Neighborhood Talk about Shattuck Redevelopment with Elected Officials (and Pizza!) on March 18

A trio of politicians are leading a community meeting to discuss the redevelopment of the Shattuck Campus on Monday night at English High School. And pizza will be provided, but no word on where the pizza will be from. District 6 City Councilor Ben Weber, state Representative Sam Montaño, and state Senator Liz Miranda will hold the community conversation at 6 pm. The meeting will not be streamed. "This meeting is a community conversation, not an official meeting," tweeted Montaño.

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Franklin Park Coalition Survey Shows Neighborhood Support for White Stadium Renovation

A survey of 700 community residents conducted by the Franklin Park Coalition (FPC) showed neighborhood support for the plan to renovate White Stadium. But support would be higher if certain concerns like traffic and parking were resolved. The plans to renovate White Stadium were announced last year by the city in partnership with the future owners of a professional women's soccer league team, which would use the stadium as their home field starting in 2026. The stadium would also be the hub for Boston Public Schools athletics. But there's been resistance to the plan with several concerns, and the Emerald Necklace Conservancy and more than a dozen community members are suing to stop the plans.

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Cancelled White Stadium Impact Advisory Group Meeting Not Rescheduled Since Lawsuit

The city has not rescheduled a cancelled White Stadium Impact Advisory Group (IAG) meeting that was cancelled one day after a lawsuit was filed to stop the redevelopment of the Franklin Park stadium. The Boston Planning and Development Agency (BPDA) IAG meeting scheduled for Feb. 26, was cancelled on Feb. 22, one day after the Emerald Necklace Conservancy and 15 plaintiffs announced a lawsuit to stop "the unconstitutional privatization of public land" to rehabilitate Franklin Park's White Stadium so it can be the home field for a women's professional soccer team. The city previously held one IAG meeting about the project on Jan.

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City Places Stop Work Order on Centre Street Building After Developer Eliminated Retail Space

It's taking a long time for construction to be completed at 632-638 Centre St., and the city recently issued a stop work order on construction due to the developer not following the original building permit that included first floor retail space. Back 2017, a one-story building was razed, and a shell of a building was built. In 2020, there was a proposal to build a 4-story, mixed-use building with four commercial spots an 18 units with four affordable units. That proposal was eventually scuttled because the stop work order issued on Jan. 26 was for a construction permit to build a 3-story building with first floor retail space, second floor office space and three apartments on the third floor, said an Inspectional Services Department (ISD) spokesperson. However, after a preliminary inspection of the structure a building official noted the buildout increased to 12 apartments, eliminating the retail space all of which failed to comply with the terms of the original permit.

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BHA Requests Waiving Large Project Review of New Hailey Apartments Electrification Project

Citing redundancy, the Boston Housing Authority has requested the Boston Planning & Development Agency waive the required large project review of the Mildred Hailey Apartments electrification project on Centre Street. "This project has been publicly reviewed in various venues convened by the BHA as well as through the City of Boston's capital budget process, and the Mildred C. Hailey Tenant Organization strongly supports the project," wrote BHA Administrator and CEO Kenzie Bok to the BPDA. Located at 265 Centre St., the development consists of several phases with numerous buildings. This particular part of the project is for 456 units of federally-assisted public housing, and due to its size, Boston's Zoning Code requires the BPDA to conduct an Article 80 review of the project. The project is already approved by the BPDA under the Master Plan review.

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Emerald Necklace Conservancy and Citizens Suing to Stop Proposed Development of White Stadium

The Emerald Necklace Conservancy and 15 plaintiffs are suing to stop what they say is "the unconstitutional privatization of public land" to rehabilitate Franklin Park's White Stadium so it can be the home field for a women's professional soccer team. The plaintiffs are suing the city, the trustees of the George Robert White Fund, and Boston Unity Soccer Partners. The lawsuit alleges that the proposed redevelopment of White Stadium by Boston Unity
Soccer Partners, a private for-profit investment group, “would not only violate the White
Fund Trust and [the Public Land and Protection Act, Article 97, of the Massachusetts
constitution] by transferring public trust land to private use and excluding members of the public from the Project Site, including some Boston Public School sports teams who currently use White Fund Stadium, it would fundamentally alter the nature and feel of a significant portion of Franklin Park during the majority of fair weather weekends each year,” according to a press release. The lawsuit contends the defendants are proposing to privatize White Stadium and 1.5 acres of surrounding public parkland in Franklin Park. They contend the plan would displace Boston Public Schools student-athletes and the local community from White Stadium and Franklin Park.

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Letter: Faulkner Hospital Construction Truck Parking on Centre Street Endangers Public Safety

During the height of the Monday morning rush hour, two tractor trailers carrying cranes for the Faulkner Hospital expansion PARKED in and completely blocked one of only two inbound travel lanes for commuters going into Boston from the Parkway neighborhoods and southwest suburbs for nearly two hours. These trucks were not unloading but were parked for hours at an already congested and dangerous intersection waiting to be waved on to the construction site hundreds of feet away. This massive disruption was completely unnecessary as there was plenty of parking available on the road shoulder in front of the Faulkner Hospital just across the street - a large, long, mostly EMPTY lane many hundreds of feet long. This area is designed for a bus stop and exclusive right turn lane. The volume of traffic in that lane on that outbound side is exponentially lighter than the inbound side during the morning commute.

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Developer Proposes Knocking Down Hatoff’s Gas Station for Mixed-Use Building

A developer recently spoke with the Stonybrook Neighborhood Association about a proposal to raze Stan Hatoff's gas station and the adjacent Acme Auto Body Shop to make way for two mixed-use residential building. The Boston Bulletin reported on the meeting in which Joe Hassell of Boston Real Estate Capital attending the meeting, and said he attended the meeting to solicit feedback, and didn't have a proposal to show them. The properties have separate owners, and Hassell said he couldn't discuss negotiations. Via Zoom, Hassell said his plan was for multi-unit buildings with retail space on the first floor that would comply with the Plan JP/Rox and the plan's affordability recommendations. Hatoff's is a longtime gas station in Jamaica Plain, and has been at its current location since the 1980s.

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Proposed Renovations to Centre Street Apartment Building Would Keep 97% Affordability

The owner of a Centre Street apartment building with tenants who are primarily low-income plans on renovating the building, and keeping 143 out of 147 units deemed affordable. The owner of the building, the Jamaica Plain Company, on behalf of Paul Clayton, filed a letter of intent (LOI) with the Boston Planning & Development Agency on Sept. 18, to renovate the Forbes Building located at 545 Centre St. The Forbes Building is the last property in the Section 13A Rental Housing Portfolio, according to the LOI. Last year, it was believed that at least 85 apartments were preserved for low-income renters for at least 20 years through the program.

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Proposal to Redevelop Poor Clare Nuns Monastery Into Apartments, Daycare, Office, Gym + New Building

Public outcry in 2022 led to the cancellation of a plan for the Poor Sisters of St. Clare proposal to sell their monastery to be razed and the property redeveloped. Now there is a new proposal to rehab the Centre Street monastery and make it into a multi-use facility. Holland Properties LLC recently filed a letter of intent with the Boston Planning & Development Agency to completely rehab the existing 54,000 sq. ft.

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