Charles River Realty's Michael Argiros is making the rounds of West Roxbury civic groups with his latest proposal for the decrepit old Armstrong Pharmaceuticals plant on Lagrange Street: Replace it with a complex of 48 apartments and 75 parking spaces.
Argiros's original plan - 62 apartments with 52 parking spaces - brought howls of protest from neighbors at an April meeting. At the time, Argiros said he would come back with a smaller plan.
Because the new units will be built as modules in a factory for assembly on the site, construction could take just seven months. The proposed structure would be four stories on the Centre Street side and three stories near the Needham Line train tracks.
Argiros bought the property in August. Two weeks later, one of the buildings was heavily damaged in a five-alarm fire.
Argiros is looking at making a formal presentation on his proposal to the West Roxbury Neighborhood Council in November. He'll need approval from both the BRA and the Zoning Board of Appeals for the project on land now zoned for commercial use.
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Comments
Adam
By cybah
Thu, 10/16/2014 - 8:33am
did they ever find out what started the fire?
is this a parking lot or apartment complex?
By fietsdavid
Thu, 10/16/2014 - 9:25am
1:1 parking ratio is more than enough. Lets not pave over West Roxbury or anywhere else in Boston that people without cars will end up indirectly subsidizing...
Good god Westie
By Ari O
Thu, 10/16/2014 - 11:05am
Please try to make some sense. You don't want more traffic, but you do want more parking spaces. There's train service downtown every half hour at rush hour literally across the street. 22 minutes to Back Bay, 28 to South Station. If you work near Back Bay it would be 25 minutes door to door. (Work in Longwood? Ruggles is a 15 minute ride.) The Needham Line has spare capacity compared with other lines, and if the whole DMU plan comes to fruition it could sport even faster, more frequent service. This is exactly the sort of site that needs to be built upon: we can add housing without adding traffic. This certainly seems like the type of housing we need more of: middle-income, transit oriented, but not super-expensive downtown.
Do you need a car to live in West Roxbury? Not really. This site is within half a mile of a Shaws and a Roche Brothers. Need a gallon of milk or a prescription? There's a Walgreens a stone's throw away. Also nearby: a bank, a pub, a coffee shop. (I'm No need to drive to any of those. Take the train home from work, shop at the Roche Brothers. Food too heavy? Weather too grim? Catch the bus (the 35, 36 or 37) that run basically every 10 minutes from there to home. Have dinner. Walk to the park across the street. Or you know, the other park across the street. Or the big park a mile away. Smoke all your dope. Or, you know, play catch with your kid.
But, no, we can't have housing near a train station. Instead, let's force everyone to buy something in Medfield or Ashburnham (nothing against them, just throwing out exurban towns) or somewhere far away. Then they can all drive downtown on 495 and the Pike in traffic and park in the new Big-ass Parking Garage that MassPort is building. It's a perfect circle.
(And I keep having to yell about how intertwined transportation and housing are, if only people would take their heads out of their behinds.)
Not yet
By adamg
Thu, 10/16/2014 - 1:30pm
Although I did ask the BFD this morning if there had been any update. If I hear back, will post.
Why hasn't this
By anon
Thu, 10/16/2014 - 9:23am
idiot gotten it through his thick skull that no one in the neighborhood wants an apartment complex on the corner of Centre St.. And on the corner the busiest intersection on Centre to boot.
Yeah, when is the developer
By anon
Thu, 10/16/2014 - 10:29am
Yeah, when is the developer going to realize that the neighbors blocking his are the very people benefiting from keeping supply down and raise the value of their homes! Who cares about an out of control housing shortage causing our cost of living to skyrocket up to NYC levels when you can make bank selling your home?!
...
By SwirlyGrrl
Thu, 10/16/2014 - 10:36am
... while complaining that their kids can't afford to live in the neighborhood.
How would you know?
By anon
Thu, 10/16/2014 - 11:04am
You're from the sticks! I can afford to live in Westie, what i cant afford are these over priced apartments being built by developers from out of towners like yourself.
