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Developer adds BPL branch to plans for life-sciences building to replace Fenway Star Market
By adamg on Tue, 09/19/2023 - 1:09pm
Rendering by Elkus Manfredi from kitty corner across Boylston Street.
The company that wants to replace the Star Market and the defunct gas station next to it on Boylston Street in the Fenway with a life-sciences building today filed modified plans that call for a new stand-alone Boston Public Library on the 2 1/2-acre site.
In its newest filing with the BPDA, Samuels &l Associates says it will commit up to $12 million for a new, 5,000-square-foot library branch to go with its own 11-story building at 1400 Boylston St., at the corner of Park Drive.
Rendering of a possible library along Park Drive:
The company says it will also contribute $18 million to another developer planning a 114-unit condo building at the Holy Trinity Orthodox Cathedral site at 165 Park Dr., in which 48 units will be sold as affordable.
As with other buildings along the newly canyonized Boylston Street, the new Samuels building will have retail space on the first floor. The building would have a garage with 409 spaces.
Star Market fans don't have to fret: The developer is planning space for a 21st-century Star at the enlargened 401 Park - the former Landmark Center - in space that had originally been planned for a Wegmans.
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Comments
409 parking spaces! When is
409 parking spaces! When is our society going to learn that car-oriented development in cities is a mistake?
The library is a huge 11
The library is a huge 11 story building and the library is a tiny one story place?
Sorry for the sloppy writing
The life-sciences building will be 11 stories (and nearly 500,000 square feet). The library will be a lot smaller.
The last thing the Fenway needs is more cars.
I don't know if 409 spaces would be considered a lot or a little, but assuming there'll be parking for the new Star Market across the street (as there is at the current location), are parking spots really necessary here? I'd support Zipcar slots and EV charging stations, but it's not residential, the D Line is right there, and the Commuter Rail is minutes away. Boylston Canyon is already a traffic free-for-all. Wouldn't 400+ parking spots make it worse?
hahaha
I love this term for that area now. I've been trying to describe it other than a wind tunnel and this is perfect!
I agree, I don't think 400+ spaces will help the traffic problem over there.
But you know. but cars, but parking!
I've been trying to popularize the nickname for a while
Maybe U Hub Nation can make it happen :-)
Funny Thing Is
The Globe had an exhibition circa 1985 to see what architects thought about the future of the city.
Some were statements on people living in 1974 station wagons and some were nuts like PoMo'ing the Prudential Tower (Think steeple and external sculptures).
The only one that really looks like what was predicted is the corridor on Boylston between the then vacant Sears Building and the Shell Station. It said the area would become between 6 to 10 story towers and that the fast food places and the gas stations would go away. Not bad to whomever predicted it.
The one I thought would come true was Kenmore being lit up like the corner of Tremont and Stuart is now. Instead BU came in like a vampire and sucked the life out of the place. Way to go Terriers! Can't wait for you to destroy Allston over the next 30 years.
$60 to $75 Per Space For A Sox Game and Concerts
That's a pretty good incentive for parking spaces.
Just remember, not everyone wants to take the T especially if you are going back to Hanson and have to take a shuttle bus between South Station and Braintree.
Car is faster. T is longer. Life is short.
YMMV
*In certain narrow use cases in urban areas. In any use case it is never fast.
If transit systems got their act together, car would rarely if ever be faster.
Meet Me At Gate D at 10:00 After A Sox Game
I'll have been in bed for 30 minutes after the last Kingston train dumps you at Hanson at 11:46.
If we had a real subway system…
If the Green Line wasn’t a disaster at all hours, and the Red Line wasn’t a morass of slow zones and infrequent service right now, taking the subway to Riverside or Braintree and driving home from there would be time-competitive with driving the whole way.
Funny you should mention this
I was in that area last night, meeting a friend after work.
It took me 34 minutes to get home. Were it a game night I might have added six minutes to that walking my bike through the crowds.
You might have made it out of the garage by then.
Transit would have taken about an hour to walk to Symphony green line, single seat run to Tufts/Medford, and walk home.
Biking to Back Bay and then taking the bike on the train to a suburban location and using it for the last couple of miles is also an option. I've done this in reverse from Lowell concerts.
Public Comments, please!!
For those of you saying 409 spaces is too many (it is...there are over 5,000 spaces being added to Fenway/Kenmore if you add up all the developments), PLEASE submit a public comment on the development's BPDA page. You might not think it makes a difference, but it does. Comments only need to be a sentence or two. You can scroll to the bottom of the page to submit your comment:
https://www.bostonplans.org/projects/development-projects/1400-boylston-...
If that link doesn't work just google 'BPDA 1400 Boylston St' and the development's page will be one of the first hits.
If a developer wants to
If a developer wants to include parking spaces, so what? Be happy that the Star Market isn't going anywhere. Imagine living in D.C., where a Giant market in Southeast is on the verge of shuttering because of constant theft. Be happy that your in a nice, affluent college town like Boston.