Developers say they will soon file plans for 750 apartments at the old Channel 56 site in Dorchester
A developer that won BPDA approval last year for the broad outlines of a large, nearly 9-acre, multi-building redevelopment along Morrissey Boulevard, from the Star Market to the former home of Channel 56 has brought on a new partner and plans to soon file detailed pans for the first phase of the project: Two buildings with some 750 residential units, ground-floor retail space and underground parking.
In a letter of intent filed with the Boston Planning Department, POB Capital of Chicago says it is teaming up with Copper Mill, a local development firm formed by Andrew Flynn, the one-time CEO of Scape North America, a concern that is building or hopes to build some 1,300 apartments in the Back Bay and Fenway.
Flynn's Copper Mill is currently trying to convert a proposed Scape lab building in Somerville's Davis Square into housing now that the Boston-area market for lab space has cooled off.
The BPDA last December approved a "master plan" for the three-acre parcel that includes turning the supermarket lot and the one time TV studios into a seven-building complex that would include offices and life-sciences labs, retail and restaurant space, a new road and and four parks.
At the time, POB and its local partner said they were looking at a total of around 580 residential units in total and 980 parking spaces for the entire seven-building complex.
In their letter of intent, POB and Cooper Mill say they expect to file detailed plans within two months. They said the project would start by tearing down the long vacant TV studio building, in large part because nearby residents said the eyesore of a building should be the first to go.
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Back in the day, WLVI meant something
WLVI
W
L - 50
VI - 6
56 had Brady Bunch twice a day at 5 and 5:30 circa 1978.
38 had Starblazers for one season before it jumped to 25. I really, really, really wanted to go to this exotic place called Moody Street in Waltham as a kid because they sold Starblazers toys at Mr B's Toyland and see this furniture store called Jordan's.
38 also had Looney Tunes and always better 8:00 movies than 56 but 56 had Uncle Dale Dorman doing the CDF voice overs.
Here in Boston...
Here in Boston, the kids' choice is CHANNEL 56!
The 8 o'clock movie and Uncle Dale
I remember when 56 (and to an extent, 38) ran movies that were uncut and uncensored (i.e. violence, swearing and nudity), and put a warning on each movie that stated, "this movie contains language and scenes of an adult nature. Viewer discretion advised." Having Dana Hersey intone that phrase meant it was a big deal. Those movies ended in the early to mid 1990s with the arrival of VHS and cable TV, which had no boundaries whatsoever.
I was also a faithful fan of Uncle Dale and his cartoons - I looked forward to Woody Woodpecker at 3pm and other shows. I actually met Dale Dorman at Walk for Hunger back in 1990.
Ch 56 movies
I definitely remember WLVI running the uncensored version of Porky’s
I remember that, too.
I miss the days when every city had an independent station unafraid of pushing the boundaries a bit after hours.
one suspects that there was candlelight
and candles were stuck in empty bottles of Mateus
Not that long ago
That was my parent's thang ...
I stayed up late with grandma after she returned from swing shift. We'd drink what the hipsters now call micheladas made with Snappy Tom and Lucky Lager and snack on beer nuts while watching Sinister Cinema.
Swirls cummin in…
Hot !
Honey ...
I'm always hot!
Channel 27 in Worcester!
Channel 27 in Worcester!
Ch 38 also had the eternal stud...
Dana Hersey .... and the fantasies he created
Anime on WLVI
What WLVI also had, back in the day, was reruns of Battle of the Planets. One such rerun, an episode where the team faced off against the space mummy, lit my 4-year-old brain on fire and led me to ravenously seek out and enjoy anime, including Star Blazers, to this very day. There's a promo on youtube with good ol' uncle dale extolling the virtues of BOTP.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JyAHYyLQ_9I&t=60s&ab_channel=cattman2
One of 38/56 showed Robotech
Definitely the first time I’d see a cartoon with a real story and crazy special effects.
I hate to rub it in
I somehow convinced my mum to take Main Street to Moody Street once. Toyland did not disappoint.
Sometimes I think about the movies that were on WLVI on Sunday afternoons. I don't think the selection was too big, but some of them stuck with me. I've been thinking about this because Comedy Central insists that every Sunday afternoon is the prime time for an Adam Sandler film festival.