This over priced prefabbed complex still is 50% unoccupied.
http://www.belgradeplace.com/
$2,300 for a 1br.
Ummmm
By Stevil
Thu, 10/16/2014 - 11:38am
You live in a city. All the development can't be downtown. If you don't want development there - where do you want it? The city as a whole needs to grow at about 1% and the outer neighborhoods about double that to keep up with demand for middle and upper middle income housing. The price is none of your business unless you are the developer. It's what the market will bear.
sticks?
By anon
Thu, 10/16/2014 - 2:16pm
Medford is more urban than Westie and much closer to downtown Boston.
Wasnt that the Getty gas
By kvn
Thu, 10/16/2014 - 2:43pm
Wasnt that the Getty gas station?
No
By anon
Thu, 10/16/2014 - 2:45pm
That's still there (Vacant), its was some old lady's house/ backyard before Roche Brothers and Lords & Ladys built around it.
And the suburbanization of
By anon
Thu, 10/16/2014 - 9:32am
And the suburbanization of Boston continues
Continues?
By adamg
Thu, 10/16/2014 - 9:35am
Have you ever been to West Roxbury? It's already suburban.
And
By anon
Thu, 10/16/2014 - 9:47am
It should stay that way!
But it won't
By Stevil
Thu, 10/16/2014 - 11:40am
Did you see the Mayor's plan for 48,000 new housing units - there isn't enough space or money for all that downtown - a large chunk of that is going into Eastie, WR, Brighton, Rozzie, Dot and HP. You can argue all you want - there's no other place with the space or the land prices to put it. Probably 250-500 units per year, per neighborhood for the next 15-20 years.
Not an opinion. Reality.
Brookline
By anon
Thu, 10/16/2014 - 11:59am
Brookline has stood in between Rolsindale and Brighton long enough - it is time we took it by eminent domain and put some Section 8 housing out there.
On what land?
By adamg
Thu, 10/16/2014 - 1:37pm
Please show me the swaths of developable land in West Roxbury.
You might be able to make a case for replacing the low-rise commercial buildings along Centre and Spring streets with mixed-use projects, but somebody already tried that, with a plan to add two floors of residential units atop the West Napoli pizza place. If you drive down Centre Street, you'll notice it remains a one-story pizza place.
That's a start
By Stevil
Thu, 10/16/2014 - 2:37pm
And in my opinion local residents should make up their own minds about how development takes place with some kind of advisory panel etc. But yes - mixed use along commercial roads near transit is a start with rezoning. Then triple deckers for example on Washington street need to be turned into low rise apartment buildings - 5-10 stories - a scaled down version of what's happening in the Fenway. Multifamily houses into apartment buildings with more units. And - the sacred cow - some single family houses are going to need to be converted to multifamily - 2-4 units per lot. Basically we need to double the zoning throughout most of the city to give us room to grow - not by BRA fiat, but as of right. Then it'll be a lot easier and cheaper to convert a burned down factory into an apartment building or a one story pizzeria into a multi-story mixed use facility - which can be even larger if you can combine the pizzeria, the Laundromat, the insurance office etc.
Not saying there are large swaths of developable open land - there are some - for example the orphanage off center street - could be some spectacular townhomes if they ever sold it. Etc. Etc. Etc. No one solution - but it starts by roughly doubling zoned residential building capacity throughout the city. I'll leave it to the neighborhoods to figure out where that is in their area as long as they meet the larger planning needs of the city - which is about 1% growth annually citywide (the city can determine who needs to be 2% and who needs to be 0.5% but the average will be about 1%.)
Here's a stat for you
By Waquiot
Thu, 10/16/2014 - 2:54pm
I had to run the numbers. Between 2000 and 2010, Boston added over 20,000 housing units.
Zoning would created impetus. I would also say that if they rezoned around the West Roxbury train stations, it would not be the end of the neighborhood as we know it. That said, I don't live there.
