Getting There

Together

2014

NAVIGATING DEVELOPMENT PRESSURE IN THE GUEST

STREET CORRIDOR THROUGH THE PLANNING PROCESS ARIAM FORD

MAY 1, 2014 │ UA 523 │Prepared for Allston Brighton Community Development Corporation

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Background

The planning area of concern for this study is defined as the Guest Street Corridor, a land

mass bound by the Massachusetts Turnpike, Cambridge St., and North Beacon St. in Allston,

Boston. The Guest Street Corridor Planning Study commissioned by the Boston Redevelopment

Authority proposes to bring (at full built out scale) 810,000-1,080,000 gross square feet of

commercial/office space, 1,020-1,530 gross square feet of residential/hotel units, 270,000-

340,000 gross square feet of retail space, 270,000-330,000 gross square feet of open/recreational

space to the currently underperforming area. (Boston Redevelopment Authority, 2012) The map

below shows the study area, while the blue dots represent ABCDC properties.

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The Client: The Allston-Brighton Community Development

Corporation

Given the grand scale of planned development slated for the Guest Street area, it is only

natural that the Allston-Brighton Community Corporation, as an advocate for and representative

of the Allston-Brighton community, should seek greater involvement in the long term

development proceedings surrounding the planning site. While the stated mission of the Allston

Brighton CDC is to build a stronger and more stable community by encouraging meaningful

engagement between local communities, individuals, and institutions, the organizatons

professional interest surrounding the Guest St. area goes well beyond the goals of capacity

building and facilitation. As an owner of almost 100 family housing units within the Allston-

Brighton neighborhood, ABCDC is particularly invested in ensuring that the conceptual

developments for the study area thoroughly consider and are adequately integrated with their

existing housing units; and that the potential impacts of development on ABCDC properties and

tenants are a top priority for all stakeholders involved.

The Issues

The client has expressed fear of a lack of comprehensive integration of new development

in Guest Street Corridor with existing development and community patterns. ABCD is concerned

that there is severe risk of piecemeal development lacking a substantive and comprehensive

community planning component. As the western gateway into the City of Boston, this

development project has both citywide and regional relevance. Areas of this relevance include

transportation (regional and local), job creation, and housing issues.

The problem of scale and intensity of the community planning process within the Guest

Street corridor will have an effect on all of the stakeholders. On one hand, because the

development of the area will be in the hands of multiple developers and property owners, a

specific comprehensive planning and community process for the entirety of the study area would

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be both difficult and arguably impractical to assemble. On the other hand, given the size of the

development area, without some kind of overarching inclusion of the community process, many

potential issues and concerns of the locals have the potential to be overlooked or even

completely bulldozed, placing all involved on a dangerous road to long term animosity and

conflict.

The Strategy: Goals & Objectives

This project will focus on building the capacity of ABCDC to engage in partnerships and

open relationships with fellow Guest Street property owners of potential development sites. The

objective and purpose of this project is to identify conceptual, ideological and logistical overlaps

and gaps between the client (ABCDC) and developers in order to pinpoint both major threats

and priority areas for cooperation in a community planning process. The major strategy to

accomplish these goals will be the construction of an ownership and development profile for the

study area. This analysis will allow the ABCDC to understand the local development climate, as

well as to assess their own position in relation to other developer in the study area.

The Research

There are 321 total land parcels within the Guest St. study area totaling 7,124,012 square feet.

Allston Brighton Community Development Corporation owns 11 parcels in the study area,

totaling 87,433 square feet. These 11 parcels have a total assessed value of $4,471,000. Multiple

governmental bodies own land in the Guest St. study area. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

owns 584,814 square feet (turnpike) with a total assessed value of $31,697,000, and The

Massachusetts Turnpike Authority owns 1,472,772 square feet of land with a total assessed value

of $7,399,400. The City of Boston owns 40, 7580 square feet of land in the study area adjacent to

where the majority of ABCDC housing exists. New Brighton Landing LLC is a commercial

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development arm of New Balance and the owner of much of the land that the BRA references in

its Guest Street Corridor Study. (City of Boston, n.d.)

The owners of the top 10 largest parcels in the study area are listed in descending order

below: The listed land use for their properties are in parentheses. (Suffolk County Registry of

Deeds, n.d.)

1. Commonwealth of Massachusetts (turnpike)

2. Massachusetts Turnpike Authority (turnpike)

3. Robert F Tobin TS (Supermarket/Vacant Land)

4. New Brighton Landing LLC (Vacant Land/Condos/Commercial Lots)

5. Harvard Real Estate-Allston (Warehouse)

6. Hichborn Beacon LLC (Retail Trade-Automotive Sale and Service)

7. North Beacon 155 Association (Warehouse)

8. SS Brighton MA LLC (Warehouse)

9. Brighton Landing Condominiums (Condos)

10. Boston Edison Co. (Electricity Regulation Substation)

The top 7 largest parcels make up 2,849,849 sqft, meaning that 7 owners hold

approximately 40% of the total land in the study area. In total, including State and City of Boston

lands, government entities own approximately 29% of the land in the study area. (City of Boston,

n.d.)

