Real Estate
Proposal for five-story mixed-used building, "The Gate" on site of former James's Gate Pub

‘The Gate’ — 5-Story Building Would Take James’s Gate Spot

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The neighborhood will get a closer look Wednesday at the five-story mixed-use development that would rise where a much-loved pub once stood. James's Gate Pub, fireplace and dual bars included, closed abruptly in September 2015. The developer is scheduled to give a presentation on the plan on Wednesday at the Zoning Committee of the JP Neighborhood Council. If you'd like to go, the meeting is 7 p.m. at Farnsworth House, 90 South St. The parcel is at the corner of South and McBride.

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Arts

Sixth Annual JP State of the Neighborhood Thursday Evening

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The sixth annual Jamaica Plain State of our Neighborhood community gathering will be held Thursday night, April 7, from 6 to 9 p.m. at John F. Kennedy Elementary School 7 Bolster St. The community conversation will address three separate topics important to the community: affordable housing, food justice, and arts and culture. Already, three meetings were held this winter to discuss these areas leading up to the State of the Neighborhood, organized by the Jamaica Plain Neighborhood Development Council, Egleston Square Main Street and the Hyde Square Task Force, respectively. The meeting is free and open to the public. A number of elected officials are expected to be in attendance.

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Real Estate

Washington Street Population Could More than Double

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If you want evidence why the city has finally launched a long-awaited planning effort for JP, look no further than this eye-popping prediction: Planners expect the Washington Street corridor to see population growth of as much as 2.5 times current levels. That possibility was among the top topics of discussion last Monday as the first neighborhood review of the proposed development guidelines at the Egleston Square Neighborhood Association monthly meeting. Chaired by Alvin Shiggs and Carolyn Royce; the discussion was led by Sue Pranger. Marie Mercurio, senior planner for Jamaica Plain and coordinator of Plan JP/Rox, was joined by her colleague Tim Davis, senior housing advisor for the Boston Redevelopment Authority, to answer questions and clarify concerns about the draft development guidelines. The planning push is a once-in-a-generation effort to shape the neighborhood's future.

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Real Estate

Where Are You Seeing Deals in JP’s Spring Real Estate Market?

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Curbed Boston recently ran a Jamaca Plain condo market analysis from the real estate site NeighborhoodX, which examined a series of JP condos currently on the spring market. Their findings? The average price per square foot for JP condos is currently $451. On the low end of the spectrum, the analysis identified 222 Allandale Road #A at $303 per square foot (although, it should be noted, the property is 5,358 square feet and listed at $1,625,000). On the high end, the going price is $620 per square foot for a condo at 156 Green St.

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Real Estate

O’Malley, Malia Back Yale Terrace Neighbors in Dispute With Bicon Dental

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At a brief formal meeting of the Zoning Board of Appeals on Tuesday, Yale Terrace residents made a plea that Bicon Dental Implants document exactly what it does in its brick building at 501 Arborway. The property does not appear to have permits allowing the dental clinic or professional school activities it advertises as taking place there. ZBA chair Christine Araujo referred the matter to the city law department. Speaking to the JP News the next day, Yale Terrace resident and plaintiff's spokesperson Gerry O'Connor, who is also an attorney, said that the long effort to simply require Bicon to file an accurate occupancy permit is not over. He said the hearing was brief; Vincent Morgan, DMD, president of Bicon [which has a staff of 15 dentists, technicians and hygienists] was there but didn't speak, and about 20 Yale Terrace residents attended.