MBTA
By anon
Thu, 10/16/2014 - 3:19pm
Of course, there's no way the current transportation infrastructure could support that many more people living in the city without improvements to the infrastructure and an expansion of MBTA services.
Which isn't going to happen for political reasons.
I respectfuly disagree
By Waquiot
Thu, 10/16/2014 - 3:40pm
Theoretically, if there were enough riders due to enough Transit Oriented Development, there would be impetus for upgrading the Needham line or perhaps extending the Orange Line.
Of course, the cynic in me agrees with you entirely, but the theory is there.
Your statement seems to
By Eric
Fri, 10/17/2014 - 8:24pm
Your statement seems to presume that there is available capacity in the road network, which there is not. Since it is at least *physically* possible to increase the capacity of public transportation, I think we have no choice but to act as if that is going to be the way forward.
Ever been to West Roxbury?
By anon
Thu, 10/16/2014 - 10:19am
Ever been to West Roxbury? Have you seen the number of homes which have private driveways? It's been suburban like that for as long as I recall. Personally, I don't mind. Each neighborhood is different and has a unique character. West Roxbury is a desirable place to live for many -- not every area of Boston has to be exactly the same density as others.
Either density gives way or
By Eric
Fri, 10/17/2014 - 8:25pm
Either density gives way or price goes up. You can't have a neighborhood in stasis with an increasing population. It just won't happen.
Good idea
By Lin
Thu, 10/16/2014 - 9:33am
There is a need for more affordable units. West Roxbury is a nice area. Much as it is near the train station, there is a need for 1 parking space for every bedroom, plus some extra for guests. Or are people not supposed to entertain in their home?
Yeah the whole place needs to
By circular logic
Thu, 10/16/2014 - 10:02am
Yeah the whole place needs to be one giant parking lot until people run out of places to go because its all parking lots where places could have been.
What?
By anon
Thu, 10/16/2014 - 11:10am
To recap - this entire lot is currently covered by a burned out building with some parking, bordered by a street, a railroad track and a cemetery. And your complaint is that 'the whole place is going to be a parking lot'?
Where is the green space that is being lost? Are there trees getting cut down here? Building with parking being replaced by building with parking. OMG!
More affordable units?
By anon
Thu, 10/16/2014 - 10:23am
What going to be the pricing.
And if you taking about "low-income" units, well frankly fuck'em. Everything built in Boston in the past 5 years has been either low income or luxury rental units. West Roxbury is a blue collar neighborhood not Newbury St nor is it Geneva Ave.
Built something that works with the existing neighborhood.
Affordable is not the same as low-income
By adamg
Thu, 10/16/2014 - 10:35am
Argiros has been a landlord in West Roxbury long enough to know that if he even hinted he might have a scintilla of concern for poor people, he would be run out of town on a rail, after being tarred and feathered, if the good folk didn't first tear him limb from limb.
The city requires a certain percentage of units in developments be set aside as "affordable," which basically means slightly less expensive than market rates. In the case of the current proposal, he's proposing seven "affordable" units.
Rents for all the apartments (only three would have three bedrooms, the rest would be studios and 1- and 2-bedroom units) could range between $1,600 and $3,200.
Ya because
By anon
Thu, 10/16/2014 - 11:05am
$1,600 for a studio in Westie is more than reasonable. What was i thinking?
Reasonable rent
By Lin
Thu, 10/16/2014 - 1:58pm
What are the rents in the new units by Roche Bros.? Last I saw they were outrageous. IE, $1800 for 400 square foot studio.
West Roxbury is not a blue
By anon
Thu, 10/16/2014 - 10:56am
West Roxbury is not a blue collar neighborhood anymore, it hasn't been in awhile, it is a very wealthy neighborhood. A recent article in the Globe showed W. Roxbury to have the largest change in wealthy residents in all of Boston (earning over $100,000). Its become Newton without the schools.
http://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2014/10/09/may...