7 Largest Parcels

40%

All Other Parcels

60%

% Land Ownership in Study Area

7 Largest Parcels All Other Parcels

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There are many owners in the study area who own more than one parcel. Below is a table

detailing owners of more than 4 parcels. This is interesting because it begins to uncover the

level of investment that certain owners have in the area, thus allowing us to gain insight into their

development desires. (City of Boston, n.d.)

The following maps detail parcel sizes in the study area, land use in the study area, and a

breakdown of land use in the eastern sector of the study area, given that this is where the client

owns most of their property. In all of the maps, the blue stars represent ABCDC property. The

purpose of these maps is to begin to understand the spatial arrangement of land types so that we

can begin to infer the direction that the development process might take. Also included is a map

of ongoing projects in the Guest Street Corridor. This map is useful to begin to understand how

owners and developers have begun to respond to development pressure. An interesting note is

that according to the BRA website, there are only 4 projects at various points in the development

pipeline. Their online list does not include Brighton Landing, the main focus of the Guest Street

Corridor planning study. (Boston Redevelopment Authority, 2014)

Owners of 4 or More Parcels in Study Area

Owner Land Use(s) # of Parcels Total # of Square Feet

New Brighton Landing LLC Commercial/ Commercial

Land

7 775,461

Robert Tobin TS Commercial/Commercial Land 4 471,176

Hano Homes LP Residential 11 87,433

Stuart Blank Commercial Land 9 75,580

Vineland Street Realty LLC Commercial Land/Residential 8 69,778

City of Boston Municipal 7 40,784

Bessie Pagounis Commercial 5 30,537

Hamilton Associates LLC Apartments 4 16,903

Stefano Nardelli Trsts Residential 5 12,802

First Commercial Rlty LLC Apartments/Residential Land 4 11,400

John A Juvalles Residential 5 7,173

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The Analysis

Ownership

From the data collected, it is clear that ownership of the largest parcels is concentrated in

corporate and institutional hands, including government entities. This presents considerable

development pressure, as there is the potential for increased consolidation efforts given that

corporations and institutions typically have the means to pursue such development practices. A

process of consolidation on the behalf of larger corporations would steadily decrease the

amount of development control that smaller parcel owners have in the area. It would be wise for

the ABCDC to seek out owners and developers who own multiple smaller parcels in order to

understand the level of development pressure they are facing from larger corporations as well

as the options they are considering.

Land Use

The land use map shows that commercial zoning is dominant in the study area. This is of

particular concern for a residentially based organization such as the ABCDC, as the

environmental needs and requirements for the two land uses differ considerably. While most of

the residential land is situated towards the western and eastern ends, it is often still surrounded

by commercial zoning, as seen in the eastern sector breakdown map. While there is a good base

of residential use ranging from single family to condos, these parcels still face considerable

development and consolidation pressure from surrounding commercial parcels. This pressure is

increased due to the fact that the majority of these residential parcels are owned by different

people. Without the existence of a communication network, parcel owners are on their own to

determine how to respond to development pressure, resulting in piecemeal and potentially

incongruent development.

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Ongoing Development

According to the BRA projects website, there are currently 4 projects in the development

pipeline within the study area. These sites are shown in the Ongoing Development Projects map

above. 37-42 North Beacon Street is a proposed development of 87 residential units, 5,000

square feet of retail, and 66 parking spaces. The property was purchased by Thirty 7-43 N

Beacon St. LLC in 2013 from a Mr. Toukhmanian Astkhik, and has a total assessed value of

$680,000. The developer of the property submitted a letter of intent in September of 2013. (City

of Boston, n.d.) (Boston Redevelopment Authority, 2013)

61-83 Braintree Street is a board approved development project bringing 80 residential

units, 6,000 square feet of commercial space and 68 parking spaces. The owner of this project is

SIXTY-ONE-83 Braintree St. and the expanded version of the letter of intent was submitted in

November of 2013. The parcels have a total assessed value of $1,559,000. (Boston

Redevelopment Authority, 2013) (City of Boston, n.d.)

20-26 Penniman St. is also a board approved development project. It will bring 32 condos

and 27 parking spaces to the area. The owner is Marc Resnick, and the property has a total

assessed value of $3,656,000. (Boston Development Authority, 2013) (City of Boston, n.d.)

