Hey, there! Log in / Register
Baker Street Market in West Roxbury to be replaced with 14 condos and a smaller store
By adamg on Tue, 12/12/2023 - 12:50pm
Rendering by Lucio Trabucco.
The Zoning Board of Appeal today approved plans by the owner of the Baker Street Market at Baker and Vermont street in West Roxbury to replace his store and parking lot with a four-story, 14-unit condo building with 23 parking spaces - and a smaller space for him to keep operating the market.
Two of the units - a one-bedroom condo and a two-bedroom one - would be sold affordable - to people making no more than 80% to 120% of the Boston area median income.
Owner Louis Dakoyannis, who grew up on Baker Street, says he would fill in the curb cut on Vermont Street.
Several nearby residents spoke against the plan, saying that the building was out of character with the surrounding one- and two-family houses and would lead to parking problems on nearby streets, even with 23 parking spaces, in part because customers of the cleaner across the street, which Dakoyannis also owns, would have nowhere to park.
They also said it would contribute to further congestion on Baker Street. One resident of nearby Chesbrough Street said it already takes her a half hour to drive the roughly half-mile to Spring Street in the morning.
The proposal needed board approval for reasons that included the building being taller than allowed under the site's zoning and because of issues related to traffic visibility at the intersection. Dakoyannis's attorney, Joseph Hanley, said the new building would actually increase visibility at the intersection.
Neighborhoods:
Topics:
Free tagging:
Ad:
Support Universal Hub
Help keep Universal Hub going. If you like what we're up to and want to help out, please consider a (completely non-deductible) contribution.
Comments
One resident of nearby
This is a 5 min drive at most. West Roxbury is ridiculous.
We all hate traffic but when
We all hate traffic but when it comes down to it we live in a city! Traffic is to be expected.
Then lobby for good sidewalks
In fair weather you can walk or use a wheelchair/scooter to cover that half mile in 10 minutes.
That half hour commute
Probably coincides with the start of 5k the day at Catholic Memorial.
As for the rest of the day, maybe a 10 minute commute, depending on lights.
half hour walk
If you were walking on your hands, blindfolded and backwards.
Half mile?
I mean, that's typically timed out as 10 minutes, though I can do it in 8.
Traffic does sometime make walking a quicker option.
A half hour is likely an exaggeration, certainly
...but so is 5 minutes, unless you're deliberately ignoring the "in the morning" comment. 15-20 minutes is the norm during the peak morning and afternoon traffic. I have sat in that traffic, which can back up to, well, where the current large townhouse construction is. And it takes only one person making a left turn to block all traffic for a light cycle. I'm privileged to time most of my trips to avoid these predictable backups, but not everyone is.
A half hour is likely an
Really? I mean, I can see some extremely rare and peculiar circumstance leading to that, but really, even 5 minutes is overstating things. There is actual data on this question, and a cool tool called google maps that can analyze the question. Tomorrow morning at 8AM, for example, it should take a whopping 3 minutes to make that drive.
As for the rare and peculiar, if 15-20 minutes were typical and endemic, I'd recommend trying an alternative, such as Temple St. to Centre St.
Pro tip: if the NIMBY has to outright lie, which is what multiplying by a factor of 10 would be, then they probably don't have a case to stand on. I appreciate your thoughtful comments, but I don't think the woman quoted is being honest.
Not sure berating someone you
Not sure berating someone you don't know as a "NIMBY" who "outright lies" helps you win your argument either.
There have been studies about perception of time in traffic, which likely factored into her bad estimate (and mine too, probably). And while today is but a single data point, a quick check of Google Maps about an hour ago showed an 8 minute estimate, despite it saying tomorrow at the same time was "typically" 3 minutes. Yes, a far cry from 30 minutes, but also a relatively substantial amount of time to go half a mile.
There's legitimate concerns about high-density housing being placed in an area that is termed "suburban," especially with narrow but highly trafficked streets (even if only for a few hours in the morning and evening) and inadequate access to public transportation. I can understand why someone would exaggerate, and I agree that such an exaggeration weakens the argument in the long run. Just as ad hominem attacks do.
Shouldn't be driving on that road anyway...
But from 7am to 8:30 am all driving times should be multiplied by 5x-10x. I'm sure it is the same other places but this stretch in WR/Brookline/JP/Newton seems to be much worse than in other places.
WR after 9am is a ghost town except for Roche Bros on certain days/times.
