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BRA gives nod to two new residential buildings in East Boston
By adamg on Fri, 04/17/2015 - 12:31pm
Architect's rendering of 151 Liverpool project.
The BRA board yesterday approved two new residential buildings in East Boston, and changes to a waterfront tower already under way.
The board approved converting and expanding 151 Liverpool St from its current use as commercial space (which had a fire earlier this week) into 24 residential units, 4 of them affordable. The building will have 35 parking spaces.
Also approved: A 14-unit residential building at 31 Orleans St., which will have two affordable units and 20 parking spaces.
The board gave the developer of a 259-unit project on New Street on the waterfront to tear down an existing 9-story building and replace it with a 16-story tower. The BRA had earlier approved plans that called for sticking seven new floors atop the existing structure, but developer Gerding Edlen said it turned out the building was unsuitable for that.
Rather than include affordable units in the building, Gerding Edlen will give the BRA $7.8 million to pay for such units elsewhere.
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Comments
Anyone know where all this
Anyone know where all this "affordable" money the BRA has collected over the years has gone? How many units has the BRA build that that pile of money? Why is it no one seems to know?
Recent report
A recent report said the BRA was very lax with these kinds of funds and alot of it sits unused for very long periods of time. I'm too lazy to find it myself, but it was part of a very critical piece on the BRA.
Here's the of the BRA. Not a
Here's the KPMG Audit of the BRA. Not a pretty picture - affordable housing funds aren;t used and developer fees for the fund aren't collected in many instances. Less a case of malice than poor administration.
I believe as a result of the
I believe as a result of the audit, the affordable housing funds collected by the BRA are maintained and disbursed by DND (dept of neighborhood development). DND has a long history and experience of disbursing funds for affordable housing and requiring projects funded with their money to record deed restrictions requiring long term affordability.
Lol @ affordable units
Where exactly will "elsewhere" be when you start making places like East Boston unaffordable? The ability to do this is one of the dumbest loopholes the BRA allows.
If East Boston is following
If East Boston is following the path of Southie, Charlestown, North End, Back bay and now Chinatown as the most unaffordable places to live, Will run down parts of Dorchester or Roxbury be next for high end real estate for wealthy developers that's what's going to happen next!! kicking out all the working class by raising property values and rent. Are we manhattanizing Boston..
"manhattanizing" Boston would
"manhattanizing" Boston would involve rezoning large parts of the city to be densely urban and not detached suburban spaghetti it mostly is. West Roxbury et al would never stand for that.
Shadows killing us all with the ricketts and all. FOR THE CHILDREN!
yes.
.
These new affordable housing
These new affordable housing units going up all over Eastie is for people with annual incomes 50k or lower, making it extremely difficult for the actual person who's making ends meet with 2 minimum wage jobs who really need a place to live in. They should limit the annual wage earning to $35k instead of 50k or 70k whatever the earning restriction is.
I'd be a fan of a tiered system
Something like 30% need to be priced at the median income for the neighborhood or lower, and then break up that 30% to have 3 different ceilings based on demand, neighborhood income breakdown, etc.
Also, thinking about all of these new developments, I have to wonder if the people living in "traditional" housing (triple deckers, brownstones, and any other "old" buildings" in various neighborhoods) that can afford to live in these new buildings end up moving into them, will it in turn decrease demand for these older buildings and thus lower the price? And if so, does this solve...well, at least somewhat alleviate the affordable housing issue in Boston, or do the owners of these buildings sell them off to developers once they stop making as much money?
It'll be interesting to look back at the data on this in 10 years to see what happens.
Technically it would, except
Technically it would, except that on net, because of height restrictions and parking requirements, we are actually lowering the average density of the city in many cases. So while it appears as if we are putting a huge dent in the housing shortage every time we build a tall building, the reality is much more modest. Consequently, we are currently not even coming close to meeting the demand, and so prices will probably keep going up, both in new units and in the existing housing stock (which of course mostly compete with one another).
explain?
Can you explain your comment about density actually going down as a result of development? In this case, we have a commercial building that will be 27 residential units once finished.
You do not have families with
You do not have families with 4 kids in one apartment these days, the percentage of most 3 family dwellings in Eastie which as you can see are turning into individual condominiums ,well, who buys these condominiums , a young graduate student or a young couple, Same as in the North end over the last 2 or 3 decades large families in each apartment is a thing of the past, this reduces density.
If you drive by these
If you drive by these affordable units in Eastie, nice bmw's Audi's are parked outside these units. WTF it's perfectly ok for a person who makes $ 70k a year to live in these units, meanwhile the poor mother with 3 kids making 20k a year has to wait on the waiting list!! Forcing her to move to Lynn or Everett. That's what's going on with these new affordable units in Eastie,..
That 'affordable' money
That 'affordable' money should go straight into a fund for adding new transit lines. As long as there's only so many places to access transit, neighborhoods near it will be $$$$$$$$. Supply and demand.
How about we just let people
How about we just let people build taller buildings near train stations? It worked to lower rents in Chicago...
New Construction
Why do so many of these new developments look the same?
Not enough parking
I would want at least two deeded parking spaces if you are going to build something which is equivalent in density to the housing projects.
Liverpool Street
With those windows, the Liverpool St building looks like a factory.
Oh come onnnn....not another
Oh come onnnn....not another industrial looking square box! All these developers should try to adopt the style of the late great Norman Leventhal. Look at the beauty of Rowes Wharf, for instance. If you don't have the capital to build something with architectural character, then don't bother.
Too late Maria C. already
Too late Maria C. already approved!!
What do you expect, Liverpool Street is nothing but industrial looking buildings, feels like your isolated from the rest of Eastie. Been like that for years, Got my car serviced at Eastern auto in that same building years ago.