Finally, 450 Cambridge St. is a 4 story building proposing 40 residential units and 40

parking spaces. The plan for the development was submitted March 17, 2014, and is still under

review. The owner is the Arcand Family, and the current total assessed value is $219,000. (Boston

Redevelopment Authority, 2014) (City of Boston, n.d.)

From the overview of current development activity in the study area, we can see that

there are both corporate and individual owners beginning to take steps towards developing in

the area. In my opinion, I believe that in the face of the development pressure, the Guest Street

area may begin to see many more situations similar to 37-42 North Beacon St. By this I mean

purchases of adjacent parcels from individual owners by corporate owners, and the submission

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of high investment and high density development proposals soon after. However, it is clear from

20-26 Penniman St. and 450 Cambridge St. that smaller developers want to invest in the area as

well. The major takeaways from this analysis are (1) there is still time to engage in a planning

process with property owners, as there has not yet been an uncontrollable flood of development

proposals and (2) there is an immense amount of high investment development potential in this

area.

Conclusions

Alternatives & Recommendation

In light of the information gathered in this analysis, I present 3 alternatives for the Allston-

Brighton Community Development Corporation in regards to responding to development

pressure in the Guest Street area. The first is to do nothing, and to allow individual developers to

work on their own. However this option will most likely lead to incongruent development

practices and more problems in the future. The second alternative is to lobby the Boston

Redevelopment Authority to conduct secondary studies in the area that focus on connecting

stakeholders and determining a more specific direction for the area. This is an attractive

process, however it would most likely be time consuming, and the effort would most likely be

met with some resistance. Finally, the third alternative I present is for ABCDC to initiate a

community planning effort in the Guest St. area focused on building a network of large and small

parcel owners in order to open lines of communication, build a sense of a residential and

commercial community, and define a development future for the area. Based on my research, I

am inclined to support the third alternative.

Stakeholders

In regards to stakeholders to include in this network, ABCDC should consider

government representatives from the MassDOT, the Boston Redevelopment Authority and the

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City of Boston, representatives of large corporate owners such as New Balance, Owners of

smaller commercial parcels within the study area, owners of residential buildings and

condominium associations in the area, and representatives from commercial and residential

tenants in the area.

Planning Process

I propose that ABCDC organize a planning summit, where all of the different

stakeholders in the study area can come together to collectively review and critique the existing

plans for the Guest St. area; to share information about each other’s businesses and or

roles/history in the community; to complete a collective strengths, weaknesses, opportunities

and threats analysis; to participate in brainstorming sessions regarding the desired

development future of the area; and to participate in breakout sessions focused on specific

issues such as affordability and transportation.

Potential Outcomes

Ultimately, I recommend that the desired outcome of the planning summit be the creation

of a grass roots development commission for the neighborhood. Such a commission would be

comprised of representatives from each of the stakeholder groups. The purpose of this

commission would be to continuously define local development goals through the maintenance

of a communication network between stakeholders, as well as serve the function of organizing

the combined resources of coalition members to achieve the development goals as defined by

the group.

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References

ABCDC. (n.d.). Retrieved from Allston Brighton Community Development Corporation:

http://allstonbrightoncdc.org/

Boston Development Authority. (2013, September 9). Penniman on the Park. Retrieved from

Boston Redevelopment Authority:

http://www.bostonredevelopmentauthority.org/projects/development-

projects/penniman-on-the-park

Boston Redevelopment Authority. (2012). Brighton Guest Street Area Planning Study. Boston.

Boston Redevelopment Authority. (2013, 09 09). 37-43 North Beacon Street. Retrieved from Boston

Redevelopment Authority:

http://www.bostonredevelopmentauthority.org/projects/development-projects/37-43-

north-beacon-street

Boston Redevelopment Authority. (2013, November 27). 61-83 Braintree Street. Retrieved from

Boston Redevelopment Authority:

http://www.bostonredevelopmentauthority.org/projects/development-projects/61-83-

braintree-street

Boston Redevelopment Authority. (2014, March 21). 450 Cambridge Street. Retrieved from Boston

Redevelopment Authority:

http://www.bostonredevelopmentauthority.org/projects/development-projects/450-

cambridge-street-development

Boston Redevelopment Authority. (2014). Development Projects. Retrieved from Boston

Redevelopment Authority:

http://www.bostonredevelopmentauthority.org/projects/development-

projects?mapview=1&type=dev

City of Boston. (n.d.). Assesing Online. Retrieved from CityOfBoston.gov:

Cityofboston.gov/assessing/search/

City of Boston. (n.d.). Boston Maps. Retrieved from GIS Data Hub:

http://hubmaps1.cityofboston.gov/datahub/

Suffolk County Registry of Deeds. (n.d.). Suffolk Recorded/Registered Land. Retrieved from

masslandrecords.com: http://www.masslandrecords.com/suffolk/