Thursday, September 13, 2012
Boston's manufacturing sector has dropped by nearly half since 2001, but the decline may be over.
If you worked in a Boston manufacturing job in 2001, there’s a high chance that you don’t anymore. That’s the bad news. The good news is that if you work in one today, according to analysis from the Boston Redevelopment Authority, you will probably be able to keep it for the foreseeable future. There's even a little manufacturing left in Jamaica Plain — for example the Sam Adams Brewery. Of course, JP used to have a large manufacturing sector. Items from cars to pianos were once made in the neighborhood, as a search of the invaluable history blog Remember Jamaica Plain? attests. Manufacturing jobs also require education Turning back to Boston as a whole, the city’s manufacturing sector has dropped by nearly half in the past ten years, …
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
Boston Redevelopment Authority will only allow project if it includes a supermarket.
If a project proposed by Trinity Financial for One Canal Street should succeed, it will bring a new supermarket for residents near the seam between the North End and the West End. That could be good news for JP Orange Line commuters, since the supermarket would be near Haymarket Station, an easy on/off. Peter Meade, director of the Boston Redevelopment Authority, told Trinity at the authority's board meeting Thursday that the BRA will only allow the project to move forward if it includes such a store. “It is something vitally important to the communities there,” Meade said. During the meeting, representatives from Trinity presented plans for the Bulfinch Triangle project that included 320 residential units with 159 in-building parking …
Friday, July 20, 2012
Boston Redevelopment Authority overseeing the planning and construction of more than 250 projects.
Boston is building. And the Boston Redevelopment Authority has a full plate. We recently took a look at housing units currently under construction in the city and found that the BRA is overseeing more than 3,000 homes on their way to market. In total, the authority is dealing with 264 projects ranging from the “letter of intent” stage to the “construction recently completed” stage. Today, we thought we would look at non-residential property. Right now, the authority reports, contractors are swinging hammers and stripping wires on a total of 30 projects with a non-residential component citywide—including Arboretum Place, the twin commercial developments in Forest Hills. The businesses slated for the mixed-used development, which straddles …
42.324876
-71.09804
225 Centre St, Roxbury, MA
/articles/forest-hills-arboretum-place-is-among-30-projects-under-construction-city-wide
/locations/7442187
42.297786
-71.11622
3815 Washington St, Boston, MA
Arboretum Place
/articles/forest-hills-arboretum-place-is-among-30-projects-under-construction-city-wide
/locations/7442188
42.296986
-71.116936
3840 Washington St, Boston, MA
Arboretum Place
/articles/forest-hills-arboretum-place-is-among-30-projects-under-construction-city-wide
/locations/7442189
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
The New England Conservatory of Music plans to revamp its campus — including a new building that will resemble an Apple store. Plus other news from the latest board of directors' meeting for the Boston Redevelopment Authority.
After half a century with few outward changes, the New England Conservatory of Music has plans to redesign its Huntington Avenue campus in the style—according to one Boston Redevelopment Authority board member—of an Apple Store. “This is certainly going to be an eye-catcher,” said board member James Coyle. Representatives of the conservatory showed plans at the BRA board of directors’ meeting Thursday that depicted a brightly-lit, glass-walled structure. The group said that the project will be the school’s first new building within the city since 1959 and its first master plan ever. The plan calls for the demolition of some dormitory space as well as the addition of newer dorms, a new library and additional practice spaces. The board …
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Boston's "energy positive" efforts inspire new approaches from private developers.
As the City of Boston changes its approach to green housing, residents could see the impact spread beyond city-sponsored projects — including one planned for JP's Catherine Road. “Right now every project I look at, I look at… energy efficiency,” said Kamran Zahedi, the principal at Urbanica Development. Zahedi’s firm recently won a bid to redevelop a city lot in Roxbury and install a set of four townhomes so energy efficient that they will actually generate more power than they use. Under normal conditions, he said, the designs his firm assembled would have been too expensive to be profitable on the real estate market in that section of Roxbury, but the Boston Redevelopment Authority offered a $15,000 subsidy for each unit. Zahedi expects …
42.288533
-71.115494
64 Catherine St, Boston, MA
/articles/citys-adds-cash-to-private-hyper-energy-efficient-projects
/locations/7338440
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
The 103-unit development is part of a new housing rush in the city.
