The BRA yesterday approved a non-profit group's plans to replace two abandoned buildings between Border and Liverpool streets with 56 apartments and 15 townhouses.
The Neighborhood of Affordable Housing says its Coppersmith Village project will include a mix of affordable and market-rate units - and will include a number of three-bedroom apartments aimed at families. All of the townhouses, which will be sold, rather than rented, will have three bedrooms.
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Cambridge Screwed Up Rent Control
By SwirlyGrrl
Fri, 01/17/2014 - 3:33pm
People were advertising multi-thousand dollar rewards for rent-controlled units in Cambridge in the 1980s. Landlords weren't able to fix units because they didn't have the money, yet couldn't get the rent increases to cover their expenses to make units more habitable and fix dangerous conditions.
The Mayor and the City Councilors in Cambridge were pretty much all living in rent-controlled apartments, so they had a vested interest in making no changes to the system. Many others were staying where they were, despite no longer being students and banking large amounts of money now that they were professionals getting lawyer and doctor salaries. People were so outraged at the way the system was being abused by people with means, and so frustrated with how Cambridge refused to change the system, that they resorted to a referendum that screwed it all up for even those cities and towns that were means testing and had safeguards for landlords.
When rent control ended, a realtor friend of mine in Arlington told me that she made a lot of money because all these professionals who had lived in rent controlled apartments suddenly showed up with $50-$100K in their pockets from money they banked during rent control.
That is why rent control ended. Had Cambridge not become a poster-child for a corrupt system, it might have continued to serve more noble purposes elsewhere.
25-30% profit in 1 year
By Markk02474
Fri, 01/17/2014 - 3:21pm
Monday, an apartment complex in Arlington with "affordable" units was sold for about a 25-30% profit only a year after being built. That's a nice return and its no wonder people are robbing banks! http://arlington.patch.com/groups/business-news/p/...
Rental? Everything built in
By anon
Fri, 01/17/2014 - 10:02am
Rental? Everything built in the last 10 years has been rental!
It is a mixture if rental units and ownership
By anon
Fri, 01/17/2014 - 10:21am
"The housing at Coppersmith Village will be a mix of affordable and market rate units, both rental and ownership: of the 56 apartments, 34 will be available to households at 60% AMI and below; of the 15 townhomes, three will be sold to households at 80% AMI or below. Of the rentals, the remaining 22 units, or 39%, will be market rate; of the townhomes, 12 homes, or 80%, will be market rate. "
http://www.bostonredevelopmentauthority.org/getatt...
Thank you for not reading
By Zunk
Fri, 01/17/2014 - 1:27pm
Your comment was:
From http://www.bostonredevelopmentauthority.org/projec...
56/71 = 78.9% rental units in this particular project
You must mean private sector
By kvn
Fri, 01/17/2014 - 3:04pm
You must mean private sector built rental units, aint gonna happen, too much risk!
Affordable
By mikey
Fri, 01/17/2014 - 9:38am
These better actually be "affordable". Often times their definition of affordable is a little bit off. They recently built a couple new buildings here to replace some from fires and collapsed buildings, and priced the apartments basically double what the neighborhood averages are. I like East Boston as it is, I don't want them to try to get rid of the Latin population and replace it with more yuppies.
Them?
By John Costello
Fri, 01/17/2014 - 9:46am
I came from the cabal meeting last night. We did decided to focus on the removal of fifth generation "Irish" families from South Boston with people priced out of Somerville first and increasing the gun violence along the Blue Hill Avenue corridor. We have a shipment of guns from NH and VT coming in next week to get ready for Spring.
The removal of Salvadoran and Columbian immigrants from East Boston was tabled and sent back to committee for further study, so you don't have to worry for now. (Maniacal laugh, Maniacal laugh).
Origin of the guns from north or south?
By issacg
Fri, 01/17/2014 - 10:06am
my only possible quibble with your otherwise delightfully sarcastic comment concerns the origin of the guns - whilst I realize that VT in particular has very loose gun laws, isn't it still the case that most of the crime-related weapons recovered in Boston come from the South (and Georgia in particular)? Anyone have the numbers on that?
Follows the interstate drug
By anon
Fri, 01/17/2014 - 12:18pm
Follows the interstate drug trade from the South from which Atlanta is a major hub because of the highways. The same people responsible for the illegal drug trade is responsible for the illegal arms trade. Plenty of DEA/FBI reports on this.
Stop making crap up.
By Citations needed
Fri, 01/17/2014 - 10:32am
Stop making crap up.
yes of course
By John-W
Fri, 01/17/2014 - 10:46am
how stupid and ignorant of anyone to believe that realtors and landowners would ever think of colluding to manipulate land use patterns and investments for their own benefit. That'd neeever happen.
