Banker & Tradesman
Developers Scale Back Fenway Dorm Plan
By Thomas GrilloReporter
Developers of a dormitory in Boston’s Fenway neighborhood will downsize their proposed 34-story tower by 10 floors to win neighborhood approval, Banker & Tradesman has learned.
In response to community opposition, the Phoenix Property Co. and Lincoln Property Co. expect to file revised plans next month with the Boston Redevelopment Authority for GrandMarc. The private, $170 million residence hall will offer about 800 beds for students to be built near the YMCA on Huntington Avenue.
The project would be the first of its kind in Boston, where dorms typically are operated by colleges and universities. In the case of GrandMarc, the company would lease the one- to four-bedroom units directly to students. But the firm is willing to consider a provision that would guarantee a certain number of beds to schools based in the Fenway.
“We heard the [Boston Redevelopment Authority] and the neighborhood’s concerns and devised a plan that is significantly less than what we proposed,” Jason P. Runnels, Phoenix’s executive vice president, told B&T on Wednesday. “We were happy to build more than 1,000 beds in that location to meet the demand, but the community and BRA said it was way too much for the neighborhood and we heard them.”
Last year, the pair of Dallas-based real estate developers proposed a building that would have reached 34 stories in one section and 12 stories in another. The original plan would have included 1,140 beds as well as a cafe, recreation room and lounge on the ground floor.
But neighbors said the complex was too big and the concentration of more than a 1,000 students would overwhelm the neighborhood. Residents argued the skyscraper would be the largest building in the Fenway and would not fit the scale of the other properties. In addition, neighbors worried that GrandMarc, coupled with Northeastern University’s plans to build more than 3,000 units of student housing, would concentrate too many students in the area.
Questions were also raised about how alcohol use and underage drinking would be controlled, whether the dorm would provide police details on weekends, what consequences would result for students who misbehave and how the building will handle disposal of party-related trash. The developer’s history of selling its properties after a few years also was flagged as a concern.
In response, Runnels said he will reduce the size of the tallest tower to about 24 stories and increase the other section of the building to about 15 stories. He also has hired a local company and a consulting firm that will help resolve security questions. In addition, while Runnels acknowledged that his company holds its buildings for about seven years, he said Phoenix has a partner, Behringer Harvard Real Estate Investment Trust, which typically keeps properties for the long-term.
Jane Hartmann, a member of the Impact Advisory Group, an eight-member panel appointed by Mayor Thomas M. Menino to advise the city on the development, said she has not heard from the developer about the revised plans.
“We haven’t received any notice for a redesign,” she said. “But many of the concerns are around the governance and the security and we didn’t like the idea that this is a firm that wants to build something and sell it in five years. The neighborhood has spent two years negotiating with Northeastern University and we already have said we will support student housing on two sites, so neighbors are concerned that this new project would put too many students in a small section of the Fenway.”
In a prepared statement, Jessica Shumaker, a spokeswoman for the BRA, said, “We’re happy to hear that the developers are responding to our concerns and the concerns from the community. Ultimately, the public review process results in a better project, and we look forward to reviewing their new submission with the community soon.”
Friday, January 4, 2008
Dorms vs. Apartments: The Herald Gets it Right!
Hub can’t afford to be Lease Police
By Boston Herald editorial staff Friday, January 4, 2008
City Councilor Michael Ross’ plan to regulate how many students can share an apartment in Boston is a classic case of treating the symptom instead of the underlying disease.
Ross wants to cap the number of students who can rent a single apartment in the Hub, part of an effort to crack down on unruly behavior as well as unscrupulous landlords who exploit students. But his time might be better spent reasoning with neighbors who scream bloody murder when a local college or university proposes plans for a new residence hall.
Yes, we understand the frustration of many of Ross’ constituents. But frankly, it doesn’t much matter whether there are two or 20 students living somewhere - real problems arise when 200 arrive for the big bash. Regulating the number of names on a lease will do nothing to address that.
And while it’s hardly our first instinct to leap to the defense of students’ civil rights (they have the ACLU for that) we have to wonder whether Ross would be so heavy-handed with non-students who pack apartments to share expenses. Room and board is costly (as is city living) and many students and non-students alike save by bunching up.
Make no mistake - we sympathize with the hard-working city residents who grow weary of beer cans piling up on their doorsteps and having to report loud parties at 2 a.m. on a Tuesday.
But we grow equally weary of residents like those in Brighton who are lining up against Boston College and its plans to build a new residence hall on the self-contained grounds of the former Boston archdiocese - or the folks on Beacon Hill who forced Suffolk University to abandon plans for a new high-rise dorm near its main campus.
There will always be town-gown tensions, particularly in a city as densely populated as Boston. But the solution is to encourage more schools to bring their students back onto campus where they can keep an eye on them - not in mobilizing the Lease Police.
By Boston Herald editorial staff Friday, January 4, 2008
City Councilor Michael Ross’ plan to regulate how many students can share an apartment in Boston is a classic case of treating the symptom instead of the underlying disease.
Ross wants to cap the number of students who can rent a single apartment in the Hub, part of an effort to crack down on unruly behavior as well as unscrupulous landlords who exploit students. But his time might be better spent reasoning with neighbors who scream bloody murder when a local college or university proposes plans for a new residence hall.
Yes, we understand the frustration of many of Ross’ constituents. But frankly, it doesn’t much matter whether there are two or 20 students living somewhere - real problems arise when 200 arrive for the big bash. Regulating the number of names on a lease will do nothing to address that.
And while it’s hardly our first instinct to leap to the defense of students’ civil rights (they have the ACLU for that) we have to wonder whether Ross would be so heavy-handed with non-students who pack apartments to share expenses. Room and board is costly (as is city living) and many students and non-students alike save by bunching up.
