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Community Meeting RE: 375-399 Chestnut Hill Avenue The Hamilton School, 198 Strathmore Road, Brighton Thursday, March 26th 2015 Meeting convened at 6:30PM Presentation: 375-399 Chestnut Hill Ave- “The Circle” ● Site is the former Cleveland Circle Cinema and Applebee’s ● There is a new development team working on this project- National Development is now the lead designer, Boston Development Group remains as a partner ● The comment period for this project ends on April 13th ● About the new developer o National Development is locally based and has developed high quality projects for over 30 years o Have a commitment to community, creativity, stability, and sustainability o Projects they have worked on include Ink Block in the South End, Market Street in Lynnfield, Waterstone in Wellesley, and Station Landing in Medford, Goddard House in Brookline Approach to The Circle ● Create iconic, high quality investment and development ● We (Developer) have a great vision for Cleveland Circle, and we’re hoping this can be a catalyst for the area ● We (Developer) are looking for opportunities to improve with minimum impacts to the abutters ● We (Developer) want to get this built in 2015 ●
Things that have remained the same in the project: o 162 hotel rooms o 92 apartments o retail and restaurant space o 188 parking spaces o Commitment to mitigation on Chestnut Hill Ave o Vision for active street front on Chestnut Hill Ave
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Things that have changed: o Shift from multi-family housing to senior housing o Will have 12 affordable units
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Courtyard will create a more pedestrian friendly area Will be 2 distinct buildings rather than 1 U-shaped building Building area has decreased More parking spaces are underground in the garage There is a 27% trip reduction in morning peak traffic from the originally proposed project and a 38% trip reduction in evening peak traffic o There is the vision for a nice piazza upon entering o The piazza effect will create a nice environment for pedestrians but cars will also be able to drive through o The use of pavers will slow traffic and put the emphasis on pedestrians o The idea is similar to what has worked at the Waterstone Development in Wellesley o The garage entrance will be tucked under the hotel not in the middle of the main entryway o This will be a much more welcoming public space o Some of the usable perimeter around the residences will include space for public use- chairs and tables, benches, etc. o The restaurant will have some outdoor seating o There will be public access from Chestnut Hill Ave along the side of the building o Tried to make the parking lot more welcoming- sidewalks along edges and landscaping o There will also be additional green space along the Chestnut Hill Ave sidewalks The buildings will be brick and metal- brick bottom, metal top The hotel fitness center and pool will be on the ground floor in the corner of the building, which would’ve been unappealing for retail Off-site mitigation: o Landscaping improvements to Cleveland Circle pedestrian islands o $600,000 traffic related improvements to the Beacon St/Cleveland Circle intersection o Working with the MBTA and BTD to see what is best for traffic/transit/pedestrians in the area o New crosswalk across Chestnut Hill Ave at the project driveway o $250,000 package for the Cassidy Playground o Create safer intersection for pedestrians o More synchronized traffic o Left turn lane on Beacon o Bike Share lane
Questions/Comments This is a much better project than the original (proposed project), can we get a commitment for local jobs on the project? Will you use Allston Brighton residents during construction? o I can’t commit yet, but we will be sitting down and working out a plan for hiring Is the $250,000 for the park given to the city or are you involved in the process?