Keep your facts to yourself
By anon
Thu, 10/16/2014 - 11:49am
Keep your facts to yourself know-it-all! Boston neighborhoods never change! Westie and Southie will forever be blue-collar, the North End will always be Italian, Dorchester and Roxbury will always be dangerous, and JP will always be Boston's Latin Quarter.
Nothing has or will ever change Boston's neighborhoods, and it has been that way ever since Mayor White locked the city in amber in 1975 to keep it safe from change for all time!
Yeah, sure
By Stevil
Thu, 10/16/2014 - 12:50pm
Right after he woke up one Sunday morning and made Charles Street one way - the wrong way.
:-)
Exactly Right
By Roslindaler
Thu, 10/16/2014 - 12:38pm
The irony of those who oppose infill development and creating centers of density around public transit in the outer neighborhoods are actually the people (or family of people) most likely to be forced out of the neighborhoods that they have lived in forever because supply simply can't meet demand in this city. The mere fact that our population is set to increase by tens of thousands of people a year makes the trend in ever higher housing cost guaranteed to begin with, but when you couple that with the fact that the people moving to Boston are coming for jobs in very high paying industries, it makes the issue all that more urgent. The "newcomers" will probably think that Boston is expensive, but frankly they will be earning the kind of money that just allows them to pay. Is there a chance that we are in a massive "luxury" bubble fueled by over eager developers or foreign real estate investment? Sure. However, all of the economic trends in Boston (and the greater Boston area) in terms of population increase, availability of highly skilled and highly paid jobs, and the level of educational attainment in the workforce suggest not. The demand - or at least the ability to pay - is there. If we want an economically diverse City (which I do) we need to start building as fast as we can, yesterday.
"1 parking space for every
By anon
Thu, 10/16/2014 - 3:08pm
"1 parking space for every bedroom, plus some extra for guests. Or are people not supposed to entertain in their home?"
That's what public on-street parking is for.
The most pleasant apartment neighborhoods of Boston don't have 2+ off-street spaces per unit.
Ha, ha, ha
By JohnAKeith
Thu, 10/16/2014 - 10:43am
And the greedy real estate agents laugh and collect their higher commission checks ...
Affordable housing - YES!
By MassMouse
Thu, 10/16/2014 - 3:33pm
As someone who is slowly being priced out of West Roxbury as I search for another place to live, I would welcome an affordable place for a single person with a moderately good and steady income to live. The prevailing idea of "affordable" sort of makes me ill...
So, my apartment search continues... Le sigh
Peace/out
Mistakes
By anon
Thu, 10/16/2014 - 4:23pm
Don't let the BRA make the same mistakes they did in Southie by allowing politically connected developers build projects with less than one parking space per unit.
Ask any realtor, it's next to impossible to sell housing in Southie without parking.
Mistakes in your logic
By jeffkinson
Thu, 10/16/2014 - 5:47pm
You're suggesting that those wily developers used their political connections to build projects that those poor helpless developers couldn't sell??
Let them build as much or as little parking as they want. If they build units without parking, and it sells, then the neighborhood will get new housing without new traffic. If the housing doesn't sell, then that's entirely the developer's loss. Why on earth should the BRA step in and force them to overbuild parking?
Are there any new buildings
By Charlie
Fri, 10/17/2014 - 1:19pm
Are there any new buildings that they're having trouble selling or renting because of lack of parking? It's one of the hottest neighborhoods for real estate sales right now. Prices are through the roof. The reason why on street parking has gotten so tight is because it's free. If people are already stretching their budget to buy that new place, why would they spend extra for the off-street parking space when they can just park on the street for free?
Who in their right mind with
By Eric
Fri, 10/17/2014 - 8:16pm
Who in their right mind with a car would move into a neighborhood like Southie right now when there are so many cheaper places to live where you *don't* have to drive around for half an hour looking for a parking space?
It makes no sense to force developers to build new parking when units without it can sell just fine. It contributes to the traffic problem. After all you can mandate all the parking you want (to the point where many off-street spaces go unused--which is actually happening), but you can't make the roads wider.
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