The housing at Coppersmith
By anon
Fri, 01/17/2014 - 10:19am
The housing at Coppersmith Village will be a mix of affordable and market rate units, both rental and ownership:
of the 56 apartments, 34 will be available to households at 60% AMI and below;
of the 15 townhomes, three will be sold to households at 80% AMI or below.
Of the rentals, the remaining 22 units, or 39%, will be market rate; of the townhomes, 12 homes, or 80%, will be market rate.
2013 Income
HH Size 60% AMI 80% AMI
1 $39,650 $52,850
2 $45,300 $60,400
3 $51,000 $67,950
4 $56,650 $75,500
5 $61,150 $81,550
6 $65,700 $87,600
7 $70,250 $93,650
8 $74,750 $99,700
Maximum Affordable Sales Price
Bedrooms 80% AMI
Studio $133,600
1 $161,600
2 $189,600
3 $217,600
4 $245,700
Maximum Affordable Rents
Bedrooms 60% AMI
Studio $878
1 $1,024
2 $1,170
3 $1,317
4 $1,463
SRC: http://www.bostonredevelopmentauthority.org/getatt...
SRC: http://www.bostonredevelopmentauthority.org/opport...
Yeah ~$900 for a studio isn't
By mikey
Sat, 01/18/2014 - 12:14am
Yeah ~$900 for a studio isn't 'affordable'. most $900 apartments in and around maverick square are 2 or 2.5 bedrooms.
affordable? lol
By Bean
Fri, 01/17/2014 - 11:58am
Everything is relative. They consider $2,000 per month affordable in Boston.
Easiest way to get around
By bstn2k14
Fri, 01/17/2014 - 10:18am
Easiest way to get around higher rents in eastie.. pack more and more people in a single apartment. It's being done now and still will be after this project is completed.
Hell Yeah!
By mikey
Sat, 01/18/2014 - 12:16am
I rent a room in someone else's apartment. The last building I lived in had like 30-40 people in it (4 story decker)
Coppersmith Village
By Sally
Fri, 01/17/2014 - 11:05am
Has to take the cake for the dumbest, most twee-sounding name ever conceived for a development in an actual city.
Agreed
By Markk02474
Fri, 01/17/2014 - 2:56pm
To pay rent, residents will have to sell off their (copper) pot to piss in, then make another.
No!
By Kaz
Fri, 01/17/2014 - 11:13am
If I can't have my casino, then they can't have more housing!
Eastie:
By ChrisInEastie
Fri, 01/17/2014 - 11:19am
The new Southie. There, I said it.
except
By John-W
Fri, 01/17/2014 - 11:33am
...with better pizza.
...with better all kinds of
By anon
Fri, 01/17/2014 - 11:57am
...with better all kinds of food.
and even less access.
By greenlinetobrooklyn
Fri, 01/17/2014 - 12:35pm
and even less access.
Ha!
By Sally
Fri, 01/17/2014 - 1:49pm
Was thinking the same thing. Southie--now with more shoreline, fewer transport options, fewer trees, and as a special bonus--PLANES!
There's a lot to love about Eastie--I almost moved there a long time ago--but it will always have some serious limitations.
I don't think you're giving
By jdrinboston
Fri, 01/17/2014 - 3:00pm
I don't think you're giving Eastie enough credit. The view of the city from some of those properties is gorgeous. The Blue Line has been completely rebuilt in the last 10 years. Maverick Square is pretty walkable from much of the neighborhood inside 1A and the 120 serves Jefferies Point and Orient Heights fairly well at funneling them to nearby T stations. The Big Dig created a third tunnel to funnel most of the airport traffic away from the neighborhoods and a large system of parks, which seem to be pretty well utilized by the locals. My understanding is that there is a ferry service in the works that will take people between Eastie and the Seaport/Downtown.
There's a lot to like there and I think the neighborhood has a lot of good fundementals going for it.
The X factor is the airport and I'm not naive, there certainly will be a lot of people who would never consider Eastie because of it, regardless of whether or not their concerns are founded or unfounded. Truthfully, based on the angles of the runways, I'm not even sure how many planes are flying over Maverick/Jefferies Point. FWIW, I live in Winthrop now and lived on Bennington Street in Revere before. The planes were/are there, but truthfully, I can't say that I really notice them. If I was in the position to buy/rent into that neighborhood, the aiport probably wouldn't scare me away, certainly not when weighed against some of the other additions to the neighborhood.
Don't get me wrong.
By Sally
Fri, 01/17/2014 - 3:45pm
I like East Boston. I used to spend a lot of time there and looked at a ton of places to buy, including some amazing 19th century houses. And I actually think that the noise from planes is overblown. But the geographic limits are real and the lack of green space and trees just isn't my thing (too many people paving over their yards for parking spots). Not to mention it's the poorest neighborhood in Boston and it just seems as if the development is going to make it very have-or-have-not-ish. I remember being shown a tiny two-family--maybe 4 bedrooms altogether--and counting seventeen beds/mattresses--everywhere, living rooms, basement. It was basically a dorm for illegal Brazilians and I remember thinking what a sh*theel I'd feel like if I had to turn them all out.
