Items Tagged ‘Boston’
Co. Seeks To Turn Ex-Nursing Home Into Hub Hotel
Synopsis:
A former nursing home in the Jamaica Plain neighborhood of Boston may soon be converted into a budget hotel. The current adaptive reuse plan calls for adding two additional floors on top of the old Pond View Nursing Home. Watertown-based SMC Management hopes to repurpose the nursing home into a 40-room hotel which is conveniently located by the city’s Emerald Necklace, MBTA Green Line and the Longwood Medical area. These plans, as well as the purchase of the site, are dependent on whether SMC Management will be granted a zoning variance to add the additional floors.
Interestingly, the article also notes that the former Cleveland Circle Cinema in the Brighton neighborhood of Boston may soon become a hotel as well. Although Goodison stated the hotel is planned for the theatre building, she clarifies that its really only the site that will be used as plans call for the demolition of the old building. There are no details provided as to why the developer for this other project, Boston Development Group, found it more advantageous to build new rather than reuse.
Fields Corner Municipal Building
Synopsis:
History
Built in 1874, this building served multiple purposes. It housed the Boston neighborhood’s District 11 Police Station as well as the first branch public library in the United States. It was designed in the Victorian Gothic style by George Clough, the first official architect for the City of Boston. The building was closed down in the 1970s and then experienced a number of fires in the 1980s. It is now currently listed on the National Register of Historic Places.[1]
(Re)Developer
The Fields Corner Community Development Corporation (FCCDC) is dedicated to facilitating the availability of housing and promoting economic development in order to enhance the environment for a healthy residential life in the Dorchester area of Boston, Massachusetts. FCCDC was formed by a coalition of neighborhood organizations already active in improving their respective neighborhoods: Clampoint Neighborhood Association, Dorchester Gardenlands Preserve and Development Corporation, Dorchester Neighbors Organizing Neighbors, Freeport Adams Development Corporation, and Meeting House Hill Improvement. Incorporated on April 11, 1980, its purpose was to plan and stimulate development in the Fields Corner Community to encourage further growth of the area as a residential community and to maintain a stable business community. FCCDC indicated in its Article of Organization that it would accomplish this mission by promoting business ventures and providing assistance to neighborhood groups which are involved in designing and planning activities within the Fields Corner target area.[2]
Outcome
The City of Boston had planned to raze the building, but FCCDC successfully blocked the action in court. Subsequently an intricate package of financing to rehabilitate the property was brought together by the Fields Corner CDC, who acted as developer on the construction. The property reopened in 1985 with 13 units of affordable rental housing on the second and third floors and commercial space on the first floor. Additional funding was required to renovate the old jail in the basement to a space suitable for a restaurant.[3]
The adaptive reuse of this old municipal building within the heart of Fields Corner is a great step to rebuilding and strengthening the community. Rather than losing its character to the wrecking ball, Fields Corner CDC has successfully shown that there is opportunity in the abandoned building as well as within the community itself. The great mix of uses within the renovated building will ensure constant use and activity for years to come.
Ames Boston Hotel
Synopsis:
History
The Ames Building was built in 1893 and was considered (though incorrectly) to be the tallest building in Boston until 1915. It served as an office tower and was Boston’s first skyscraper. Designed in Richardsonian Romanesque, it is the second tallest masonry load bearing-wall structure in the world.
(Re)Developer
Normandy Real Estate Partners purchased the building in 2007 and worked with Morgans Hotel Group to convert the National Historic Building.
Outcome
Opening in 2009, the adapted building now serves as a 114-room modern hotel in the heart of Boston. Along with the hotel, the upscale Woodward restaurant was incorporated into the ground floor. After eight years of vacancy, the Ames is alive and well again.[1]
The Brewery Small Business Center
Synopsis:
History
The complex was first built in 1871 as the Haffenreffer Brewery. The business saw its height topping out at 250 employees before competition in the 1950s caused production to slow. In 1965, the brewery is shut down. It became home for a moving company for a short time as well as squatters. The brewery complex gained recognition in 1982 when it was listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
(Re)Developer
The non-profit Jamaica Plain Neighborhood Development Corporation (JPNDC) was founded in 1977 and soon afterwards sought to purchase the brewery as a cornerstone to their community development efforts of revitalizing the neighborhood and supporting small businesses. After five years of fundraising, JPNDC succeeds in purchasing the brewery.
Outcome
About 10 years later, two-thirds of the building was revitalized and opened to house new local businesses. In 2008, JPNDC began the final phase to renovate the remaining portion of the five-acre, 16-building, 150,000-square foot complex. The non-profit’s goal was to “bring back the jobs that were lost when the Haffenreffer Brewery ceased operations in the 1960s and to create a supportive environment for local businesses.” A resounding success, the complex is now home to 50 small businesses with over 250 people employed.[1]
In the spirit of sustainability, JPNDC has been able to reuse a significant structure within their neighborhood, saving land and resources. At the same time, the “blight” and social problems of a vacant building have been cleared away, ushering in renewed activity and a successful local economy.
