"Along Dudley Street, new condos and single-family homes are sprouting up like fresh spring perennials."
9-31 Braintree Street: Legalize existing billboard and replace existing billboard with a new digital/electronic billboard.
1954 Commonwealth Avenue: Change the legal occupancy from a three family dwelling to a sixteen unit dwelling. Erect a six story, rear addition with eleven parking spaces below.
More info at http://www.cityofboston.gov/ons/pdfs/allstonbright.pdf
For the past five years, the City of Boston has been advocating the use of DMUs for Allston and Brighton and Dorchester, using existing tracks.
“Right now, it’s really at a concept level,’’ said Vineet Gupta, director of planning for the Boston Transportation Department.It’s not clear whether Jeff Mullan, who takes over for Aloisi, shares his vision on DMUs. He said on Friday that it was premature for him to comment and that he is focused on merging the state’s road systems as part of a historic reorganization project. But he and Aloisi have spoken about the idea, he said. Durrant later added that it’s “not something we’re considering in the near future.’’
Senior officials at the BRA have been getting these disgusting emails for 20 months but apparently had no problem with them. But when a Globe reporter starts making phone calls, then the BRA decides that a verbal warning is appropriate. I wonder what it takes for a BRA employee to get a written warning?"Later Thursday, the BRA said Rourke had received a “verbal warning’’ over the e-mails in his personnel file."
On Thursday, Rourke apologized to Allston residents who were offended by the messages. “These are internal e-mails,’’ he said. “They are my comments to staff members and should not reflect on the agency.’’Rourke said he had lived in
Allston for 27 years while growing up and is “passionate’’ about the neighborhood and the project.
“In the heat of the moment, sometimes your passions get the best of you, unfortunately,’’ he said.
"Elsbree said BRA staff had reviewed the project’s finances to ensure that it can be completed"
Meanwhile, the turnabout on the science complex created uncertainty for an entire neighborhood. Completion of the project will transform Allston, where Harvard owns much of the land, but an indefinite delay would leave the neighborhood in limbo.Also, has anyone seen a chastened Harvard official in Allston yet? President Faust may act chastened when speaking to Boston's business elite, but here in Allston and Brighton during this year it, unfortunately, has been the same old same old.
University officials are clearly chastened. In her speech, Faust acknowledged that Harvard had suffered because it couldn’t call back assets overseen by external managers.It's a university, not a hedge fund - The Boston Globe
Physical and financial planning for renewal of the undergraduate Houses—expected to be a billion-dollar-plus project extending more than a decade, and perhaps beginning in 2012—has now been centralized under the direction of the University’s Allston Development Group and vice president for finance.
"President Clinton Avenue has developed from a forgotten district of abandoned warehouses into a vibrant social hub of our community," Little Rock Mayor Mark Stodola said. "In a picturesque and walkable setting, President Clinton Avenue has become the lynchpin of a district that includes a major tourist attraction, an acclaimed lecture series, the farmers' market and an array of restaurants, musical venues and museums."
Banker & Tradesman:"'We are undertaking a leasing program,' Faust told reporters, after addressing the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce. 'We're trying to find interesting and vibrant tenants for spaces in AllstonMahoney's is Havard's one interesting and vibrant tenant here. Seeing more would sure be great.
Harvard President Drew Faust said this morning that the university is in the midst of re-assessing options for its long-planned expansion into Allston, including the possibility of "re-imagining" the $1 billion science complex at the heart of the project as the university grapples with its new financial realities.
...during an impromptu meeting with reporters following a Boston Chamber of Commerce breakfast, Faust said that "we're trying to assess options which would be affordable."
A potential redesign of the 589,000-square-foot science complex is the first public indication by Harvard officials that the complex will not only be delayed, as Faust first warned in February, but may not go forth as currently envisioned.
She said the university is working with residents to discuss interim uses for
the vacant Harvard-owned buildings and lots in the once industrial neighborhood
Please join the ABNNF on Saturday from 9-12 to plant bulbs on the Everett Street slope between Lincoln and Adamson Streets.
"The project has not raised rents since 1991 and, therefore, is not generating sufficient income for repairs. The project currently needs over $3 million for repairs"
"Due to lack of cash flow, the project delayed critical repairs. Physical inspections demonstrate a steady decline in the project's physical condition"
"The Regulatory Agreement requires the owners to keep the project in good repair and condition. It is clear that the Regulatory Agreement is not being followed and the project is deteriorating."
