development

The Patriot-Ledger reports the latest on plans for a revamped Quincy Center.

The Herald reports construction's about to begin on an 11-story luxo-apartment complex near the Greenway to be called the Victor.

The Boston Redevelopment Authority reports it's received four proposals for two vacant parcels near Dudley Square, including a $125-million project that would include 144 apartments as well as commercial and retail space.

The BRA says its staff will review the four proposals, then hold public meetings to discuss them. No dates were announced.

The Zoning Board of Appeals holds a hearing on Aug. 9 on plans by TD Bank to tear down the Zoots dry cleaners at 1833 Centre St. and turn it into a bank with drive-thru ATMs. It will be right next to a Bank of America branch and across the street from a Sovereign.

Inexplicably, Zoots managed to replace a bank at that location on Centre a number of years ago.

Also on Centre and Spring streets: Peoples Federal Savings, Hyde Park Savings, Co-operative Bank, Energy Credit Union, City of Boston Credit Union, Brookline Bank, Mt. Washington Bank, Eastern Bank, Citizens Bank and a Well Fargo mortgage office.

The Globe reports a planned 47-story addition to Copley Place has critics roiling.

The ginormous chain is eying Roxbury for its first Boston store. The mayor is against; some residents are for.

Ed. question: Does a Wal-Mart in Roxbury cancel out a Whole Foods in JP? Also, why is the Target at South Bay so much cooler than Wal-Mart in, say, Crosstown?

Shehram interviews two architects and an architecture critic on the changing styles that made Boston look the way it does (16 minutes).

Via ArchBoston.org.

The South End News reports people living near the soon-to-be-ex Boston Herald plant want its developers to build something that actually feels like it belongs in a city, rather than something that looks like a suburban office park:

"I'm concerned about the lack of density this project is proposing," KIger said. "...What's being proposed here looks to me like it perpetuates what the Herald site it today. ...It’s a wasteland."

Liz Cahill, ODNA secretary, agreed with Kiger, telling Clancy she and NDC had the support to go "higher and bigger and think grander things."

That would be Allston, as Paul McMorrow explains.

From the report: Barred emergency exit; also note ladder on left instead of stairs. 4/29/10.

The state Inspector General's office found major problems in city oversight of a Temple Place apartment conversion in which the developer let people move into buildings with inadequate - and in some cases locked - emergency exits and without occupancy permits and for which he may have tried to hide renovations from inspectors to save on permit fees.

In a letter to city officials Inspector General Gregory Sullivan said his office's probe into the renovation of 21-27 Temple Pl. had been hampered by an unidentified Inspectional Services supervisor who refused to talk to investigators or turn over one key document, despite a state law that requires municipal employees to talk to his investigators unless they are claiming their Fifth Amendment right against self incrimination. The letter, quietly posted on the IG Web site last month, adds that the US Attorney's office and the FBI are also looking into the renovation project, which first came to public attention in 2009, when then mayoral candidate Kevin McCrea blogged about it.

WBUR reports on the groundbreaking for the new Vertex headquarters next to the federal courthouse.

The Boston Redevelopment Authority reports it's given its nod to a $16-million facility that will feature a skating rink in the winter and an indoor turf yard the rest of the year.

The Columbus Avenue facility is part of the Jackson Commons project, which also calls for 438 new housing units - 291 designated as "affordable" - and community facilities, along with new retail and office space on 11.2 acres along Columbus Avenue.

The Globe reports developers have filed plans to build 262 apartments and stores on the site of the soon to be ex-Herald building.

Harry Mattison reports Harvard held a community meeting on its proposed $100-million business-school addition that featured renderings of the campus that somehow managed to leave something out:

From Harvard's scale model of the campus, rendered images, and descriptions of a permeable design that flows from campus to city, one might actually think that the border between the Business School and the adjacent sidewalk is open and porous. That would be nice, but that is not the reality.

With the exception of a couple gates, there is nothing open or accessible about this area. Everywhere there is not a building there is some combination of hedge, wall, or fence.

Harvard representatives had no comment last night when asked if the lack of walls and fences in their presentation materials were an indication that the walls and fences were going to be removed in the spirit of creating a more permeable campus.

Whole Foods holds its "town hall meeting" to introduce itself to Jamaica Plain on Thursday, 7 - 8:30 p.m. at the Curley School, 493 Centre St.

Then, next Thursday, the Jamaica Plain Forum holds a panel discussion on Gentrification: What Does it Mean for JP? featuring a panel of an advocate from City Life/Vida Urbana), which has opposed Whole Foods, the presdent of the Jamaica Plain Neighborhood Development Corp., which is looking at leasing space it owns to a possibly competing market, and UMass professor Michael Stone, who studies affordable-housing issues. The forum starts at 7 p.m. at the First Church in Jamaica Plain, 6 Eliot St.

The City Council today unanimously approved $12 million in tax breaks over seven years for construction of Vertex's planned $1-billion headquarters and lab space on Fan Pier.

City Councilor Bill Linehan, who represents South Boston and chairs the council's economic-development committee, said the new construction will mean $50 million in tax revenue over the period of the breaks.

Its latest plans, that is. The Crimson reports.

The move clears the way for the YMCA and Northeastern to build a 17-story dorm and comes after Y residents sought to block the move by asking the city Landmarks Commission the building with the blinking logo a landmark, the Huntington News reports.

Bobby Woofter takes us through the gutted multi-family at 9 Robinwood Ave. in Jamaica Plain, which he's converting into condos for a client.

The before video.

The Boston Business Journal reports that Vertex Pharmaceuticals has signed a 15-year lease for 1.1 million square feet of space in the Innovation District.

South End Patch reports on an initial proposal for replacing the Boston Herald building that calls for a 4-5 story residential and store complex - and that some nearby residents decried the building as "too suburban" for the gritty area.

The Friends of Jamaica Pond hold a meeting on Wednesday to figure out ways to keep 12.5 acres of land on Hellenic Hill from ever being developed - possibly by convincing state and city officials to buy the land.

Earlier this year, Hellenic College, which owns the land, listed it for sale. The college took the listing down, but said it is still thinking about selling off the land.

The Friends say keeping the land wooded is vital because of the pond's history, its continued designation as an emergency water source for the city and because "Jamaica Pond Park is used daily by thousands of people to revitalize their physical, mental and spiritual health."

The meeting begins at 7 p.m. at the First Church in Jamaica Plain, Eliot and Centre streets.

The Allston Civic Association will oppose plans by the owner of the Brighton Mills McDonald's to extend his hours until 2 a.m., the Crimson reports.

The association voted 7-6 to oppose the later hours. Members cited the precedent that letting the burger joint stay open would have and said only transients from away would be likely to eat there that late. Owner Bob King says he needs the extra hours to make up for the anticipated loss of revenue during the relocation of the nearby Charlesview Apartments.

King also owns the McDonald's on Harvard Avenue. Last year, the civic association fought King when he proposed a 2 a.m. closing there, citing similar concerns. However, the Boston Licensing Board - the ultimate arbiter on closing hours - voted to extend the hours, in part because the Kelly's across the street already had a 2 a.m. closing time.

The Jamaica Plain Gazette reports the Cambridge-based co-op market will open a new outlet as part of a retail project planed for MBTA-owned land near the Forest Hills T stop.

The Jamaica Plain Gazette reports on a proposal for the Flanagan & Seaton property on Washington Street.