10 Less Stories = Still Opposed

Northeastern News
GrandMarc size not factor for local residents
Rachel Zarrell and Derek Hawkins

A Texas developer agreed to cut 10 floors from its plans for GrandMarc at St. Botolph Street, a private residence hall proposed to the Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA) last spring. The original plan called for a 34-story building.

In April, Phoenix Property Co. submitted a project notification form to the BRA citing plans to build the tower near the Northeastern campus, next to the YMCA, complete with 1,140 beds, an Internet café, fully furnished facilities and a 16-space parking garage. The building would house students and faculty from local universities, on four- and nine-month leases.

Local businesses and labor unions generally welcomed the project, but a public evaluation period, which ended mid-summer, showed residents and civic groups to be overwhelmingly opposed.

In response, officials at Phoenix Property Co. announced last week they were considering a redesign to reduce the GrandMarc plans by 10 stories.

Several community leaders, however, have called the redesign insufficient and accuse the company with overlooking their concerns.

Barbara Simons, president of Symphony United Neighbors, has been a vocal opponent of the tower and said she has no plans to reach a compromise.

"Size does matter, [but] it's not the only thing that matters," she said. "We just think this is the wrong building in the wrong place. We don't want it in our backyard."Bill Richardson, president of the Fenway Civic Association and a member of the Impact Advisory Group, which is reviewing the project, said the developer's focus on height is misguided.

"There are bigger issues than just height of the building," Richardson said. "If that's all they're focusing on, they're missing the boat as to what our opposition is."Phoenix Property Co. has built similar private residence halls near college campuses in Minneapolis, Minn.; Riverside, Calif.; Fort Worth, Texas; and Charlotte, N.C.GrandMarc at St. Botolph Street is the developer's biggest project to date.

Local business owners have expressed support for the building, saying it would ease tension on the local housing market and create jobs when unemployment is on the rise nationally.Some students have also said they were open to living in a private off-campus residence hall, citing extra amenities, affordability and the absence of resident assistants among their reasons.

Sophomore Darren Murphy, a mechanical engineering major, said the building would be more convenient than living off-campus, but was unsure if the size was necessary.

"Do we need 24 floors? I don't know. But overall, it's more practical," he said. "I would live there if it was affordable."Jason Runnels, executive vice president of Phoenix Property Co., did not provide rent estimates for GrandMarc rooms, but said prices would be "competitive" with the local real-estate market.

Meanwhile, local organizations have expressed concern that the project breaks newly compromised zoning laws.

Carl Nagy-Koechlin, executive director of the Fenway Community Development Organization, said he was willing to come to an agreement with the developers - yet feels insulted by what is perceived as a meager new proposal.

Nagy-Koechlin said the new proposition fails to meet the renovated zoning requirements. "Everyone in the city compromised to come to a consensus for a set of zoning guides that we felt that we could all live with," he said. "And even this compromise proposal is two and a half times the height. I think all of us feel like we've wasted our time and the vision we came up with.

"Other residents expressed concern that the structure, even at 24 stories, will conflict with the predominantly five- and six-story skyline.

Peter Wiederspahn, acting head of the School of Architecture, said the face of the community could be altered by the presence of the building, as could foot traffic on the narrow sidewalks on Huntington Avenue."A dormitory of this density might have crossed the threshold," Wiederspahn said.

"It will create a significant concentration of students that may very well affect the character of the neighborhood."Runnels said Phoenix Property Co. intends to submit a proposal with the revised plans to the BRA by mid-March. He added that representatives from the company will meet with Northeastern officials to discuss the project.Jeffrey Doggett, director of government relations and community affairs, said company officials came to Northeastern last summer. Northeastern, he said, has yet to take a formal stance on the GrandMarc project."

We're all waiting to hear, as all the neighbors are waiting to hear, on what changes were made to the proposal," he said.