Update 1/22/16 – The demolition of prefab metal buildings that once belonged to the Flanagan & Seaton Motor Car Co. is underway to make space for the self-storage facility and other structures that will be part of the mixed-use development led by New Boston Ventures and SSG Development.
After the buildings are torn down to their foundations, soil testing and any necessary remediation will begin, Williams told the source. The levels of possible contamination remain unknown, he said.
The self-storage facility will be built on McBride Street opposite English High School. SSG is also conducting prep work for the condominiums slated to be built by New Boston Ventures.
At a Dec. 14 meeting of the Stony Brook Neighborhood Association, the developers offered to donate $60,000 to the group or build a community room inside the self-storage facility. The association voted in favor of the community room, the source reported.
“The change over the last few days has been dramatic,” resident Tobias Johnson told the source. “Our little street [Burnett Street] is excited to see the warehouse come down, and thrilled with the planned housing and retail. It will be well worth the short-term noise, dust and inconvenience.”
4/24/15 – A large, mixed-use development that will include a self-storage facility as well as residential housing, community amenities and retail received approval this week from the Boston Zoning Board of Appeals. The $80 million project at 3521-3529 Washington St. has been discussed since 2010 and was approved by the Boston Redevelopment Authority last fall. It’s being spearheaded by real estate developers New Boston Ventures and SSG Development LLC, a real estate investment firm that develops, builds and owns self-storage facilities along the East Coast.
The project will be built on the site of the former Flanagan & Seaton Motor Car Co. and is part of an ongoing effort to redevelop an area of town known as the Washington Street Corridor. The self-storage facility, a four-story building comprising 132,000 square feet, will devote a wall to be used as a community mural and include a community meeting space. Both features are part of a community-amenities package being offered by the developers, with cost estimates for the meeting room at $80,000 and the mural at $50,000, according to the source.
A portion of the land designated for self-storage showed soil contamination during environmental testing. The contamination is likely connected to the area’s previous industrial uses, architect Andy Graves told the source. An area of soil in a corner by the railroad tracks and McBride Street will be dug out and hauled away by an environmental clean-up company, according to David Williams, director of market development for SSG. The developers’ final design relocated a 44-unit residential block away from the contaminated area, the source reported.
Other parts of the project include 132 residential units, with 88 inside a five-story, mixed-use building at the corner of Washington and McBride streets and the relocated 44 units lining the train tracks off Burnett Street. The mixed-use building will include 25,000 square feet of retail space on the first floor, according to the source.
Additional project amenities include a community garden and a Hubway station. Hubway is a bike-sharing system that provides more than 1,300 bicycles at 140 stations throughout Boston, Brookline, Cambridge, and Somerville, Mass. The developers will also provide $100,000 for what will eventually be a connector from the Southwest Corridor Park bike trail along the back of the property by the train tracks, the source reported.
SSG is headquartered in Brookline, Mass. The company operates nine self-storage facilities in Connecticut, Florida, Massachusetts and Rhode Island.
Sources:
- Jamaica Plain News: 132-Unit McBride Street Development Clears Final Hurdle
- Jamaica Plain News: Demolition Begins on Washington Street to Make Way for Mixed-Use Development
