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Developer of proposed condo building on Liverpool Street wants to reduce the amount of parking

A developer that won approval in 2016 for a 36-unit condo building with 33 parking spaces at 151 Liverpool St. in East Boston says it's still chugging along on the project but that it wants to reduce the amount of parking to just 13 ground-floor spaces - by eliminating a proposed one-level basement garage with an expensive "vehicle elevator."

In a filing with the Boston Planning Department seeking approval for the change, City Point Development of Newton acknowledges the main reason to request the change is just how darn expensive it is to build a basement garage with a car elevator: "The costs of constructing the required foundation for the basement and of installing and operating the proposed vehicle elevator have become prohibitive."

But, the company continues: It's all good, because things have changed since 2016.

The Proponent submits that [13 instead of 33 spaces] will be sufficient for the Project expecting that fewer units will own motor vehicles and instead most unit owners will be taking advantage of alternative modes of transportation, consistent with the goals and supportive policies of the City of Boston. The Project site is well situated for residents to access local services, one block from Central Square with multiple shopping and dining destinations, including Shaw's Market, CVS, Walgreens, and Marshalls, less than a quarter mile from the East Boston Neighborhood Health Center and less than a half mile from Santarpio's Pizza. The site is within walking distance to the MBTA Blue Line Maverick station and multiple bus routes, including the 114, 116, 117, 120, and 121. The Project includes a bike room on the first floor capable of holding up to 36 bicycles.

Five of the condos would be sold as affordable. Even under the old proposal, City Point had said none of those units would get a parking space.

151 Liverpool St. filings.

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Comments

No parking spaces is regressive and paternalistic.

There is no infrastructure to be “Car-Free in Boston.” I wish that it were so.

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This development is probably​ not for you, then.

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What the hell are you talking about? Thousands and thousands of people in Boston are car free. I'm one of them. Why should people have to pay $40,000 more for a condo for a garage space they don't need?

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It's about the abutters and the community at large, who have to live with the end product. Try pulling a bait and switch like this in Newton. If you can't afford to build it then sell the project to someone who can.

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I don't know if you noticed, but this was about a project in East Boston, which is not Newton.

Nearby residents might, as you say, have an issue with the change in parking, but I'll be honest, how this might be treated in Newton is not something I, or probably anybody else in Boston, would care about.

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It would be reasonable to build in this location with zero parking spaces.

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Building it with zero parking spaces would be fine, so long as that address was made ineligible for resident parking stickers. Otherwise the neighbors have a legitimate concern.

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Unfortunately the ideas expressed in Frelmont's comment are quite prevalent in the city and probably shared by a majority of car owners. Our housing costs are through the roof but the majority of parking on public spaces (that is residential street parking) is and must remain free of charge. And we need to restrict the construction of housing not to infringe on that sacred right.

How subsidized is street parking? A good indicator is what the city charges when I want to reserve some curb space to work on an affordable housing project. The street occupancy permit fee is $0.10/sqft/day + signage fee etc.

For one average street parking space occupying 200 sqft, that's $20 a day or $600 a month. If we were to charge even half as much, so many things could get better in the city including, ironically, street parking!

https://www.boston.gov/departments/public-works/how-get-street-occupancy...

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