Northland Development unveiled their plan today for their 27 acre site in Upper Falls. This morning they held an on-site presentation and this evening they had an Open House for the neighbors and the public at large.
At this point, the plans are very preliminary and mostly consist of a series of artist’s renditions that sketch out an overview. The general outline is a mix of retail, commercial and residential laid out in a “main street” style. The project will extend from the Upper Falls Greenway (top left border) to Needham St (center vertical road in drawing) with an additional parcel on the far side of Needham St.
The main portion of the project, north of Needham St consists of a series of buildings with street level, small footprint retail space. The floors above contain either apartments or commercial space. On the opposite side of Needham St are a few larger footprint “big(ish) box” retail buildings. Parking will be in a multi-story parking lot in the middle of the site with a few smaller roads within the site to get cars in and out.
At first glance there are a number of things to like about the project. In particular, the connection of the project’s main retail street out to Oak St by Chestnut holds out the promise of extending and bolstering Upper Falls otherwise feeble village center. Also the developer seems to have put a particular focus on pedestrian connections both to the surrounding neighborhood as well as within the site. The general layout of the design is to have low two story buildings around the edges and as you go deeper into the site the building height’s increase. At the perimeter along the Upper Falls Greenway the plan calls for a street of two story town house with yards backing on to the Greenway.
At tonight’s open house the two biggest concerns I heard were “traffic” and “schools”. Needham St is already a traffic nightmare for chunks of every day. The biggest concern I heard about traffic was that the project not push a lot of new traffic into the streets of Upper Falls. The school issue is of course another very big concern. With 950 units of new housing included there will certainly be a major impact on schools given the scope of the project. I heard roughly equal parts of both excitement and nervousness at the size of the project, from those who were at tonight’s open house.
The whole project is only at the earliest conceptual stage at this point. None of the permitting and zoning issues have really begun so the first shovel full of dirt probably won’t be moved for at least another two years.
Northland will be holding another open house on Saturday Nov 19 in the former premise of the Halloween Store in the Marshall’s plaza. They will also be presenting the plan at November’s Upper Falls Area Council meeting on Thursday Nov 17.
@Jerry– Thanks for this valuable information about a very important project for Newton. But let’s not bury the headline. Did everyone read this far… “950 units of new housing.” Farmer’s Almanac says nothing about Hell freezing over this winter. Maybe the developer will come to their senses by spring. Just in case they don’t, I’m laying claim to the franchise for “Over My Dead Body” tee shirts. They’ll be moving a lot faster than this proposed project.
Wait. What??? I almost chocked on my morning coffee!!!
Here is a statement from Northland on the MERC, which they are developing in Waltham: It will include 269 new apartments in three five-story buildings with the first residences now available!
Avalon on Needham Street has approx. 700 apartments.
I love the idea of the new development, but do you think Northland is proposing 950 new apartments, so they will look respectful to the community when they negotiate to reduce the number of units to something under 500?
It’s in black & white on their website for the MERC, 269 new units in THREE 5-story buildings.
I can’t even begin to envision what 950 new apartments will look like, and how many five-story buildings that will be.
Rough math, if 950 are built, that would have to be ELEVEN 5-story buildings?
Avalon on Needham Street has 294 units, while Avalon on Chestnut St has 204 units.
950 units will add around 330 children to the schools ( More than population of Williams, Ward or Peirce). And I remember reading our school enrollment is growing at twice the projected rate.
I would like to hear the entire plan, that includes schools and traffic on Needham St businesses to assess its impact.
@Neil P: How do you know that? You could be right. You could be wrong. Could be higher. Could be lower. But in order come up with “around 330 children” you need to know how many studios, one bedrooms, two bedrooms, three bedrooms, etc. are being proposed. I’ve read every article and attended the presentation. I’ve never heard that specified. So really, how did you come up with 330 kids?
@Joe Louise: How do you know that? You could be right. You could be wrong. But in order to say there would be “eleven five story buildings” you’d need to know how big the MERC parcels is and how big the Avalon parcel is. (The Northland parcel is 27 acres.) And even if you know the size of of the MERC and Avalon lots, you’d also have to take into account how much open space/parking/other uses there are at MERC and Avalon and what’s planned at Northland. Oh yes, how big are the units at MERC and Avalon? How big are the Northland units? I’ve read every article and attended the presentation. I’ve never heard any of that specified for Northland. So really, how did you come up with eleven five story buildings?
And Neil P and Jo Louise, my apologies if you can show the math to back up your statements. If you have data, please share.
I have to ask this question… Why is Mayor Warren pitching this plan to the public? It seems more than a bit premature. The Mayor should be negotiating the best possible deal for the city. Instead, he’s become a pitchman for the developer before anyone knows the final shape of this project.
Neil, thank you for the updated numbers for Avalon Needham St, and Avalon Chestnut Hill. Can I ask where you found those numbers? I couldn’t find anything detailed on Avalon’s website. I have friends currently living at Avalon Needham St, and at Avalon Chestnut Hill and that’s where I got approximate numbers.
