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Developers of long-vacant Roxbury lot claim that this time they really mean it - they even have a slogan
By adamg on Tue, 02/16/2016 - 2:53pm
Architect's rendering of proposed Tremont Crossing
The development team that has long had the rights to an empty parcel across from Boston police headquarters on Tremont Street have filed new plans that include 700 residential units, a 200-room hotel, a big-box store, smaller shops and a museum and performing-arts space.
The latest iteration of plans by Elma Lewis Partners, LLC and Feldco Development Corp. come after years of delays on the work, which has let trees grow quite tall on the 7.25-acre parcel.
Earlier plans foundered when Partners HealthCare decided against putting its headquarters there and when Gov. Baker canceled plans, almost immediately after taking office, to move the state transportation department there.
But now, with BJ's committing to open its first big-box store in Boston at the location, the developers are seeking BRA approval for their latest plans for a 1.4-million square-foot Tremont Crossing, which they say is "Where Commerce and Culture Connect."
The developers propose three main towers clustered around a new "market street."
The tallest, at 31 stories, or 350 feet, will house the hotel and resident units above ten floors of parking space. A 26-story building will house residential units, while an 11-story building will house retail and office space.
Residential units would range in size from 510-square-foot studios to a total of 30 1,200-square-foot three-bedroom units. 91 of the units would be marketed as affordable - to people making no more than 80% of the average median income for Boston.
The developers propose spending $13.5 million to build a museum and performance space for the National Center of Afro-American Artists.
The Museum will not just display works of art, but also house educational and performance spaces for the fine and performing arts. The Proponent will pay for the construction of the Museum, in its entirety, and transfer it to the NCAAA, unencumbered and free of debt.
The developers propose a 1,587-space parking garage, which would include 137 spaces for the Whittier Street Health Center and Boston Public Schools. The developers are also proposing changes to the roads that run along the parcel, including making Whitter Street two-way from Tremont to a new entrance to the site, adding traffic lights to Tremont Street at the parcel's entrance there, and removing the Jersey barriers that now run down Tremont in front of the parcel.
The view down Tremont inbound, and look: Birds!
Latest BRA filing (44M PDF).
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Comments
OH NO SHADOWS!
OH NO SHADOWS!
THE CITY SPENT DECADES SUBURBANIZING AND DESTROYING THIS AREA UNTIL IT LOOKED LIKE BOSTON'S VERSION OF THE BRONX. HOW DARE THEY REINTRODUCE URBANITY!
*CLUTCHES PEARLS AND FAINTS*
Parking
But with a 1,600 space garage and next to a MAJOR transit hub (bus, orange line, commuter rail). A BJs with items people need cars to transport. We can have all this density, but the key to it is drastically cut back on parking. The design forces/encourages people to drive here. They can easily walk or take transit.
No, it will need parking.
No, it will need parking. Not everyone is going to bring all of their shopping goods onto public transit, this would need enough access. Additionally, there would be much more housing, and many of those people would want a place to keep their car even if they dont't use it often, that's that way it's been before.
Yeah you definitely need a
Yeah you definitely need a car to shop at Bj's, they don't even have shopping bags. Bj's is a great place to shop, save tons of money by buying in bulk.
oh no
Did you mean, "Oh, no shadows" or, "Oh no, shadows"? I know NIMBY types hate big buildings casting shadows on their properties, but you may be pointing out that while the people cast shadows in the second picture, the buildings don't in either picture. The latter would certainly be a win for those NIMBY types if they found a way to build high-rises without shadows.
No one mentioned shadows in
No one mentioned shadows in that post until you started posting snarking comments in all caps.
The urbanity of decades ago had significantly fewer cars per capita.
Snarky, not snarking, btw
Snarky, not snarking, btw
Awesome If It Happens
This would be great if it happens. I'm a Costco shopper but could be convinced to switch to BJs since this is only a few blocks from me vs Costco over in Everett.
Would also be great for the area. I know there's a good amount of redevelopment slated for Dudley square which isn't far away. With Northeastern continuing to expand, it will really transform the area.
Hopefully that transformation can happen without too negatively impacting the Roxbury residents who call the area home *Begin inevitable gentrification arguments*
Also hope they make a solid connection to Ruggles - even just a crap ton of signage would be good. It's amazing to go to Japan/Korea and step off the metro and right into a mall. Or Crystal City, VA (Connected to the DC Metro).
I live in Roxbury, not too
I live in Roxbury, not too far from there. I am thrilled that there is some plan to actually do something with that space. LONG overdue. My concern is about traffic. As it is now, there is really no route to get in and through Dudley from that side of the city without going through terrible bottlenecks. How much worse will it be with something of that size and requiring cars for the shopping?
Tremont: Try getting past Northeastern and then left through the intersection at the Reggie Lewis Center in less than 25 minutes in heavy traffic.
Shawmut: Less traveled but is a slalom course with the double parkers and no visible lane markings.
Washington: Compete with the buses to get thru Dudley, miserable.
Harrison-Warren: Gets backed up to Melnea Cass and then cars inevitably block the box coming from Dudley St.
