Public hearing on development at Riverside: 12/3/09
At 7:30 p.m. tonight (12/3), BH Normandy will be presenting proposals to neighbors for a mixed-use development of at least 600,000 square feet. Please come tonight if you can. The hearing will be held at the old Emerson School, 545 Grove Street, Newton.
Details from an earlier news story: ”The real estate group BH Normandy proposed a development that would include 420,000 square feet of office space, 60,000 square feet of retail space and 190 residential units (which, at a size of 750 square feet apiece, would add another 140,000 square feet to the site). The plan also does not include space for parking garages.”
Plans dated 12/10/09: Option A, Option B.
3 comments
I went to the meeting last night. Here’s a summary:
It was a continuation of their outreach to abutters. They went out of
their way to demonstrate that they are listening and responding to the
comments they received at a previous public meeting of neighbors.
They are still flexible with the use distribution, depending on the
market. But the drawings look like they’re still planning mostly
office, with some residential, and still less retail, as reported in
the Tab (repeated in John’s post).
The sketches look good as far as being sensitive to the aesthetics
from the neighborhood (Grove St) side. Two high-rise office buildings will be closest to 128. Four- to five-story residential, along with 1 acre of fountains/skate-rink/open space will be closest to Grove Street. The commuter parking structure, taller than the residential buildings, will be behind them. Aside from the structure, each building’s parking will be beneath it.
Connectivity seems pretty well considered as well. Ingress & egress
from a new exit directly to the highway (or frontage road). Access to
the parking structure facing that new exit, not Grove Street. Improved connection between Lower Falls and Auburndale. The Hotel Indigo is integrated into circulation plans as well. Multimodal transport connections (bus, taxi, bike) consolidated under commuter parking structure.
One downside for me is that this looks nothing like a walkable village
on the 22-acre site. Residential is segregated from office and retail. You get the impression that the uses, while co-located, are expected to be totally independent.
I didn’t stay for the residents’ feedback, so I can’t speak to that.
–Matt
As much discussion as the Panera in Newton Centre has been generating, the Riverside MBTA site should be getting as much coverage. The next community meeting will be held at 7:30 p.m. Thursday 12/10 at the Williams School auditorium, 141 Grove Street, Auburndale. If you can make it… I missed last week’s and hope to attend.
–John
John and I both attended the community meeting at the Williams School last night. Attendance was reasonably high – approximately 80-100 community members. The group handed out fact sheets for the new development – John has scanned this in and I have uploaded it to the Files section.
All in all, the group seemed to have been caught a little off-guard by the crowd’s comments on three major items:
• Project scale
• Traffic plan
• Lack of connection between the Lower Falls and Auburndale neighborhoods
Matt has already covered the description of the site pretty well, so let me move towards some of the other items brought up in the meeting.
There’s approximately 500,000 square feet of space shown here in two towers (13 and 9 stories) located behind the Indigo hotel. This calculates out to roughly to 1,250 to 2,000 net new employees at the site (assuming 250-400 sf per person depending on use). This is a very good employment generator for the city, but will generate significant
traffic pulses at rush hour. There is an alternative plan that substitutes additional office for residential space along the southeast (bottom) edge of the development. The neighborhood – given their concerns regarding the Williams School – may unwittingly push the developer to omit the residential component and make these office facilities. This would reduce the mixed-use nature of the development, generate more pulse traffic, and also exacerbate security concerns (fewer residences means fewer eyes on the street at night).
There is also only a token amount of retail at the site – two pads to accommodate about 12,000 and 33,000 sf of space. For reference, this is about the size of a bank branch and a medium-sized restaurant, respectively. While a good step in the right direction, I fear that only two spots may not be enough to generate critical mass to make them self-sustaining (Waban Center, a much older development model with about 6 stores mixed in with the transit and other uses is more self-sustaining).
The bulk of the meeting involved complaints and concerns regarding the increased traffic along Grove Street, the two proposed roundabouts, and discussions as to how to create better pedestrian access from Lower Falls – at least at one level to provide a safe walking path for students trying to get to the Williams School. Residents expressed concern that the two roundabouts, while a good traffic calming and merging measure, make pedestrian crossing more hazardous as there are no dedicated times for pedestrians to cross. While unresolved, VHB (the traffic engineer) has noted the concerns and states that they will be examining the issue.
Normandy (the developer) also played up their plan as having more direct access from 128 to the site, thereby reducing the demands on Grove Street. This is not completely accurate. There are traffic improvements for those arriving at the site and departing to the North (where most traffic is expected from). There are no such improvements from the South.
I do have one more commentary, looking at this project through my site selection perspective: The market – meaning corporate users of real estate – wants to see this development here. High tech and biotech companies have been looking for options that give them both access to lower cost suburban housing markets and direct mass-transit access to Boston. For example, Biogen is in the process of constructing a new 400,000sf office building in Weston at the intersection of 128 and 117. They did this since nothing else met their requirements for size and access.
In other words, the Riverside proposal blows anything currently available in the Waltham/128 market out of the water. From an economic development standpoint, this is good, and we do want a mix of development at the site. This should include a very substantial office portion. If done properly, such a development could attract companies to the area offering jobs that would allow for minimal commutes for many Newton residents. The development will also provide one hell of a tax base for the city. But as Matt notes there are much better design solutions for truly mixing uses at this site.
The overall development density seems correct for the opportunity, and the density also appropriately leverages the excellent public transit connections the site affords. I would like to see more of a true mixed-use plan (with more neighborhood retail) and a better pedestrian connection within the site and between the adjoining neighborhoods.
-Chris Steele
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