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Real Estate

Yale Terrace Group Gains Support in Effort to Revoke Permit at Bicon Dental

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In the latest chapter in a long, strange saga, neighbors of Bicon Dental Implants won a small victory. Calling the matter "unique and a challenge," Dave Barron, chairman of the Jamaica Plain Neighborhood Council Zoning Committee opened a hearing at its Wednesday meeting to consider whether Bicon Dental Implants at 501 Arborway should have its certificate of occupancy revoked. In a years-long struggle with the company, the Yale Terrace Association and Gerard O'Connor, acting for himself "seek to untangle the confusing, incomplete and inaccurate regulatory history of the property" as its Dec 14, 2015 zoning appeal states. Recusing himself as a member of the JPNC Zoning Committee and moving to the opposite side of the room, O'Connor (a resident of Yale Terrace, a private way with nine homes on it) said "We are looking for support from the Jamaica Plain Neighborhood Council to require Debbie LLC (the owners of the Bicon building) to put right in the regulatory files a clear and accurate record of what  is" happening inside 501 Morton Street (also listed as 123 Morton Street). "The current uses are dental clinic, clinical laboratory and professional school," O'Connor said.

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Map of project area plus nearby parcels
Real Estate

Neighborhood Group Calls for Redesign of Proposed Stonley Road Apartment Building

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[Editor's note: The following is a letter from the Stonybrook Neighborhood Association to the Boston Redevelopment Authority and local politicians.]

76 Stonley Road Issues Statement
prepared by the 76 Stonley Road Subcommittee of the Stonybrook Neighborhood Association (SNA)

Background and Summary
76 Stonley Road is a proposal by developers John Morrissey, Bryan Austin and Michael Forde for a 5.5 story 32-unit apartment building. The proposal involves a portion of the Stonybrook Neighborhood currently zoned as and used for industrial purposes. A potential transformation in this area, from industrial to residential, represents a significant opportunity to provide additional housing in an established and increasingly popular neighborhood that is pedestrian friendly and well served by the MBTA. Any proposal for this area should reflect these facts, respecting the existing uses and planning adequately for the future. The project as currently proposed poses a number of problems in this regard and fails to fully live up to the site’s potential.

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Brendan Behan Pub, 378 Centre St., Jamaica Plain
Real Estate

Behan’s Building For Sale at $3M

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One of the best-known properties in Jamaica Plain is on the market. The multi-family property at 378 Centre St., which has The Brendan Behan Pub, was put up for sale in early January, according to a listing by Coldwell Banker. The asking price? A cool $2,995,000. The property is in the heart of Hyde Square.

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Real Estate

As JP Property Taxes Rise, Who Should Shoulder the Bill?

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Some Jamaica Plain News readers expressed sticker shock upon receiving their property tax bills this fall. It's perhaps no surprise, then, that JP figures prominently in a recent Boston Globe story examining rising residential property taxes in the city, particularly on triple-decker buildings, where bills are up 11 percent. In Jamaica Plain, residential tax assessments are up 16 percent, according to the Globe -- a larger percentage increase than in Roslindale (13 percent) and West Roxbury (8 percent), although not as high as in Dorchester (19 to 20 percent) and East Boston (19 percent). In addition to interviewing Eva Osorio, who counsels would-be home buyers at Jamaica Plain-based community development group Urban Edge, the Globe story features a JP couple grappling with how to respond to a sudden jump in their two-family property tax bill. From the story:
Bob Malsberger and his wife, Norma Steinberg, saw the taxes on their two-family in Jamaica Plain jump 20 percent, about $1,200 a year.

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Real Estate
Inside Blessed Sacrament Church on Saturday, March 29, 2014.

At Blessed Sacrament, An Effort to Maintain Affordable Housing, Community Space

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The history -- and the potential future -- of housing at the Blessed Sacrament Church parcel in Hyde Square was the topic of a Boston Globe piece this weekend by columnist Joan Vennochi. Portions of the three-acre campus have already been used for a variety of housing uses, including affordable condos, market-rate lofts, low-income apartments, and units for the formerly homeless. In her column, Vennochi describes the efforts of the Hyde Square Task Force to maintain affordable housing, as well as community space, on the site:
After stopping a plan to develop 34 luxury condos at Blessed Sacrament, the nonprofit task force bought the former church, which is located at 365 Centre St., in a neighborhood known as Boston’s Latin Quarter. Now it’s looking for a visionary development partner who is willing to commit to a plan that sets aside a performance and gathering space for public use — and offers affordable, not luxury, housing. ...

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