Hope they come up with a workable plan and finally do something good with that lot.
Ruggles investment
Don't forget that the feds and state just invested $30 million to increase the number of trains that can stop at Ruggles...
https://www.transportation.gov/briefing-room/us-transportation-secretary-foxx-announces-20-million-tiger-funds-mbta-ruggles-station
Oy.
ONE THOUSAND FIVE HUNDRED AND EIGHTY SEVEN parking spaces. I cannot even. It's better than what's in there now, I guess, but I can't even imagine the sequence of events that led them to think that sixteen hundred parking spaces was a wise use of space and money. Was it South End NIMBYs worried about street parking? Concerns from BJs that the only people who shop at BJs need a car to carry home their 12 pounds of peanut butter? The proposed building is less than a hundred yards from a T stop, in a center of dense residential population! This is where a more principled development agency would step in and say "that's insane to build in a city like this."
BJ's is not your typical urban supermarket
People who shop there generally make bulk purchases that are not amenable to being carried home on the T.
And, yes, that includes twelve pound cases of peanut butter.
But, to your point, a more principled development agency wouldn't be asking "Why 1,587 parking spaces?". They would be asking "Why a BJs?"
But are 1500 people going to shop there at once?
You only need as many parking places, at most, as there are people who might occupy the store at the same time. The other uses on the site don't need any parking at all, because they are next to the Orange Line.
If the BJs was smart they'd
If the BJs was smart they'd cut a deal with zipcar (and possibly uber) like the Ikea did. Enough bike parking for trailers.
Fundamentally tho a BJs is a weird choice for an inner city space. It really is "entire carload" shopping. Seems more like something that could liven up the VFW between West Rox and Dedham.
Inner city's not so inner in a small city
One thing covering Boston has taught me is how small it really is. That site is not at all far away from the mass-consuming hordes of Jamaica Plain (in their Priuses) and the South End (in their ZipCars), not to mention, of course, the folks in Roxbury who might want to stock up on stuff. Certainly beats trying to get down Washington Street to Dedham for the BJ's there.
YES
Both Washington St and the VFW are just about unbearable on the weekends.
Indeed, there is a $50 yearly
Indeed, there is a $50 yearly fee to shop there. Does not make sense to me. Wonder what they are thinking here.It is for bulk shopping.
If your household is big enough
you save money on food.
Otherwise, no, unless you buy a lot of electronics every year ...
This is exactly what I thought
Seems like a really odd choice. BJs would make sense someplace like South Bay where there is an existing infrastructure to take advantage of. This isn't a service that the thousands of Northeastern students need. Understanding that this may be what the developer could get, the developer should have tried harder to find either a large store that would be an attractor (Wegmans, Target, both of which have shops in the Fenway [Wegmans is coming from what I've read]). Or a series of smaller options that would provide services to the neighborhood and students. Kind of a fail just from that standpoint.
they have all those parking
they have all those parking spots to lure people who won't ride the disgusting orange line.
Specifics
Don't disagree with your point. Just to narrow it in as to the parking space uses, from the filing:
- 787* spaces: for approx 402,000 sq ft of B.J.'s and other TBD retail uses
- 350 spaces: for the 700 residential units
- 250 spaces: for 200,000 sq ft of office space
- 80 spaces: for 200 hotel rooms
- 31 spaces: for 11,000 sq ft of museum space
- 31 spaces: Boston Public Schools, presumably for staff at the Bolling Building in Dudley
- 75 spaces: for Whitter Street Health Center
The spaces for BPS and Whittier will replace existing parking on that site used by both entities.
The number of spaces for the office use is on the high end of what the city recommends, that seems to be me it could be cut significantly given Ruggles location right there with O Line and commuter rail.
This is all in the filing on pages 3-52 and 3-53
* - In the filing, it says the retail gets 787 spaces but in another spot says 770 so unclear there.
A good accounting, but ...
... you forgot something. All unoccupied spaces will be usurped by the privileged parkers currently on Tremont in front of BPD HQ. Don't you all remember a few years ago when even the BTD backed off on enforcement in that zone?
Just because you say the
Just because you say the store and development can be sustained without parking doesn't make it so. Not everyone is going to walk or bring all of their bulk goods around on public transit. All the new housing would also create a huge demand for more parking because people like the convenience of keeping their own car around even if they don't use it all the time. If you keep blaming nimbys, you are just ignoring the reality of parking demands.
From a planning perspective,
From a planning perspective, it's questionable whether a B.J.'s is the best use of this site given its parking needs. People going there aren't going to take the Orange Line with bulk items as others have mentioned. Begs the question if such a key transit-oriented site should have this use in the first place.
"select service hotel"
aka "limited service hotel", no restaurant. Does this mean the hotel would be relatively affordable, something the city is sorely lacking? The location does not immediately strike me as desirable for a hotel, but perhaps the building of the other amenities would change that?
Agree it's definitely not a
Agree it's definitely not a good space for something that wants to compete with the hotels in the back bay / downtown / waterfront area. If they're building a low-middling range hotel, though, they could put it wherever they want, because that market is so underserved in the city.