. I'm curious to know how these will differ from the Brewery Lofts already under construction in the area. I went to an open house for those during the pre-construction sales period and was astonished by the high prices those were fetching. Prices originally started in the mid $200Ks for the smaller units, but quickly rose as interest grew. According to the website, prices now start in the low $300Ks.
3. On page 11 of this week's Banner is an article which follows up on another from the previous week regarding the development of vacant parcels along Washington St., Melnea Cass Blvd., and Columbus Ave. Last week's article reported the choices residents had between either advocating for the city and state to continue owning the land and just having developers build upon it or having the public agencies sell the land to the developers outright. Local politicians and community activists advocated for keeping the land public as that would allow for a greater degree of community control over projects built in the area. This week's article, however, mentions that even with the land being kept in public hands, developers could still legally violate the community's plans given that at least one of the parcels is a Planned Development Area (PDA). Apparently PDAs can receive zoning overrides from the BRA. This has caused some community activists to become concerned about the potential for developers to override the Roxbury Strategic Master Plan. The BRA, naturally, assures the public that there is nothing to worry about. Either way, I'm curious to see what development proposals will be tabled in the near future. I wouldn't be too surprised if a series of residential towers along all three streets becomes the talk of the community.
The overall impression, however, is that Roxbury is becoming very hot after decades of receiving little or no investment. Interestingly, the Banner is the only media source I've come across which discusses these developments at all. The mainstream newspapers are more focused on the Boston University biological research lab in lower Roxbury/South End, which I think is a bad idea for the area. Why not put that on one of the Harbor islands or something?
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