development

Workers this morning were busy bluewashing over the old murals showing the fabled One Franklin project that was supposed to rise like a phoenix from the giant hole its developers dug where Filene's used to be.

Note the red-and-white placard above the painter. It's a warning to firefighters of possible dangers inside the building.

The people who built the Ritz down Washington Street recently signed a deal with the hole's main owner to try to actually build something there.

Cambridge Day reports on a chat between city councilors and a consultant who says Kendall Square could do with another 3 million square feet of office and research space, some more retail and up to 2,500 housing units. Obviously, the only way to achieve all that is through taller buildings (even if the feds do give up the grassy fields of the Volpe Center); councilors, however, said they want to avoid the mistake that is the Broad Institute - a big blocky fat thing that just squats there, all bloated and massive.

The Boston Business Journal reports on the proposed Tremont Crossing that would include apartments, retail and office space and a new museum for the National Center for Afro-American Artists.

Developer Elma Lewis Partners, LLC has long struggled to get the first shovel in the ground for a project on the land. At one point, the BRA revoked its development rights to the land, but gave it back after an outcry from Roxbury residents. The current proposal is in conjunction with Feldco Development.

The Jamaica Plain Gazette reports on a 200-unit apartment building planned for 105A South Huntington.

The Crimson reports on Harvard's latest, still kinda vague plans for Barry's Corner, the Allston intersection it basically bought up back in the heady days when it was going to transform the whole area into the Harvard for the Next Millennium.

Yeah, whatever happened to that?

Liam considers the future of the area around the Forest Hills T stop after the Casey Overhulk comes down:

There's a great illogic to having so much space dedicated to people driving to public transit rather than developing that space around the public transit options. Imagine the little villages that could be built near Boston at Riverside Station in Newton, Route 128 Station in Westwood, or the Anderson Regional Transportation Center in Woburn. More relevant to Forest Hills is the sea of parking that dominates both sides of Washington St./Hyde Park Avenue near the T station. These parking lots and the Arborway bus yard, already slated for redevelopment, could be turned into a beautiful transit-oriented village where people live, shop, and eat.

The Jamaica Plain Gazette reports.

Now that Google's decided to stay in Cambridge (sorry, Innovation District), ArchBoston.org will be tracking the changes that will mean for the area.

Via A.P. Blake.

NorthEndWaterfront.com rounds up the latest offerings, all of which would include space for Haymarket vendors and three of which the state previously rejected.

The Boston Business Journal details the company's filing with the BRA for its $235-million project.

NorthEndWaterfront.com reports on a Boston Conservation Commission hearing at which the commission basically told the owner of a North End marina that if he wants approval for a rehab, he's going to have to give in and allow a cantilevered Harborwalk section over the water. The Commercial Wharf issue's been going on for a decade now and since it's all on the waterfront, the state could step in as well.

The Bay State Banner reports on a proposal for a three-story building with retail on the first floor on what is now a vacant lot at Taber and Warren streets. The city broke ground just this past weekend on the project to turn the old Ferdinand building into the new school headquarters and to build a new office building next to it.

The Globe reports a judge has dismissed a zoning complaint against John Rosenthal's proposed Fenway Center in what is now a parking lot across from Fenway Park.

The Globe writes (free registration required) today that the new mega-Walgreens is a failure before it even opens because Downtown Crossing needs something unique and exciting if we're ever to bring the tourists and shoppers back, and the experience of buying sushi at a drug store just doesn't cut it for the thrill-seeking solons of Morrissey Boulevard:

Both Ends of Dudley posts photos from yesterday's groundbreaking for the Ferdinand project in Dudley Square, which will become the Boston Public Schools headquarters. The ceremonies included a cake in the shape of the rehabbed building and the new office building next to it.

Roxbury Wakeup is a site dedicated to the premise that the city's plans to renovate the Ferdinand building as the new BPS headquarters is just a plot to gentrify the Dudley Square area:

This project will essentially put a stop to any future retail and social growth, as well as any possible wealth building within the community. It is a CIVIC MUNICIPAL BUILDING. It is a static linear placeholder for the city’s use. Relocating the Boston Public School headquarters’ 500 employees does not GENERATE local jobs. The jobs are already filled! It is not an organic revitalization component and does not ADD to the fabric of this creative, artistic, historic community, and will systemically drain its energy. It is a micro filler, and not a solution that will successfully address the macro issues of this community. It is GENTRIFICATION.

Proposed alternative: Turn the Ferdinand into a hub of social and multimedia networking that would generate new jobs.

The Dorchester Reporter analyzes hiring data from city building projects, concludes most contractors are not hiring as many Boston residents, minorities and woman as called for in city contract guidelines.

Earlier:
Boston withholds payments to contractor on a park project for failing to hire enough city residents, minorities.

Some major new development, from the New Balance land in Brighton to BU in Allston means the area really needs a stop on the Worcester Line - especially given how it lost all three of its stops to the turnpike construction, not to mention the A Line, TC writes.

Cambridge Day reports Google's Kendall Square landlord wants to give the search company more room by building atop a parking garage that now features a rooftop garden. Landlord proposed replacing the lost skypark with a new, larger park elsewhere, but Cantabrigians were outraged and the city council put at least a temporary hold on the whole thing.

Cambridge Day provides some sketches of what developers are thinking of for the outside of the old East Cambridge courthouse and jail

Drawing via BRA. Compare to the present space.

Historic Boston and Roslindale Village Main Street are proposing to turn the long-dormant substation at Washington Street and Cummins Highway into a combination winter farmers' market and event space.

The Crimson reports on vague promises made by Harvard at a community meeting last night to maybe come up with a new plan for its stalled Allston science center and a grad-student apartment building in Barry's Corner:

"If, in October of this year, you are still not satisfied with what the University is telling you about the Science Complex, I guarantee you the mayor won't be satisfied,”[BRA planner Kairos] Shen said.

Shen pointed to a new pizza place and work on a new Swiss bakery on Harvard-owned land as proof the city can work with Harvard to get things built.

The Globe reports a developer has submitted plans to the BRA to build a 200-unit apartment building - with 150 underground parking spaces - on the Home for Little Wanderers' Jamaica Plain campus.

The Home announced last summer it would sell off the land and wander to Walpole.