Tom Menino became Mayor of Boston in 1993, and it shouldn't have been much of a secret that Charlesview was deteriorating. Why didn't he do anything about it?
2) Why does the Mayor's review process disenfranchise the residents of Charlesview?
In 2005, the Charlesview Residents Organization wrote this urgent letter asking "who is working on behalf of the residents?" and insisting that their organization "be at the table to ensure that the residents' welfare is protected". Mayor Menino received a copy of this letter, and what did he do about it?
In 2006, the president of the Charlesview Residents Organization asked, "Why is everything kept in secret? Why have you ignored our wishes?"
In 2008, Mayor Menino selected residents of Allston and Brighton to serve on the Impact Advisory Group for the City's review of the proposal. He could have make sure that Charlesview residents would be directly represented. But instead he created an IAG without a single resident of Charlesview.
3) Why hasn't the Mayor done more to improve living conditions for the 500+ residents at Charlesview?
A Harvard Crimson story in 2003 described Charlesview as in need of “absolute repair".
In June 2008, the BRA was informed that Charlesview received a failing grade on its inspection by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
To this day, residents of Charlesview continue to describe poor living conditions, rodents, leaks, and more. For these many years, where have Boston's housing inspectors been?
Boston requires property owners to get newly rented apartments inspected within 45 days of rental and certified by the Housing Inspection Division to bring rental units into compliance with the State Sanitary Code. In this brochure, Menino writes
"As mayor of Boston, I want to ensure that tenants and landlords of residential rental properties are treated fairly and that safe sanitary housing is available in all neighborhoods." |  |
For the last 16 years, why hasn't Menino been ensuring that residents of Charlesview have safe and sanitary housing?
4) Does the Mayor support economic segregation in a new Charlesview?
A recent Harvard publication states that "the clustering of lowest-income and assisted renter households imposes a host of social and economic disadvantages on these groups". But in spite of this widespread understanding about what works and what doesn't work, Menino's BRA has allowed the submission of a radically segregated proposal for the new Charlesview
This proposal includes 260 low-income apartments massed together next to a shopping center parking lot. On the other side of Western Ave, 74 market-rate condo are proposed overlooking the Charles River. The contrast between the "haves" and the "have nots" could not be more stark.
5) Why does the Mayor ignore the needs of Allston/Brighton for a more stable and invested community?
Allston and Brighton need more homeownership, as we have one of the state's lowest homeownership rates and too many absentee landlords with little stake in our quality of life. But instead of working with Harvard to address this, the Mayor's BRA is pushing a Charlesview proposal with only 26 homeownership units around the edge of the 260 apartments at the Brighton Mills site.
6) Why does the Mayor's BRA fail to keep promises made to the residents of North Allston and North Brighton?
Dozens of residents attended dozens of meetings to work with the BRA and Harvard on the 2005 North Allston Strategic Framework for Planning.
| This vague, though superficially attractive, document was published with a cover letter signed by Mayor Menino. The Framework promised 2 follow-up studies, one of which would focus on the 30 acre Holton Street Corridor, a swath of poorly-designed and under-used commercial and industrial space between Western Ave and the Mass Pike. After three years of stalling by the BRA, planning for the Holton Street Corridor finally began in 2008. But by then, Harvard had preempted the public planning process by signing a agreement with the Charlesview Board in 2007 for a land-swap to relocate the Charlesview Apartments into the Corridor. |  |
During BRA planning meetings in 2008 and 2009, residents repeatedly asked the BRA to discuss the homeownership/rental balance of new construction in the Holton Street Corridor, ratios and physical integration of housing for people of all income levels, and the location of new civic buildings (such as a K-8 elementary school). Staff of Menino's BRA continually deferred these issues and then, in the summer of 2009, declared that the planning was complete before any of these subjects had been properly addressed.
7) Why is Menino's BRA so secretive?
For more than a year, residents of Allston and Brighton and their elected officials have asked Menino's BRA to provide more transparency into the planning and financing of the Charlesview relocation. The BRA has consistently refused to provide requested information and the BRA has failed to fully comply with three Public Records Law requests filed in the past two months.
