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BRA approves controversial Egleston housing development
By adamg on Thu, 08/13/2015 - 7:08pm
The BRA board this evening approved a 76-unit development at 3200 Washington St. over the chants of protesters who said it doesn't go far enough to provide affordable housing in the neighborhood.
The developers of the project say the 18 affordable units they are providing is 8 more than required under BRA regulations.
Board member Michael Monahan said protesters should be applauding the project, not condemning it, because the project is planned with absolutely no public money, unlike, he said, a project approved earlier in the meeting that relies heavily on public financing.
Board member Ted Landsmark voted against approval.
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Comments
Good
I have lived several blocks from here for nearly 15 years, but I'm sure I would be considered unwelcome and a recent intruder by the protesters on Washington Street last weekend. They are converting past industrial space which had been used for plumbing supply for many years into housing. They are adding to the overall number of affordable housing units in the area. The adjoining building is vacant and can't be lived in.
Face it protesters--this is an area that people want to live in. Demand creates price increases. If you don't like it, blame your neighbors who are selling their homes to the intruders for hefty profits. I guess if Bernie becomes President he can tax the rich enough to provide for you all you want so you never have to know the satisfaction of a good day of work and providing a meal for your family. I'm sure he will give you a 56" TV with premium channels and a comfy couch.
I don't know anything about
I don't know anything about this situation but from reading your comments I can tell that the protestors were minority and I also can tell you being a resident of Egleston still have ignorances about the community in which you live.
Agreed and yet
The people protesting against this development were pretty misguided and made the community process very frustrating. They essentially targeted a development that not only played by the rules and got tons of community input but went above and beyond the affordability requirements, including the renovation of an abandoned building next to the site into affordable units. They continued throughout to demand "100 % affordability" for households making $26k a year--literally impossible unless they wanted another housing project or maybe tents or treehouses. They did not dialogue--they issued "demands" and vilified anyone who disagreed. And they tried to inject race at every opportunity while ignoring the strong neighborhood support for the project, including from the Latino community. It was poorly handled and did absolutely nothing to tackle the very real issues of affordability that everyone--even us Bernie supporters--is worried about.
Egleston
It will be interesting to see how the gentrification of Egleston plays out. It is a neighborhood that was once considered one of the most dangerous areas of the city, but now sits directly next to one of the most gentrified areas and has the benefit of good public transportation, and proximity to Franklin Park (which has undergone its own amazing transformation in terms of reputation). Since at least the 1960s, Egleston has been a neighborhood of predominantly black working class and poor people. The politics of race that played such a huge role in Boston from the 1970s-1990s often played out in Egleston and the surrounding neighborhoods of Roxbury, and it does not surprise me at all that this developer was met with resistance to their plans not only based on economic terms, but also in terms of race. There is no doubt that as property in Egleston is gradually acquired by private developers, and individual home buyers, and transformed economically, it will also be transformed in terms of its racial makeup unlike any other neighborhood that I can think of in Boston that has undergone gentrification. I would be interested to hear from others whether they can think of another "black neighborhood" (as we strangely tend to say in Boston) that has undergone this process.
Um...
Ever been to the South End? There's your example and a much more drastic one that's happened within my lifetime.
I don't understand a lot about your post though. What is uniquely Bostonian about saying "black neighborhood?" What are these "most gentrified" areas that now flank Egleston? Central JP? It's surrounded by Roxbury, Franklin Park, and the distinctly shabbier end of JP. And I don't think you're acknowledging that the ethnic/racial makeup of the neighborhood is historically pretty complex--black, yes, especially on the Roxbury side but also heavily Latino and with a strong core of Irish and other white folks who have been around a long, long time. The Jews left Egleston in the 1960s. Our Lady of Lourdes used to have a mostly Irish congregation--now it's Dominican. The elevated came down almost thirty years ago. There's been a lot of change.
I don't mean to go on and on, but I'd just say that this is a complex, layered area--this isn't a simple case (is it ever?) of gentrifying a "black neighborhood."