Can you elaborate more on the
By jdrinboston
Fri, 01/17/2014 - 3:53pm
Can you elaborate more on the geographic limits? I would argue that a person living in Orient Heights, Jefferies Point, or Maverick Square could be downtown in much shorter time that someone living on Telegraph Hill or City Point in Southie.
Trust me--I never wanted to live in Southie!
By Sally
Fri, 01/17/2014 - 4:00pm
They're probably the same distance-wise from downtown. But for someone like me without a car, I was just off put by the idea of only having one route home. No buses, no walking. It's as much psychological as anything else. I like walking or biking everywhere. I like having a "village" but I like being able to cross easily into the next one and to see how one neighborhood connects to the next one. I realized in the end that it wasn't going to work for me, even though I could have gotten more house for my money than I eventually did in JP.
Andrew, Broadway
By Sheckie
Sat, 01/18/2014 - 8:13am
Andrew and Broadway can get you to downtown fast.
Why not more murders?
By Markk02474
Fri, 01/17/2014 - 9:32pm
"Not to mention it's the poorest neighborhood in Boston..." So it should have the highest crime and murder rate if what we have heard about "economic injustice" causing crime. Has anyone at Harvard done a study to explain it and how more low income neighborhoods can become more safe?
Two Main Reasons
By thetrainmon
Sat, 01/18/2014 - 9:00am
1) Far too isolated from the "Blue Hill/Dorchester Avenue Corridor" of gangs and drugs.
2) Preexisting conditions. Unfortunately about the only thing European immigrants share with most of their Caribbean immigrant brethren these days is language. Let's say you're in your late teens. You pack up with your parents and leave your home in Portugal or Cape Verde and join your relatives already living in East Boston or Mattapan, respectively. Coming from Portugal, and now living in East Boston, you're going to assimilate into the school system as best you can and help out with whatever your relatives' family business is. Coming from Cape Verde, and now living in Mattapan: "Welcome to the gang!!!!" Both "low income" neighborhoods; completely different mentality.
I have a friend who's a Transit Police officer--he and others do youth outreach programs in the Roxbury/Dorchester Area. He says you have to break the cycle with these kids--and that's what they are--kids. When you grow up in an environment where drugs and violence is how you put food on the table and a roof over your head, that's all you know. And the ones that don't get killed or locked up forever and have children just continue the cycle. Mayor Walsh says fixing this is going to be a "priority" over the next four years--we'll see!!
"When you grow up in an
By anon
Sat, 01/18/2014 - 10:40am
"When you grow up in an environment where drugs and violence is how you put food on the table and a roof over your head"
Nope, the government pays for their food and housing. It's why they don't work and have plenty of time and money to get into the drug and arms trade.
Notice how everyone else in their neighborhood which isn't into crime is a hardworking poor person never in trouble with the law?
We can only hope
By Boss Hog
Fri, 01/17/2014 - 9:10pm
the Yuppies will start moving to Eastie and start telling the Italians and Guatemalans how to live and run their lives.
Well,
By mikey
Sat, 01/18/2014 - 12:19am
mostly it is Salvadoreans and Colombians here now, but dear God I hope the yuppies stay away!! In the past couple years I have noticed quite a few more here though.
100th comment
By anon
Sat, 01/18/2014 - 8:59am
100th comment
HEY! WE HAVE NOTHING TO DO
By Bicycles
Sat, 01/18/2014 - 12:45pm
HEY! WE HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH THIS THREAD!
Back in the 1800's
By Jose
Sat, 01/18/2014 - 3:06pm
People that walked for their primary mode of transportation used to bitch and complain about those who owned a horse and buggy. They're taking up too much of the road, they have no respect foe pedestrians, the horse shit is all over the street etc etc.
Some things don't change.
CDC has been providing
By anon
Sat, 01/18/2014 - 12:26pm
CDC has been providing housing for the unfortunate for decades in East Boston, a great thing for the neighborhood,There are many units being built right now on Havre street near Tunnel entrance and the old EBNHC, a vacant lot that has not been used since sept 1983 , previously a furniture shop that was gutted by fire in 1983, CDC bought the land at a reduced priced and is now , I guess building a 7 unit building that is almost completed. East Boston has a population that is continuing to grow, many of the residents depend on low rental housing, without people like the CDC, East Boston would not be a welcoming place for new low income people who can't afford the escalating rental rates that private homeowners have to offer. The new yuppie that just moved in the neighborhood if he or she is making a complaint on how the building is going to look like, he or she can move back to the Fenway.
So... you think a low income
By anon
Sun, 01/19/2014 - 8:19am
So... you think a low income family can afford new construction rental prices? That makes no sense. Most middle class families I know can't afford new construction rental prices.
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