o It’s up to the city to decide what to use the money for at Cassidy Park o The parks department already has ideas for the playground How will the bike lanes work? o They will go through the intersection and be outbound on Beacon Street Will cars from this project have access to the Waterworks site? o The cars in the back end of the parking lot will exit through the Waterworks area Can we get access to the park from the parking lot/Waterworks area? o That’s something we may be able to work on with the city What impact will this development have on the field? What impact will the field have on your site (field lights on late, people in and out of the field area)? o We understand how the park works, we know the lights will be on late and things like that o While our residents may not be the most active users of the park we hope to be an active partner What’s your vision for the larger area? o The Parks Department has a master plan for the park, that’s not us o We obviously don’t want to impact the park negatively This is a very handsome design, will there be services here? Are these active seniors, is this independent living? o Yes this is independent living- residents will have their own full apartments, most will have balconies o There will be some services- fitness facility, community dining room, lounge, common areas, residents can have access to a driver for a monthly fee, housekeeping services, cultural events, and activities o We partner with an operator- will probably be Epic Senior Living Will there be private space just for the seniors? o There will be a common area within the building with deck space o There will be a band around the back perimeter of the building with outdoor space for residents only with tables and chairs o Hopefully our residents will be getting out and being active as well How will traffic in and out of the site be organized? o There won’t be much heavy traffic within the site, won’t be high volume coming through o Will use different color pavers to distinguish the space for cars coming and going rather than painting a ton of lines o There will be signage to explain directions Tremendous progress on this project, this used to be a complete disaster area, investment to the site was made, the walls were restored, a lot of work was put in to keep this in shape. I don’t think there are enough real community benefits; we won’t see any noticeable changes. The investment into the intersection isn’t a community benefit it is absolutely necessary to make this project possible. Don’t just get it built, get it built RIGHT! A lot of time has been spent trying to improve the project because the neighborhood wants it to be high quality and done right. The residents of the area weren’t trying to stop this project from happening but it needed to
make sense and be done well. The new developers have come out and said that the single building design didn’t make sense and we know that BDG could not finance it; this is what we were saying all along. We really appreciate the new developers working with us. The BRA has also come out and said what we (in the IAG) have been saying all along, that there should be a community planning process and community members should know about the developers. Please do not rush this development, we are happy with improvements but need to work out details, we still have a lot of questions and need another meeting to discuss this. Are there any plans to change the opposite side of Chestnut Hill Ave, one rendering in the past had eliminated part of the sidewalk? o We will not eliminate any sidewalks, we will only be eliminating one crosswalk and putting in a new one in a different spot We as abutters asked for a lot of things early on that have been ignore or denied (Waterworks residents). What is the commitment from the BRA and BTD to ensure enforcement of traffic laws through the Waterworks driveway area? o There will be an on-record agreement between the museum, condo association, and developer about use of this exit. How many parking spots will there be for visitors of the residents o There will be 92 spots for residents and visitors o a 1:1 ratio is sufficient for residents, staff, and visitors based on our expected demand for resident parking o We hope to hire staff that lives nearby and can walk/take public transportation It would be nice to see the Waterworks easement road have right and left turn lanes is this possible? o Will refer that to the committee working on this What about moving vans and deliveries in the entrance/piazza area? o Resident move-in is scheduled and there is a designated loading area for this and deliveries to the apartments o There is an area near the garage that allows entrance underneath the building for the hotel deliveries o We will restrict the size of delivery trucks Are there any underground piping issues? This happened with the Waterworks site. o There are some abandoned drainage pipes owned by the town of Brookline but they just voted to abandon them so they can be removed o Everything else has been taken into account Lifelong Allston Brighton resident and electrician: Will you hire local workers? This will be a great project for the community if you can hire local workers, minorities, women, and include apprentices. o We will meet to discuss this, can’t commit tonight Why is there a gap in the sidewalk in the back parking lot? o There’s just not enough room to have the sidewalk throughout the whole parking lot Start date? o In a perfect world late summer or early fall
How long will it take to remove the old building? o Hopefully the old building can come down within a month Will you be using any dynamite? o Probably not, there is one tough area but there are a lot of options Will there be another PDA meeting? o We are doing this together, this is a combined meeting Would like to second that we need another meeting, we need to work out all of these details and get everything in writing o Everything will be reflected in the board memo The piazza approach is a little concerning because older folks will be walking through the piazza and hotel guests will be driving through. You need to very carefully and strategically design this piazza (using pavers, signage, etc.) to make it safe and avoid pedestrian and vehicle collisions The community needs to be involved in these traffic improvements as well not just BTD o BTD is the final authority on the crosswalk issue but we can try to work together Developer could possibly go to the BRA board in April o This project needs to re-presented to the neighborhood association since there have been changes, you should have come to the neighborhood group (BAIA) Representative from painters: please hire local workers- we want a commitment other projects on the north shore have hired out of state workers and it is a disadvantage to the neighborhood o Can’t commit tonight but we will be compliant with what the BRA requires Last year the comment letters to the BRA about this project favored it 2:1, so it’s great that we’re finally going to get something done. It is embarrassing that it has taken us this long. At this point the project is a no-brainer. o It is not the communities fault that nothing got done, the old developer could not afford the project and the design was bad (another resident) These are significant improvements, great job. Can you extend the small lip around the corner at the top of the hotel building? It will make it a more attractive building o Would be happy to do that Are you tied to this rendering? o This is what the BRA will stamp and what ISD will issue permits for D-14: Will you be putting in lights and cameras to deter/help solve crime? o We will be doing exterior cameras and lighting throughout the site would like to sit down with BPD and review the plan for security Sheet metal workers would also like a commitment; we had a 100% commitment a year ago, what’s changed? o We have been around a long time and respect what you all do, we want to work together.