Just imagine, all this from a Mayor who said earlier this year "We're more transparent than Saran Wrap."
8) Why is Menino's BRA even considering approving a project that may lack financing to complete construction and maintain the property after it is built?
Considering the maintenance problems at the current Charlesview and the aborted construction projects in Allston and throughout Boston, how is it possible that a new project can be seriously considered without solid proof that the developer will have the money to build it right and maintain the property after construction is complete?
In April 2008, the BRA required that "assurances must be clear, exact, and extensively detailed in the DPIR as to how the Proposed Project, if approved, will be maintained to avoid and minimize future neglect."
But July 2009, the BRA allowed the developer to submit a DPIR that contains no such information. Specific requests to the BRA and developer for information about construction financing have been ignored.
To make matters worse, at a September 15 public meeting, Menino's Chief Planner publicly questioned the project's financing and the developer's ability to complete a project of this size.
Also, money that would have been spent on the Allston expansion is now being used to renovate labs in Longwood and Cambridge for scientists who were planning on relocating to the Allston Science ComplexCapital spending and property acquisitions totaled $644 million, about $50 million from fiscal year 2008. Major projects included the Law School’s Northwest Corner complex, where steel was being erected this autumn; the prospective renovation and expansion of the Fogg Art Museum; and the Allston science complex, where work will be reassessed at the end of this calendar year.
Shore said that Harvard was “still in the process of planning and thinking about the options for all” major construction projects, including the art museum; design details, construction costs, and financing are still being reevaluated.
Additional work on Allston will obviously be a long-term project. In the interim, Shore noted, Harvard has to identify appropriate uses for properties it has acquired but now will not occupy or redevelop for an extended period. Institutional uses, codevelopment options, and private alternatives for use of the land by other investors are all options to consider. “We haven’t ruled out any option,” Shore said.
An unanticipated but significant project is the renovation of Cambridge laboratories (and relocation of some existing laboratories) to accommodate stem-cell scientists, and similar work in the Longwood Medical Area, for bioengineering researchers; both had been scheduled to go into the Allston complex, the completion of which is delayed at best. This previously unscheduled work will be paid for as part of the Allston-related infrastructure fund, given the necessary redeployments.
Thank you to the 30 neighbors who joined us for last night's ABNNF meeting to discuss our next steps relative to the Harvard/Charlesview land-swap and Harvard's mothballing in Allston and Brighton. We agreed to be more visible and public in defense of our neighborhood, and that starts tonight. Please join us:
1. Tonight from 6-7 in front of the Brighton Elks Lodge (326 Washington Street, Brighton Center) to help us spread our message to people who will be attending the At-Large City Council Debate.
2. Tomorrow from 5-6 in Barry's Corner at the intersection of Western Ave and North Harvard Street
Hope to see you then,
Harry
After dozens of BRA meetings and planning by members of the ABNNF, several key issues have become clear:
For reference, all comment letters from the last round of review (any they were excellent!) for this project are at: http://www.scribd.com/doc/19017839/Charlesview-Comment-Letters-March-2008
Thank youCelebrate the opening of Steve's headquarters on Saturday, October 10th at 11am. Learn more about Steve and how you can be involved with the campaign.
102 Mt. Auburn St.Harvard Square, Cambridge (next to Peet's Coffee & across from Harvard Square station)
"The consequences of a construction slowdown at the science complex provide justification and incentive for Harvard to be more proactive about community building projects in Allston. In moving forward, the university should initiate development in ways that promote the intersection of Allston’s interests and its own interests. However the university proceeds, it should keep open a channel of communication with Allston residents as this project continues. Much of the frustrations on the part of residents stem from Harvard being tight-lipped about its current development plans."
“Harvard President Drew Faust promised me that Harvard would do housing there, but there was no backup,” Menino said.
Kevin McCluskey, a university spokesman, said the school “anticipates continued constructive discussions with the city on the issue of housing at the Brookline Machine site.”
Will Mayor Menino stand up to Harvard and insist that Harvard allow reasonable changes to dramatically improve the new Charlesview and North Allston/North Brighton as a whole?It seemed that our Mayor might have been putting pressure on Harvard earlier this year, but when we asked about this at subsequent Task Force meetings we were never able to get a straight answer and it doesn't seem that much of anything came from whatever pressure was applied.
