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Single-family home could be replaced with 28 apartments on Wachusett Street in Jamaica Plain
By adamg on Mon, 07/15/2024 - 11:33am
Rendering by McKay Architects.
A Burlington developer has proposed replacing a "run down" single-family house at 140 Wachusett St. in Jamaica Plain, between the Boston Teachers Union and Young Achievers Schools, with a 28-unit apartment building with 20 parking spaces.
Most of the apartments will have one bedroom each, but there will be five three-bedroom units, according to the filing by Ozan Dokmecioglu's DND Homes of Burlington.
The filing does not specify the number of apartments that will be rented as affordable, but says the project will "meet and exceed" city requirements, which call for at least 13% of units to be rented as affordable, or in this case, about four units.
The lot's zoning calls for a single-family home. Although the lot is mostly surrounded by two schools and a church, DND says its design will help the building blend in with the smaller style of nearby homes - and preserve much of the Roxbury-puddingstone outcroppings on the site:
The 28 residential units have been designed to fit into the sloping site with outcroppings of puddingstone. The parking garage is located on site with all the spaces under the proposed building. The project site will be developed with appropriate design and site improvements to provide proper public safety and functionality. The building has been designed to respond to a more residential structure. We designed the building to fit within the height of the neighboring buildings.
The color and texture of the outcroppings of puddingstone have been incorporated in the façade ground level. The stone base will tie in with the puddingstone. We are also proposing a light gray brick to tie into the adjacent school and clapboard siding and mansard oof to tie into nearby residences. The site slopes from front to back and Walk Hill to Patten Street. The massing has been designed to limit the height at the lower area and tie into the height of nearby structures at the Patten Street side.
DND, which builds residential projects in Massachusetts, Florida and the Turkish controlled part of Cyprus, bought the almost half-acre property in 2021 from the Bethel AME Church of Boston, which sits across Walk Hill Street, according to Suffolk County Registry of Deeds records. The church in turn bought the parcel in 2007 from the Archdiocese of Boston.
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Comments
Could have a lot more
Could have a lot more affordable units if they didn't waste space on 20 parking spaces. Anything built that close to Forest Hills should be completely transit oriented.
It's a 10-minute walk
That's a long way when you're carrying groceries that you've already had to schlep on the bus or train, which is already an unreliable transit option. Perhaps the developer could incentivize EV ownership by installing chargers on site, but for a lot of people, not having a car isn't realistic given the state of the T. There is a fair amount of on-street parking in this neighborhood, although I suspect that the on-site parking was included at least in part to alleviate concerns from neighbors about losing their ample street parking.
There are many options here
Many people in this world live a 10 minute walk from things they need. Shit, my 70-something aunt lives in an urban area and walks to everything even when it is raining - like miles each day. She has a really nice cart that she uses when she needs to carry stuff that can attach to her rolling walker thingy. I pay for her to take a ride share whenever she needs it, but she very rarely uses it.
Only in the US does a 10 minute walk (GASP!) seem to be an insurmountable obstacle possible only if you are one of a select few hardcore fitness types. This is called "conveniently near shops and transit" most of the rest of the developed world, where people use things like folding shopping carts and bicycles.
Parking for people who cannot walk and have official documentation is necessary. The rest is convenience. Easier to create space for those mobility accessible units if you have less parking, too.
A 10-minute walk to the
A 10-minute walk to the grocery store would be one thing. But to walk to the T station, wait for the train or bus, spend time in transit, then walk to the grocery store on the other end, do the shopping, then do all that in reverse - that's a significant time commitment. People who are working, who have small children, etc., don't necessarily have the ability to commit multiple hours to buying groceries. If there was a grocery store that was more accessible to this part of JP/Roslindale, that would be huge.
I have bingo!
Care to pack any more standard issue groups into OMG A TEN MINUTE WALK! I'd like to get a blackout.
I'm way old and I have done such walks with small children, via the MBTA, with a job and groceries involved (although that usually involved a bike trailer once they were old enough to ride in it). It isn't hard or complicated and doesn't take hours - it just takes a bit of planning and thought. When the kids are a little older they fight over who gets to push the cart. This can also be accomplished by grabbing what you need for a day at the grocery on the way home from work, and doing an omnishopping less often using a car share to get home.
This is why people have such a problem getting physical activity - even when they can walk they don't and make lots of excuses for why it isn't possible. Show what you wrote to someone living in a comparable urban area outside the US and they will likely laugh and mutter something about Americans.
I'm surprised you don't ride your high horse to the store
I have no problem with walking places. I walk several miles a day. You're the one making it about people not wanting to walk.
Don't be silly
I'm sure Swirly will ride in on a tandem bike with her horse.
Like a circus act.
Everybody seems to be
Everybody seems to be neglecting the topography of the area. To reach this site from Forest Hills station (The nearest bodega is across the street from the station) involves an uphill walk which is pretty steep starting from Hyde Park Avenue and especially treacherous in the winter.
I'm still trying to wrap my head around the space that a one family house occupied could fit a 28 unit apartment building. I guess any yard space is being totally eliminated.
Space
It's a huge lot for a single family. Take a look on your map explorer of choice.
Not a single family house
The building on the lot is a former kindergarten, now closed.
Not sure why the developer doesn't seem to know that. I wonder what else they have gotten wrong--more important issues.
The units would be a lot
The units would be a lot cheaper too if resources weren't used on parking.
Until we have local schools parents need parking
Until we have local schools parent households need parking so they drop their children off and pick them up for afterschool activities.
That is crazy
My parents had one car while I was growing up. First a station wagon and then an Econoline. My father worked an hour away. I played every sport (badly) on separate teams from my three brothers and did girl scouts. It is this amazing ancient practice called carpooling, walking to anything less than a mile, and bike riding to anything less than 5.
Correction
Young Achievers isn't where Google Maps says it is - it's in Mattapan. I'm not sure why the map has it on Patten St - that's a condo building.
Correct
YA used to be where the BTU school is now on Walk Hill St. They moved in 2009 to larger digs at the old Solomon Lewenberg School on Outlook Rd. In Mattapan.
No parking spaces would be
No parking spaces would be better. They can park scooters in the apartments.