Rendering by McKay Architects.
The Zoning Board of Appeal yesterday approved developer Joseph Federico's plans for a five-story, 54-unit apartment building at 1305 Hyde Park Avenue at Dana Avenue in Hyde Park.
His proposal calls for 7Â affordable units and 21 parking spaces.
Board members approved the proposal unanimously.
However, one resident of the short stretch of Dana Avenue between the train station and Hyde Park Avenue blasted the proposal, saying it was another step towards turning the block into a flood-prone stretch of apartments unaffordable to the people they are displacing.
Yrinee Michaelidis said the Federico project, when coupled with three other multi-family buildings on the block, will also mean the creation of a new heat island, because the developers keep cutting down trees on the street.
Both she and the Hyde Park Neighborhood Association's Craig Martin asked the board to defer any vote until after a Suffolk Superior Court judge decides a suit Michaelidis filed against the Boston Planning Department in January after it approved the project.
In her suit, Michaelidis said the planning department disregarded the voices of residents - and the city zoning code, because, she argued, the Federico building sits in a Cleary Square zone that requires ground-floor commercial space in new building, yet the proposed building has none. She also charged that Federico keeps changing details of the proposal - for example, by saying parking spaces would be accessed via Hyde Park Avenue, when his final plans called for access via Dana Avenue.
Federico said he would plant five trees on Dana Avenue and two on Hyde Park Avenue. He said he did not know what Michaelidis and Martin were talking about when it comes to zoning, that aside from the variances he sought from the zoning board - for the building's height, overall size and number of parking spaces -Â the proposal complies with the lot's zoning.
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Stumpies?
By Frelmont
Thu, 02/27/2025 - 2:46pm
What do we call these new type of apartment buildings? Do they have a nickname?
I saw recently, maybe somewhere here, of them referred to as “bulk fiber?†“bulk timber? builds.Â
I did a quick search on the web and found* an article that called them “stumpies,†and “five over ones.â€
* first reasonable search return: Sachse Construction. “Why America’s New Apartment Buildings All Look the Same.†Feb. 13, 2019. Accessed on 2/27/2025 Â
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The construction method is 5
By blues_lead
Thu, 02/27/2025 - 3:16pm
The construction method is 5-over-1. The numbers refer to the construction method, not number of stories. 5s are stick built or small aluminum member built - 2x4s and 2x6s at 16" in center, like nearly every house in the country. 1s are the concrete masonry podium.
The massing is because American apartment buildings tend to be built on a double loaded corridor, so a hallway with apartments on either side. This lets the egresses be in either end of the corridor, and is about the same width needed for a parking structure with perpendicular spaces on either side. It does make buildings very squat, and means that most apartments have windows on only one side with a pretty deep floorplate, so the kitchen won't get much natural light and you won't get any cross ventilation.Â
small aluminum
By DP
Fri, 02/28/2025 - 7:57am
Not aluminum, but light gauge steel. https://www.storagebuildingcompany.com/resources/2...
Thanks. Great, practical info
By Frelmont
Fri, 02/28/2025 - 7:24am
Thanks. Great, practical info.Â
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