Oran: ’28 Austin has rapidly become a new and welcoming addition to Newtonville’

Oran: ’28 Austin has rapidly become a new and welcoming addition to Newtonville’

by | Feb 22, 2020 | Affordable housing, Newtonville | 36 comments

Scott Oran, one of the developers of 28 Austin Street submitted this update in response to Bryan Barash’s Village 14 thread from earlier this week.

Thanks Bryan for starting this timely conversation.

I am writing as one of the developers of 28 Austin Street to share some facts.

We are so proud of how 28 Austin Street has rapidly become a new and welcoming addition to Newtonville exceeding even the expectations of its many supporters.

And yet we anticipate

Newtonville resident discovers what became of an old factory near her home

by | Nov 1, 2019 | Newton, Newtonville, zoning | 10 comments

Newtonville resident Amy Dain wondered whatever happened to an old factory in her neighborhood.

The abandoned factory of my childhood memories was not like nineteenth century riverfront factories, brick splendor punctuated by regular windows. It was also no concrete box of the modern era. It was all murky glass, pre-modern, ghostly. I recall no signs on the building, no indication of what was fabricated within. It was so out of place that I questioned if I had made it up. Google proved useless to answer.

What Dain discovered as she tried to find out what happened unearthed a public debate — and zoning decisions — that sound familiar today.

Newton needed to decide what could replace the factory, on the park, next to an excellent elementary school, and a short walk to CVS and the commuter rail. One suggestion was

Proposal would create new parks in Newtonville and West Newton

by | Mar 15, 2019 | Newton, Newtonville, Washington Street Corridor, West Newton | 23 comments

The Globe’s John Hilliard explores the proposal for park decks over the Mass Turnpike in West Newton and Newtonville that’s part of the Hello Washington Street visioning process.

Under proposed zoning for the area, developers would be able to build commercial buildings of up to 10 stories by special permit, but would also have to contribute to a fund to help support construction of the park decks, as well as improvements to the city’s commuter rail stations, [City Councillor Susan Albright] said.