File photo: Olmsted Place Apartments under construction on Nov. 19, 2014 at the site of the Home for Little Wanderers.
Real Estate

Lottery Announced for 37 Affordable Apartments at Olmsted Place

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The Boston Redevelopment Authority on Tuesday announced a lottery for 37 affordable apartments in Olmsted Place, a luxury complex overlooking Leverett Pond and Olmsted Park. The development has been a center of controversy, including a lawsuit by the JP Neighborhood Council that led to the developer creating a $150,000 mitigation fund. That money will be split between two JP non-profits, with most of it going to City Life/Vida Urbana to aid in tenant organizing. The market-rate units at Olmsted Place begin at $2,600 a month, according to the development's website. Below is the announcement from the BRA, including important details on income limits and how to apply.

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Real Estate

Letter to the Editor: Report on JPNC Left Out Key Information

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The report in Jamaica Plain News as to the Neighborhood Council’s decision at the suggestion of the Jamaica Pond Association to direct $5,000 of the 161 South Huntington Ave. litigation settlement funds to the Fund for Jamaica Pond Park, is not accurate as it does not mention the good works of the fund, which is under the supervision of the Park Department. (“The $5,000 voted for the Fund ... would double [its] assets ... In its past four IRS filings it has never had a balance of more than $5,000”).

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Real Estate

Olmsted Place Developer’s $150K to Fund Tenant Organizing, Park Work

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An example of the work done by City Life/Vida Urbana. This is a City Council hearing on "just cause" evictions. Credit: City Life/Vida Urbana

On Tuesday the Jamaica Plain Neighborhood Council voted 10-1 to recommend grants totaling $150,000 to two JP organizations. The money comes from the mitigation fund from the Boston Residential Group, developers of Olmsted Place Apartments at 161A South Huntington Ave. City Life/Vida Urbana would receive $145,000 for its two-year "Health Through Housing Justice" program along the Washington Street corridor; $5,000 would be given to  to the Fund for Boston Parks and Recreation on behalf of the Jamaica Pond Association for improvements to Jamaica Pond.

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Development

Tenant Group Eyed to Get $150K in Neighborhood Council Deal

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Boston Residential Group has completed the exterior of its enormous housing development on the western edge of Jamaica Plain overlooking Leverett Pond. Marketing of the 196 mostly luxury apartments is well underway with slogans like "Where Cattails Meet Concierge " and "Where Pondside Meets Poolside." The developers of what's now called Olmsted Place Apartments had originally offered to build at their expense a public walkway connector from the 3.5 acre site to the Jamaicaway as a means of settling a zoning lawsuit brought by the Jamaica Plain Neighborhood Council. The site is the former Home for Little Wanderers. At the February meeting member Ben Day reported that the Architectural Access Board did not give a waiver for construction.

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Transportation

Hemmed-In 39 Bus Causes South Huntington Gridlock

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39 Bus got too close to parked car, traffic stopped both directions on South Huntington @universalhub @MBTA pic.twitter.com/eJxinJcKvS— Aidan Ackerman (@aidanackerman) March 10, 2015

Tuesday morning, a 39 Bus got stuck by a row of parked cars, causing a massive traffic tie-up. The incident happened on South Huntington, where parking spaces are taken up by snow and then parked cars block a travel lane. Residents complained for weeks of a similar situation on Hyde Park Avenue before the city finally brought in snow throwers to clear the roadway.

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