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Brighton Whole Foods could make way for apartment complex - then move back in
By adamg on Fri, 07/20/2018 - 9:56am
The Boston Business Journal reports a developer wants to tear down the Whole Foods and Citizens Bank buildings on Washington Street in Brighton and replace them with a 270-unit apartment building that would have room on the first floor for the market to move back into.
The project would bring the number of apartments and condos proposed for a three quarters of a mile stretch of Washington Street, from the Brookline line to St. Elizabeth's, to 1,295.
Already in the works or proposed: 115 units at 5 Washington St., basically next to the Whole Foods; 70 apartments at 101-105 Washington St.; 180 apartments at 139-149 Washington St.; and 660 apartments and condos at 159-201 Washington St. - the former St. Gabriel's.
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Comments
Most Whole Foods feel cramped
Most Whole Foods feel cramped to me, but that one especially so. I hope it gets more square footage in the new complex. Otherwise, great place to add TOD units. It's right between the B and C lines.
Symphony
Ever been to the Symphony one? Horribly cramped!
Density on the B and C demands street-level turnstiles
Next big MBTA improvement needs to be getting the ticketing off of the green line cars, or else increasing density in Brighton is going to be counterproductive.
All door boarding solves this for a few hundred million less
Allowing payment/boarding at all doors is a relatively cheap fix for long GL dwell times, and barring delays should happen by 2022
Street level turnstyles
would be a pretty significant safety issue at many of those stops.
1. The stops are narrow, and the platforms fill dangerously at the stops, especially if a train has been expressed and offloaded a ton of passengers or has skipped that stop to express a late train. People would be forced to choose between losing their fare or leaving a crowded platform for safety purposes, and most people would probably act dangerously to save a few bucks.
2. The stops are narrow, and turnstyles would not allow handicap access
3. The stops are exposed to the elements, and in inclement weather, people would be forced to lose their fare if they left the stop. This would encourage people to skip the train in bad weather entirely, or to stay at the station even when their health and well-being is jeopardized.
4. People who opted to "fare jump" would be incentivized to do so by walking into the station up the tracks (there's no train-sized turnstyle for the train to go through after all), or by jumping fencing or jersey barriers that serve as a barrier to the road surface.
Nnnnoooo!!
I live right around the corner. Where am I going to get my Whole Foods while they're building?!?
Oh, right, I'll use my Amazon Prime membership and have them deliver for free. Never mind. ;)
Slightly more seriously; goodness but there is a lot of building going up in the area! Traffic and crowding on the MBTA are going to get worse...
haha
while i don't dispute that the city needs more housing desperately, more large buildings in that area is going to make the commute go from bad to worse. fortunately for me, my 17 years of living off the b and c lines recently ended, so i won't have to endure the increased ridership this will bring.
Déjà vu from the South End story,
But what if there was a train that went down Washington St...?
Of course the Orange Line on that Washington St. was quicker than the A Line, but I digress...
This section of Washington St., of course, did not have the A Line, but Brighton as a whole could use the additional transit. The headway of the 65 will have to be decreased.
Free the 65!
Run 'em more often, and even on Sundays!
Improve the 65
It should turn around at Brookline Corner (Longwood riders can catch the Green Line, Kemore riders too) and go all the way to the new Allston commuter rail station down Market St instead of turning around at Brighton Center.
this is not needed.
I live here, its the areas only super market not to mention the T is packed to capacity we don't need more apartments in the neighborhood it just cant support the amount of people.
https://www.google.com/maps
Star Market - 0.5 miles - 1717 Beacon St, Brookline, MA 02445
Trader Joe's - 1.1 miles - 1317 Beacon St, Brookline, MA 02446
Stop & Shop - 1.2 miles - 155 Harvard St, Brookline, MA 02446
Stop & Shop - 1.2 miles - 60 Everett St, Allston, MA 02134
Stop & Shop - 1.2 miles - 155 Harvard St, Brookline, MA 02446
Star Market - 1.3 miles - 1065 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA 02215
Star Market - 1.6 miles - 370 Western Ave, Boston, MA 02135
Whole Foods Market - 1.8 miles - 1028 Beacon St, Brookline, MA 02446
Whole Foods
Yes but if you are used to walking two blocks to buy pickles Beacon Street is kinda far. Also Whole Foods is great to have when there are snowstorms.
uh
the shaws on beacon is actually pretty good and is really close to whole foods.
Deja vu
When a developer tells you that they are going to close an establishment, build a new residential development then move the closed back establishment back in the ground floor once completed, do NOT believe them. Developers do this to soften the blow when they go before BPDA.
Example: Anthony's Pier 4, Jimmy's Harborside, Liberty Bell in South Boston, Atlantic Beer Garden/Whiskey Priest, and I'm willing to bet my life savings on the Bell's Market development.
the economics of a small
the economics of a small local chain of restaurants, most of which don't have enough float to be closed for a month let alone a year, are very different from an amazon-owned chain behemoth. a whole foods in the basement is the exact kind of amenity developers want to sell to DINKy millennials. the only reason this wouldn't work out is if the store currently doesn't do great business and amazon decides there's no market, which, having seen the parking lot, doesn't seem likely.