If indeed, your numbers are correct, then those complexes are huge for 294 and 204 respectively. Greg, you’re right, I don’t know the size of MERC. However, I do know how big both Avalons are in Newton and Chestnut Hill, and if they ONLY contain 294 and 204 units, then wow, I can’t wait to see the layout of a proposed 950 unit apartment building(s). It sounds like those monstrosities on Route 9 in Framingham. I am excited to learn more about this proposal, but really want to hear more details about the building plan for 950 units.
@Jo-Louise: I don’t think we can learn much comparing the Avalons on Needham Street and Chestnut Hill with this. At 27 acres, it’s not even apples and oranges. It’s more like cantaloupes and blueberries.
@Greg – I hope you had asked the questions around school impact to the developer. I am sure the mayor or Upper Falls Council has asked and can share the more accurate projections here.
My numbers are based on thumb of rules usually used in the trade. I just googled and found following that align with the 330ish number.
Avalon on Needham St – 294 apt – 98 students in NPS (33 students per 100 apts)
Avalon in Chestnut Hill – 204 apts – 72 students (35 students per 100 apt)
IMO The 330 students is a perfectly valid assumption, till the developer/ politicians provide more accurate projection.
BTW source I found is NPS enrollment analysis from Nov 2014
@Neil P: Thanks for explaining how you came up with your number. School impact is a very real concern. However coming up with enrollment projections without knowing the unit configuration seems purely speculative.
From what I’ve seen so far, it seems like it’s has a good concept and many positives. Obviously more particulars need to be ironed out, like infrastructure improments, putting electrical lines underground, widening sidewalks and traffic management. I too wonder why the mayor is supporting a project not yet fully fleshed out instead of negotiating to get what is best for Newton. Hasnt he gone campaigning?
Already I like the historic aesthetics, a point of interest for me, lacking in the 2 more modern, less creative appearance of new Newtonville projects, that are present in this development’s adaptation of the look of the mill district. “Respects the Saco-Pettee Historic District, integrating the Oak Street mill and creating architecture that complements the mill’s rich historic character.” And still its energy efficient.
I like that it’s in an area that isn’t an established neiborhood and won’t demo homes. It’s basically adds easier access to a busy commercial center while adding homes and a villiage-like Main Street.
I like it’s incorporating the greenway. Walkers and bikers can get to this area easily. Also, “Creates a new Main Street, lining sidewalks with village-style stores and restaurants and connecting Upper Falls Village to Needham Street.”I like the placement of the residential buildings and townhouses connecting to the new Main Street.
I like that it “Establishes an attractive gateway into Newton, creating an appealing, walkable streetscape along Needham Street and connecting to adjacent neighborhoods.”
” … converting an aging, obsolete industrial complex into a vibrant new mixed-use community.”
“Uses sustainable planning, design and construction, creating a “green” and environmentally sensitive community.”
Many things need to be addressed. Affordable units. It might require building a new school – Where? Taking statistics from the ratio of students to numbers of apartments in the Avalons, 33-35% students per 100 apartments, 330 students in 950 apartments is a reasonable expectation, unless the ratios change as the numbers increase.
Most developers begin with a number and scale that they know won’t be accepted, so we will have to see as it moved along.
Has Mayor Warren ever once articulated the why-what-how or purpose-cause-belief? Has he ever once used his platform to persuade the community why it matters that we support such change or how doing so would contribute to the success of Newton? I hear much command from him, but little persuasion.
Rather than paint the picture that this is about the future of a community, the takeaway of many is that it’s about the future of an individual. In my opinion, the fact that Setti Warren is playing cheerleader for Northland at this point in the process strongly calls into question his ability to lead rather than follow.
With that thought in mind: when is the vigorous debate that Jake called for a few Tab posts ago going to begin?
I remember when Northland (and their lawyer Alan Schhlesinger) came in front of the Newton Historical Commission (NHC) as a preliminary gesture, not a formal request, to see which buildings would be considered for historical preservation. If I recall correctly, Northland promised not to touch the long building along Oak St (used by Clark) and the unveiled plan honors that. However, there are two or three little brick buildings along Needham St (hard to see from the street, especially now with all the weeds) that were the object of a discussion: could they be preserved as a museum to teach children (and adults) what was actually made by the workers there?
Wouldn’t be wonderful for the Upper falls if Northland also reserved space for a new school and the children could walk and look at machines used not so long ago. One can dream, right?
Sounds like the city should be bargaining for a commitment to (a) contribution towards a new elementary school, (b) shuttle bus that does a circuit to the Green Line and maybe also the Needham commuter rail.
I find it irresponsible for the mayor or other politicians to not ask for school enrollment projections before supporting the project. How can you not look at both sides of the ledger before supporting these developments.
@Jo-Louise – You are right. The Framingham Greystar Property (Jefferson Hills) is the right comparison – Its 1,020 units. The three buildings of MERC in Waltham are just 269 units combined.
@mgwa – Great suggestion that Northland pays for a new elementary. We will need it, and it will fit perfectly in the new village center. We should also ask for more modulars for the middle school.