If you know someone who needs a home in Boston, the Boston Redevelopment Authority may be able to help. The agency oversaw groundbreakings on 1,000 new housing units in the last quarter of 2011, and is presently monitoring 3,360 under construction. The 25 projects under way range from the small—like the six-unit Newbury Street property being constructed in cooperation with Centremark Properties—to the large—like the 103-unit Jackson Square redevelopment currently under construction by The Community Builders, Inc. on Centre Street. “[In 2012], we broke ground on 26 projects, investing $2.4 billion in our city,” said Melina Schuler, a spokeswoman for the authority. “This includes numerous multifamily residential projects.” In the last decade…
Sunday, June 17, 2012
Millennium Partners plan to fill in the giant hole in Downtown Crossings with the fourth tallest building in Boston.
After years of inaction, Downtown Crossing's canyon may be filled. The site's new developer has proposed a 606-foot tower for the site, reports the Boston Herald. Millennium Partners detailed a $615 million project to fill in the massive hole that once was a Filene’s department store. The proposed 54-story Millennium Tower will include 500 residential units, 230,000 square feet of retail space, 200,000 square feet of office space and 525 underground parking spots, according to the Boston Business Journal. The living space will be in the tower, while the retail space will occupy the lower levels and the office space will be at the top floors. At 606 feet, the Millennium Tower would be the fourth tallest building in the skyline after the …
42.35541
-71.06047
Washington St & Summer St, Boston, MA
The Filene's Hole
/articles/developers-plan-54-story-tower-at-filenes-site-605b85de
/locations/7217591
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
The Boston Redevelopment Authority picked GCF Development to build two ultra-green townhouses at 64 Catherine St. in Woodbourne.
A developer has been picked to build two townhouses on Catherine Street that are so efficient they create more energy than they consume. The Boston Redevelopment Authority’s board of directors, at its regular monthly meeting Tuesday, designated GFC Development, Inc. as the redeveloper in charge of a two hyper energy efficient townhouses at 64 Catherine St., which is in Woodbourne. Neighbors had previously expressed some misgivings about the size of the project. JP is already the home of one well-known environmental housing experiment — the JP Green House. When completed, said John Dalzell, an architect with the Boston Redevelopment Authority, the properties should create more energy than they consume. The board also approved progress on a …
42.288533
-71.115494
64 Catherine St, Boston, MA
/articles/developer-picked-for-hyper-efficient-townhouses-in-woodbourne-units-will-create-more-energy-than-they-use
/locations/7204332
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
The Jamaica Pond Association took a clear stance against a large apartment complex slated for the current Home for Little Wanderers site.
A developer's plans to raze the Home For Little Wanderers campus and put 196 apartment units there were roundly rejected by the Jamaica Pond Association. The association's board of directors heard from Boston Residential Group Monday night at a meeting held in Jamaicaway Tower. The developers gave a short presentation about their plans for 161 S. Huntington. The project would create an E-shaped building of five and four stories with parking beneath the edifice. Most units would be one-bedrooms of various sizes, aimed at appealing to the medical professionals who work in the Longwood area. The association's board of directors made it clear they did not oppose a residential use for the property, but rather it was the size and design of the …
42.327807
-71.110826
The Home for Little Wanderers
161 S Huntington Ave, Jamaica Plain, MA
/articles/jamaica-pond-association-rejects-196-unit-apartment-building
767038
/locations/6958264
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Construction is scheduled to begin in a year.
The Boston Redevelopment Authority has given a thumbs up for the proposed Jackson Square Recreation Center. The facility, which would be built at the intersection of Columbus Avenue and Ritchie Street, would be a seasonal ice skating rink and turf field. JP residents' current option for ice skating is the outdoor Kelly Rink located behind the Stony Brook T Station. “We were very excited. It’s been a long process,” said Chrystal Kornegay, CEO of Urban Edge Housing Corporation, a co-developer along with the Jamaica Plain Neighborhood Development Corporation, the Hyde Square Task Force and Friends of the Kelly Rink. She continued saying that for the past six months, they have been talking to the neighborhood to make sure the facility …
42.32253
-71.09838
Columbus Ave & Ritchie St, Boston, MA
/articles/city-gives-jackson-square-rec-center-the-ok
/locations/4704595
Olympic Roofing
4:28 pm on Friday, October 12, 2012
This is great... The fact that the Boston area is building is an encouraging sign for the economy and for many local businesses. These projects create jobs and opportunities for new businesses. I'm a roofing contractor in JP and South Boston (www.olympicroofing.com/south-boston-ma-roofing), and we're happy to be involved with the South Boston work on Congress St. more ›