Win/Win! A much needed update
Win/Win! A much needed update for the store and more housing! This WRox resident is thrilled!
Baker Street Market
How will the new building increase visibility at the intersection?
Although it has been approved, that statement is ludicrous!!!
Bigger set back on Baker St I guess
Unclear from the rendering posted but maybe the sidewalk is wider on Baker St now?
Awesome
Boston needs housing. This is great to see along with bigger development coming on the VFW Parkway. Awesome!
Slight correction
Dakoyannis owns the cleaners across the street, not the hair salon. That is owned by someone else. (He does, however, own what was a nail salon in the same building as the market.) His parents have moved out of the house across the street--it had been for sale, but taken off the market just as this approval process got underway, not sure why.
Additional housing in Boston is to be applauded. Larger units near stations or other commuter hubs make complete sense--the one recently approved with NO parking right next to a station is great! (It's on Dot Ave in Fields Corner, iirc.) It seems, though, that several commenters here won't be satisfied until all houses in Boston are replaced by large, multi-unit buildings.
The truth is, this building will be on a two-lane road (without a parking lane--it's too narrow) that does see a lot of cut-through commuter traffic during rush hour, and backs up substantially both at the VFW Parkway and at Spring Street during rush hour. There's also a large construction of multi-units going on half a mile down the road closer to the train tracks.
As for public transportation, West Roxbury has been devoid of attention from the MBTA for decades (just read the comments about moving that school here). The 37 bus that terminates at Vermont and Baker has been on the chopping block for the past year, and other nearby buses' schedules are set to be reduced. As for the commuter rail? It's a mile walk given the layout of the streets, and the schedule is at best once an hour (every 2 hours on weekends). Oh, and it costs $6.50 each way since it's Zone 1A, because it's "outside the 6 mile limit from the terminus," according to the T.
I dunno, context seems relevant here. Maybe I'm just NIMBYing, but I don't think so. I predict it won't be pleasant, not for those of us who live nearby nor for anyone moving into that new building. We'll see. In this new world, maybe soon no one will ever leave their houses, so traffic and public transportation will be irrelevant, and we'll only need parking for Amazon, UPS, FedEx, GrubHub, and Uber.
Mistake fixed
Thanks.
thanks...
... though it IS true that the clients at the hair salon also have nowhere to park. Technically, hair salon clients aren't supposed to park in the market's lot anyway. Most customers of both the salon and cleaners typically park on Durant Street to avoid having to cross the Baker Street Speedway.
If we’re making corrections…
Only Louis’ mother moved from the family home. His father passed away in 2020.
Thank you
I appreciate the correction and confirmation. I suspected--I haven't seen him since pre-pandemic, and I didn't want to assume.
Maybe I'm just NIMBYing
Answered your own question
Minor quibble
You are correct that the cost is $6.50 each way but that is because it is Zone 1; Zone 1A is $2.40.
https://www.mbta.com/fares/commuter-rail-fares/zones
"The outside the 6 mile limit from the terminus" is a garbage argument from the MBTA. The Roslindale Village stop is less than 1.5 miles from Forest Hills but is still Zone 1...but I digress...
Forest hills
is not a commuter rail terminus.
Thank you
I got my Zone classifications messed up.
The commuter rail zones are calculated from North or South Station. But your point--that getting on at Forest Hills (the outer edge of Zone 1A) and getting off at Roslindale Square (the inner edge of Zone 1) is still absurdly $6.50--is quite valid.
Actually the price for Zone 1
Actually the price for Zone 1 averages out to about $2 per ride (they check tickets maybe 1/4)
I love to stand by myself in
I love to stand by myself in a suit on my tiny balcony in the hot sun with no room for a chair. The balcony people don't look comfortable. Where's the party?
Everyone on their balconies at the same time!
I'm expecting a Broadway production number to start!
Character of the neighborhood
“It doesn’t fit the character of the neighborhood.”
Who said it?
- Native Americans driven off their land by white settlers
- Palestinians driven out of their homes over the past 75 years
- Black people whose communities were bulldozed and replaced with highways
- Westies terrified of multi-family housing
Or as the kids say: injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.
Why are you so upset people
Why are you so upset people who live in West Roxbury? Did someone there hurt you? It will be ok. You don't have to visit there.
This won’t get built
Till 2030. Real estate developers are laying off staff and putting everything on hold due to costs.
The only new construction we’ll see next year is government backed housing.