South End
Good point. The south end is a no brainier comparison. And yes, JP is the gentrified neighborhood I was referring to. As for "black neighborhood" I personally think it's weird that we use that term. It is a left over from the Boston where change simply didn't happen and neighborhoods were heavily segregated both by circumstance and actual policy.
What can I say
Some people want to leave Eggleston square as Egglestan just so they can keep themselves relevant - after all, who needs loud-mouth unreasonable demand makers in a safe middle class neighborhood?
You obviously don't go to many BRA neighborhood meetings
You might want to find the next project proposed for Roslindale, West Roxbury or Hyde Park.
Yes, the NIMBYs force is
Yes, the NIMBYs force is strong in all neighborhoods, reaching its peak between Beacon Hill and JP :)
Also try Allston or Brighton
Also try Allston or Brighton
The all or nothing approach
Will, hopefully, continue to fail. Their demands were ridiculously over the top - almost to the point of being a parody of Jamaica Plain protesters.
As someone who actually lives on Montebello, and is approaching nearly 10 years on the street, I'm freakin' ecstatic about getting rid of the auto shop and revitalizing the Economy Plumbing building. It's a long time coming.
I don't understand all the
I don't understand all the protests of this development. No one is losing their home or business and its adding 18 affordable units to the area. People also complained about it being too tall even though the storage building across the street is taller(main streets like Washington SHOULD have tall buildings). A new building is a big upgrade over the eyesore that is currently there.
It's an age old problem of real estate
People who live in a neighborhood for an extended period feel they should be guaranteed that they can live there indefinitely regardless of market forces basically. In this case, the protestors seem to have taken a ethnic angle to it. I don't really think it's a city thing or race thing specifically either. Roslindale used to have more Greeks, now we have more Haitians and that's the way things change.
Are there figures available for the proportion of market rate vs Section 8/subsidized housing per neighborhood somewhere?
How about $150k from
From giving the OK to a straight-up luxury development on the other side of JP? http://www.jamaicaplainnews.com/2015/04/15/tenant-group-eyed-to-get-150k... They literally took a payout from a luxury developer so they could stage protests against a non-luxury building on the rougher side of town that's going to add 18 affordable units to the area. Honestly...you can't make this stuff up--it's like something out of The Wire. Sheeeeee-it...
The tenant group referenced
The tenant group referenced in your article - City Life/Vida Urbana - actually didn't officially sign on the the protesters' demands of 100% affordable units in the development, and they actually only participated in recent protests linked to some of their members who are facing eviction because they are tenants in homes nearby that banks are foreclosing on and want to free up for future sales. The protesters on the other hand are unaffiliated with any organization, just people who live in Egleston who are facing rent increases or who have already been pushed out economically and are fed up - no payouts accepted from the Neighborhood Council, nor could anyone give them money because there aren't a 501c3.
Also, since everyone is throwing around the 18 'affordable' units, let's be clear about what they were. The proposed affordability would be for a 3 person household making roughly $63,000/year, or for a 4 person household making around $69,000 - average household income in the neighborhood is significantly less than this.
Strange bedfellows.
I know that non-profit groups have to form complex alliances and may not agree on the finer points. But City Life has been a strong presence on the vocally anti- team and has seemed overeager to conflate this project with anti-eviction and gentrification issues that have nothing to with the specifics of 3200 Washington St, especially when compared with other developments in the community.
Re affordability: if you have quibbles with the city's definition of affordability, wouldn't it make sense to take it up with the people who set those requirements? And again--take a consistent position with developers rather than take money from one so you can go after the other? I'd also be curious to know how accurately the estimates of local income reflect the neighborhood given the large amount of existing subsidized low-income, senior, and institutional housing within blocks of this project.
Utterly corrupt
The protesters who got $150,000 as a payoff have no shame, of course. That payoff undoubtedly has encouraged protesters to do the same thing with other projects. I'm so glad these developers didn't succumb to that pressure.
You do a great job with the real estate news!
Keep it up!