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Pine Street Inn's Upton Street property goes under agreement; neighbors still unhappy
By JohnAKeith on Mon, 03/19/2012 - 3:30pm
The Boston Courant's Mich Cardin reported two weeks ago that developer David Goldman has signed an agreement to purchase the South End rowhouse located at 38 Upton Street, currently owned by the Pine Street Inn (PSI).
According to the Courant (no online edition):
Goldman, who began negotiations with PSI around December, bid on the property, eventually matching the appraisal price of more than $1 million.
38 Upton Street is one of three adjoining buildings originally purchased by Pine Street, back in 2008. The non-profit's plans to turn the properties into transitional housing unleashed the fury of some neighbors, who expressed concern that the development was too big for their bucolic, narrow, one-way street. Pine Street eventually bowed to the pressure and the three-building project was reduced to two, with PSI agreeing to sell the third on the private market.
Some of those same neighbors are still unhappy. According to the Courant, a 2009 written agreement signed by Pine Street and the Union Park Neighborhood Association set out specific deadlines for the sale of the third building; according to it, Pine Street was supposed to immediately begin efforts to sell the property.
According to an abutter, "There's been very little communication between PSI and the community." Further, "The agreement had a deadline for the sale and they're in breach of that."
It appears, however, that this issue will soon be resolved, once and for all.
Nota bene: I'm still waiting for my wish to come true for the anti-Pine Street group that "[A] flood of water would pour down Upton Street and wash them out of our neighborhood, forever."
Free tagging:
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Comments
Anonymous abutters complaining- what can you do?
If it was somebody like Norm Knickle again I'd be aggravated, as per your linked article he seemed pretty satisfied by the latest agreement, which has gone pretty much as planned. But as we frequenters of the internet know, it's impossible (not to mention, probably undesirable) to satisfy all the cowering anons of the world.
Sorry, left it out
He wasn't anonymous in the original article, I just edited his name out to save some space and merged two sentences. He lives next door.
That flood
couldn't come soon enough, Mr. Keith.
Who do these self-important Upton Street residents think they are? A) They live on Upton Street, otherwise known as the armpit of Union Park. Half of you overlook the back of a post office and a housing project. They seem to think they're all something more than they are. B) Its the freakin' South End. Its not Park Avenue or the Place Vendome. Its a half dozen ridiculous shops, a couple overpriced mediocre cafes and a bunch of significantly overpriced restaurants and a few banks and realtors. Its not exactly world-class.
I can only hope that one of the Pine Street residents does well enough to afford a place nicer than Upton Street someday and can thumb his nose at the protesting Upton Street residents.
Thank you.
These are the people that will only be happy once ALL the homeless are shipped off on those MBTA buses to Long Island.
The anger is strong in you, padawan.
I have no idea about the specifics of the dispute, but if you are going to shit on every street that's within spitting distance of a housing project/Section 8 in the South End, the list will be long and distinguished.
Also, the South End is one of the best neighborhoods in the city, precisely because of the different flavors of people and the lack of pretension (See Beacon Hill/Back Bay).
Maybe you should head back to Newbury Street and have an overpriced cocktail at Sonsie, you twit.
See below
It's a problem in the south end as much as it is in the back bay, beacon hill and north end.
Hell, remember the 2 assholes across the street from the commercially zoned 1st street area in south Bostons who forced the doggie daycare to find a new location? The ones located next to a bus repair facility?
Sometimes you can't make this shit up. There's always going to be a loud pretentious asshole. The licensing board and city council need to start weighing the community over one or two condo developments.
I'm the twit?
Clearly you don't live in the South End if you think the people lack pretension. Maybe you should come to the South End where there's nothing but overpriced cocktails and overpriced meals. There's nowhere to buy toilet paper, but you can find truffle oil on every other block. Personally, I think its the most pretentious neighborhood in Boston, having absorbed the pretentious skim off of the Back Bay and Beacon Hill.
And, do the "different flavors" of the South End ever mix with each other? NO, they do NOT. Ever. So much for that "diversity" that South Enders are always bragging about.
As far as "shitting on every street within distance of a housing project," I was trying to make an point about economics. If you live on a gorgeous street which overlooks a Victorian fountain (Union Park), then you likely paid a lot more than if you live on a dark street that overlooks a Post Office's loading dock and a housing project (Half of Upton Street). Yet the Upton Street folk act as if they live on some magical, special street in a gated community where only rich white people can get in - when in reality its not so nice there.
Some pretension in GJP
Same thing is happening in JP. Maybe Norm and Walt should buy a house together in Weston
http://articles.boston.com/2012-03-05/metro/311217...
Oh please: someone from the
Oh please: someone from the South End ragging on Back Bay and Beacon Hill about pretension? Ha! Perhaps you haven't lived there very long. Don't get me wrong, South End is a great neighborhood. However, there was MUCH LESS pretension when it was more of a predominantly gay neighborhood. As an example: 8 years ago I used to have brunch at Metropolis and it was delicious food, fair prices, chilled out crowd. Now, forget it. You can't step foot in that place without seeing fur coats and pearls. This isn't The Ritz, people. It's Metropolis at 11 am on a Sunday!
NIMBY...
...and nothing more.
The neighbors should just shut up and mind their business.
The Pine Street Inn can sell to whomever it wants. It's a private non-profit corporation selling to a private individual. There are no zoning requirements that need approval. Pine Street Inn should just give the finger to these people.
Good people on Upton Street
The tone and content of this post is really unfortunate -- and really wrong. One may have honest disagreements about the propriety of Pine Street Inn's plans for Upton Street -- but they were ultimately resolved through constructive dialogue that led to collective resolution which all parties embraced, including the neighbors on the street. Too few of the posters, I suspect, actually attended the myriad meetings and discussions which revealed and reflected most parties' good will -- whatever their misgivings about certain aspects of the management and nature of the Pine Street Inn. Speaking ill of people who cared and were trying to protect and preserve their neighborhood is uncharitable -- not worthy of the supposed principles behind institutions such as Pine Street that the posters claim to represent.
...and there's the problem
"Protect and preserve their neighborhood"? The ultimate cry of rich peopel trying to keep poor people out of the neighborhood. Perhaps you should have anyone who is sellng their home get your approval as well - you never know what kind of people might be buying the condo next to yours.
I hears too much of "those people" and "why can't they just go somewhere else" during these "discussions". And no, that's not rumors, that's from the people directly involved. They were polite in public, but when you had a personal talk,t he hate really came out.
Forcing someone to sell their peoperty becasue you don't like "those kind" of people isn't constructive dialog.
Are you out of your mother*&$%ing mind?!
The dialogue was vitriolic in the beginning from the Upton Street crowd. Then it only got nicer when it became apparent that Pine Street would drasticallychange its plans and reduce the number of residents by a very large proportion.
Does "protecting and preserving the neighborhood" include the nasty and atrocious signs you people put in your windows and doorways which made Pine Street people look like deranged bums?
"Uncharitable," my ass.
I only wish we could dictate who moved in next door to us in the South End. I would veto any vile, classist yuppies such as those on Upton Street from living next door to me.
I'll bet this is the same type of person who brags about the diversity of the South End - just as long as that diversity doesn't get too close to me!