The Sunday Globe features a piece by Jon Chesto about developer Robert Korff and his plans to remake the Washington Street Corridor. For those of us who have been following the situation for the past several years, beginning with Korff’s purchase of the Orr block, the piece doesn’t contain much that we don’t already know. What I found interesting is the story placement; this morning it was the lead online.
The need to redevelop Washington Street from Newtonville to West Newton Square should be obvious to anyone who drives by: Most of the buildings are outdated and unattractive. The need for housing across the Greater Boston area is also well documented. The one question I have about the Washington Street plan, and frankly any mixed-use development, is the retail component: How does any developer make that work in the face of intense and growing competition from Amazon and others? I’d like to know what you all think.
Here’s the story, which is already drawing a lot of reader engagement.
My only objection from the beginning is that the building is too effing tall.
As for the police building, really? Right next to the courthouse seems to be a great place for it. I suggest instead that newton city halls property is too valuable and should be sold and developed into mixed use housing. Let city hall be in a mall somewhere where the property does not take away opportunity costs.
Retail other than coffee shops and restaurants are going to have an extremely hard time. Some suggestions other than food and drinks
After school centers or private pre k
Attract small startups to move into office spaces
Pet day care
Doctors
Home renovation design centers
Nail salons
A real kosher butcher shop
.. yeah i kinda looks bleak for retail in general anywhere in America… maybe Amazon shoukd open a few satellite offices in Newton to make up for it
Kudos to Korff for his ambitious plans to modernize some of Newton’s ugliest eyesore locations, and to the Fuller administration for working to put a framework for reasonable development in place. However, the notion that Washington Street should be narrowed from 2 lanes in each direction down to one lane is ludicrous. The traffic along that stretch is already brutal! Let’s not forget in our rush to provide bike lanes and wider sidewalks that we are a northern American city where the weather is lousy at least as often as not, and that we rely first and foremost on automobiles for travel. The more housing we build, the more residents who move in, the more traffic we’ll be experiencing. What’s the point of rehabilitating the street if nobody can get to any of the newly constructed facilities, let alone just drive down the street from West Newton Square to Newton Corner? Please, a modern redevelopment would be great, but not if it would make it even more difficult than it already is for residents to drive down the street to get to places like Whole Foods.
@Gerry: Have you watched this video? It depicts how narrower streets can actually improve traffic. It was made by Jeff Speck, a renowned expert on this topic who is able to document where similar techniques have been successfully employed elsewhere.
I understand the inclination to be skeptical about these things (I have been). but Speck has done this stuff you and I haven’t.
The traffic between West Newton and Newtonville is brutal? Yes it is, if you’re a pedestrian trying to cross the street or a driver trying to turn out of a driveway or parking space. Driving through, though, at all hours of the day I have never had any difficulty whatsoever. Once east of Crafts Street or west of West Newton Square it’s a different matter, but the stretch at hand is massively oversized, leading to the speeds on this outdated demi-highway being much too high to be comfortable for anyone but a through-driver.
I think Mayor Fuller has the right approach bringing Principle Group for the master study, costs aside the city needs a neutral set of eyes on this to balance out the NVA and Mark Development. It’s concerning to see all of these driven by one developer but the locations make sense given proximity to the Commuter Rail/Riverside/Pike and there’s a significant amount of potential if this is planned out and designed properly.
Very interesting quote from the article
“Although he says he’ll be guided by the report, Korff already has a pretty good idea of how Washington Street should look. He hired Brookline-based urban planner Jeff Speck, and they sketched a much narrower version of Washington Street where it fronts along the turnpike: its four lanes reduced to two main traffic lanes and one central turning lane.”
Is the $500,000 no bid plan intended to be a guide or suggestion?
I think the idea of consolidating and moving the police station has great merit. The existing police department buildings are fragmented and put a heavy demand on West Newton parking in a way that no other use would. The demand for police parking is only going to increase.
Is it true that there used to be more public parking behind the post office and police station?
Yes, there was public parking behind the police station. Quite a bit actually. Are there that many more police now than then?
@Patrick Many of us have been involved with this issue for quite a while. He already owns the property. He wouldn’t have purchased it if he didn’t think he was going to do what his vision is with it. The $500000 study is going to be a rubber stamp waste of money. And, btw, one of the reasons we don’t have affordable housing
Public Servants Are Losing Their Foothold in the Middle Class https://nyti.ms/2K7SRtG
You have to factor in the widening income gap. There’s plenty of crazy knock downs to make bigger houses on West Newton Hill. But no place for teachers to live.
Frank,
The reason we don’t have affordable housing has nothing to do with ‘new development’. Its simply “jobs”.. period
Look at home price gains in ANY American city close to job centers. Every single one has had crazy appreciation, pricing out people left right and center. Places where prices stagnant and affordable? no jobs in the area or crazy long commutes.
If tear downs, new constructions were not allowed, do you really believe you could still buy a 1500 sqft Newton home in livable condition for 400-500k in 2018?
The only thing that would happen is that “home” would be bid up to 750-800k (current market price relative to Boston) and the new owner would spend 200k for an extension and gut the inside because they chose Newton to be close to work and schools.
Now, if you want to city of Newton to buy land and build hundred of units at a loss just so low income folks can pay cheap rents. It would work but it would be a crazy amount of $$ loss to the city:
– It would be akin to Newton building a new 20 unit apartment building for 7M (5M land + 2M build) and renting each unit for 1000 a month.
market rent would be 3000, so Newton is spending 500ka year to house just 20 people. Instead of renting at market rate and getting an income of 720k a year and using that income for social services and helping everyone
Unless we live in a communist society, you cannot ‘force’ down home prices when the job market is booming
What if Mr Korff were to be encouraged to build office buildings instead of housing on the properties he has “ invested “ in ?
The cities tax base would be significantly altered.