Kind of like:
Kind of like:
W
C - Channel
V - Five
B - Boston
As for WLVI, it was never ingrained like WSBK, which had the Bruins, the Movie Loft, M*A*S*H, and last but not least, Ask The Manager.
Who had wrestling?
Can't remember who brought us Chief Jay Strongbow, The Grand Wizard of Wrestling, et. al., but they were a big deal with my pre-teen crowd!
Emerson Lake and Palmer's "Toccata"
You knew that CDF was on when that snippet of classical anarchy, courtesy of Keith Emerson, Greg Lake, and Carl Palmer, came on at 2pm on Saturdays!
Back in high school I used to
Back in high school I used to cross Morrisey Boulevard to watch The Bunker Hill show with Bob Glover being produced live, Bunker Hill had passed away and Bob Glover took over the show. Mr. Glover invited me and my schoolmates inside the studio. The world was a different place back then. You could usually just walk into WLVI and look around to see what was happening.
"Creature Double Feature" was a must watch on Saturdays. Even my Mom enjoyed it! But "Kung Fu Theatre" which replaced it was her absolute favorite Saturday afternoon watch.
UnderGROUND parking on Morrissey Blvd?
For amphibious vehicles maybe.
But seriously, is that particular site within the high-tide frequent flooding zone?
In Boston, as in the rest of
In Boston, as in the rest of the World, we are showing a surprising level of ignorance/denial when it comes to assessing the consequences of sea level rise. This is just one of many recent examples.
That's what pumps are for
The Green Line along Boylston Street should be flooding out constantly since opening, but the engineering is there.
Pumps are great for groundwater intrusion
Innundation? Not so much.
But we usually know when that might happen in time to move the vehicles. Then they can do everyone else a favor by giving the water a place to go.
It can be done ...
There's underground parking in buildings on the harbor side of the Greenway.
Underwater parking? Cool!
Underwater parking? Cool!
They build concrete walls that keep the water out out
https://medium.com/@SuffolkBuilds/hardly-a-day-at-the-beach-building-an-...
Blue Line extension
There is a clandestine tunnel system being created as we speak, which will use the old Disney 20,000 Leagues submarines to transport passengers in tunnels as a pilot program in anticipation of the day when all the T tunnels are flooded permanently. The construction between Broadway and Andrew along Dot Ave is a cover for the project. Robert Ballard is involved.
Say more?
Say more?
Surely, what this clusterf*ck needs is thousands more car trips!
.
Go back to bed
.
Copper Mill or Cooper Mill?
You wrote both in this post.
A block away
is another apartment building that has vacancies all the time. They’ve never been to capacity since being built almost 10 years ago because they have very few parking spaces. The developers used the old “ were right next to the train station and commuter rail, tenants don’t need vehicles”.
Great
So that means rents are priced accordingly because they can't get tenants. Meaning those units should now be priced at or below 'market' to get tenants.
Hub 25 is not anywhere near full
It was charging like 5600 for a 3 bed before the pandemic.
A close family member of mines lives in the new building near Boston Bow and that building is mostly empty. I’m there often.
From what I understand they’ve begun taking any many renters through various programs at extremely discounted rents. Not sure the details and full veracity of that. But…it tracks.
Sticker prices find a way to remain the same though-astronomical. The residents and (extremely bare bones) staff do not seem to be the “luxury” crowd. And by and large aren’t even the yuppie crowd. I don’t get how it works.
Okay
I have carfree children and friends who love a bargain ... what is the name of this place? I'm betting they are doing fine for renters in this market - and there are people who don't have cars not paying for car spaces living in all the units.
Just because you have a car and wouldn't live there doesn't mean that not having parking spaces makes it an unleaseable place.
Confounding factors
One could ASSUME that Hub25 doesn't have enough tenants because of parking....
But it also could easily be because these buildings are demanding astronomical rents for units squeezed between the screeching commuter rail, the elevated Interstate, K-Circle, Morrissey Blvd, and the Star Market. I.E. it's a loud, crowded, constantly busy location on literally all sides that many people probably just find polluted and not ideal for the astronomical prices they demand in rent.
Hopefully the developers keep this in mind when designing the new buildings, but considering they're just trying to build as many as possible while trying to justify charging as much as possible, I doubt it.
WLVI had Speedracer...
...but "V66" still was the best!