92 apartments in West Roxbury?

West Roxbury Bullitan
BRA responds to Edgemere housing project
Lydia Mulvany 13.DEC.07

The Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA) has issued a determination to Chestnut Hill Realty, outlining further requirements for its latest proposal for expanding Ridgecrest Green by 92 apartment units and 191 parking spaces. The Ridgecrest Green complex, which lies off of Edgemere Rd. in West Roxbury, currently has 144 rental units and 166 parking spaces.

Part of Chestnut Hill’s proposal included a rerouting of traffic, turning Desoto and Edgemere into one-way streets. This was booed by the neighborhood in October, and the BRA has followed suit. The BRA has asked Chestnut Hill to conduct an expanded traffic study using strips on the roads to count all cars traveling on seven roads in the neighborhood. The study should also count how many cars come from entrances of nearby developments, to get an accurate picture of the neighborhood’s traffic and see where it originates. The information will determine whether the real impact to the neighborhood is coming from an access gate off of Willers St., and how that impact might be mitigated.

Chestnut Hill has also been asked to scale down the development, although it has as of right to build the 92 units.

"We received the scoping letter, and we’re investigating different refinements to the program to see if we can make economic sense out of reducing the scale of the project. We’ve already reduced the scale significantly over the last couple of years," said Chestnut Hill Realty’s Director of Real Estate Development, Marc Levin.

The height variance it requested in the proposal, also rejected by the neighborhood in October, would allow for a tall structure that would save green space. That variance has not yet been tossed out.

"This would not be the first 70-foot structure in the neighborhood," said Peter Serdiuk, a member of the Impact Advisory Group, in his comments to the BRA.

"Since they have as of right, they can either build a tall structure or eat up green space. I’d rather see a tall structure with a playground for children," said Olivia Waishek at the Bellevue Hill Neighborhood Association’s meeting last week.

Waishek also said that Levin had been in contact with a resident who was concerned about potential tenants visiting Chestnut Hill that park in front of her house, instead of in the Chestnut Hill parking lots. The visitors are now using the parking lots.
- The Bulletin Newspapers