Make no mistake - we sympathize with the hard-working city residents who grow weary of beer cans piling up on their doorsteps and having to report loud parties at 2 a.m. on a Tuesday.
But we grow equally weary of residents like those in Brighton who are lining up against Boston College and its plans to build a new residence hall on the self-contained grounds of the former Boston archdiocese - or the folks on Beacon Hill who forced Suffolk University to abandon plans for a new high-rise dorm near its main campus.
There will always be town-gown tensions, particularly in a city as densely populated as Boston. But the solution is to encourage more schools to bring their students back onto campus where they can keep an eye on them - not in mobilizing the Lease Police.
Saturday, December 29, 2007
A Deal at the Arboretum
Roslindale/West Roxbury Bullitan
Harvard-Arboretum deal to close
Scott Wachtler 20.DEC.07
Half a parcel will remain development-free for 875 yearsAfter four years of nitty-gritty bargaining with Harvard, a formidable opponent used to getting its way, Mayor Menino, Councilor Rob Consalvo, Rep. Sanchez, Jay Walsh and Dave McNulty from Neighborhood Services and Roslindale residents have secured a permanent no-build zone on half of the 14-acre parcel called Weld Hill. The site is a part of the Arnold Arboretum on which Harvard will erect a plant research facility. The deed-restriction calls for half of the land to remain open space--at least for 875 years.
"Harvard's a tough customer, but we saw where we wanted to get to," said Mayor Menino. "Let's see if we can keep it protected for perpetuity."
In last week’s final public meeting before Harvard goes in front of the Zoning Board in January, Roslindale residents quibbled with officials over the legalese of a cooperation agreement and a declaration of development restrictions on the no-build zone, debating such subtleties as whether the land ought to be designated for public enjoyment, or public use and enjoyment. But the main thrust of the papers was there.
"This is the culmination of a four-year process," said City Councilor Rob Consalvo. "This document is much better than it was four years ago, and we’ll feel good about supporting this project when it goes before the Zoning Board, a project that we held our ground on for four years. This is a huge victory for the community holding Harvard accountable like this."
Harvard is proposing a 45,000 square foot research facility on the privately owned parcel, which is currently zoned for single family homes in the Arboretum. Harvard will seek to change the zoning from residential use to institutional use.
According to some residents, the community was divided over the research facility itself, with loud voices against the development, and loud voices supporting the Arboretum’s assertion that it needs to grow and stay relevant. Neighbors were united in their anxiety that the whole parcel might develop into a sprawling complex of buildings and parking lots. The no-build zone ensures a permanent buffer between residential streets and the proposed institutional facility. The community had rebuffed offers for a 10-year, a 50-year, and a 100-year-long deed restriction.
Though it cannot be developed, the no-build zone can be a working landscape, which means that trees and other foliage can be planted.
"Harvard has never protected permanent open space like that," said Consalvo. "This was a quintessential example of a partnership between residents and government holding their ground and holding an institution like Harvard accountable to addressing our issues."
Another victory for residents was the working in of checks and balances into a clause that named the Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA) as the sole entity able to enforce or waive the terms of the proposed deed restriction. Instead, the Corporation Council of the City of Boston, appointed by the Mayor, will also factor into the equation.
Another major concern for residents was an apparent lack of parking for a 100-person auditorium planned for the facility. Harvard has indicated that it will direct cars to the main Arboretum building for parking, and even provide a shuttle service between the two buildings.-
The Bulletin Newspapers
Harvard-Arboretum deal to close
Scott Wachtler 20.DEC.07
Half a parcel will remain development-free for 875 yearsAfter four years of nitty-gritty bargaining with Harvard, a formidable opponent used to getting its way, Mayor Menino, Councilor Rob Consalvo, Rep. Sanchez, Jay Walsh and Dave McNulty from Neighborhood Services and Roslindale residents have secured a permanent no-build zone on half of the 14-acre parcel called Weld Hill. The site is a part of the Arnold Arboretum on which Harvard will erect a plant research facility. The deed-restriction calls for half of the land to remain open space--at least for 875 years.
"Harvard's a tough customer, but we saw where we wanted to get to," said Mayor Menino. "Let's see if we can keep it protected for perpetuity."
In last week’s final public meeting before Harvard goes in front of the Zoning Board in January, Roslindale residents quibbled with officials over the legalese of a cooperation agreement and a declaration of development restrictions on the no-build zone, debating such subtleties as whether the land ought to be designated for public enjoyment, or public use and enjoyment. But the main thrust of the papers was there.
"This is the culmination of a four-year process," said City Councilor Rob Consalvo. "This document is much better than it was four years ago, and we’ll feel good about supporting this project when it goes before the Zoning Board, a project that we held our ground on for four years. This is a huge victory for the community holding Harvard accountable like this."
Harvard is proposing a 45,000 square foot research facility on the privately owned parcel, which is currently zoned for single family homes in the Arboretum. Harvard will seek to change the zoning from residential use to institutional use.
According to some residents, the community was divided over the research facility itself, with loud voices against the development, and loud voices supporting the Arboretum’s assertion that it needs to grow and stay relevant. Neighbors were united in their anxiety that the whole parcel might develop into a sprawling complex of buildings and parking lots. The no-build zone ensures a permanent buffer between residential streets and the proposed institutional facility. The community had rebuffed offers for a 10-year, a 50-year, and a 100-year-long deed restriction.
Though it cannot be developed, the no-build zone can be a working landscape, which means that trees and other foliage can be planted.
"Harvard has never protected permanent open space like that," said Consalvo. "This was a quintessential example of a partnership between residents and government holding their ground and holding an institution like Harvard accountable to addressing our issues."
Another victory for residents was the working in of checks and balances into a clause that named the Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA) as the sole entity able to enforce or waive the terms of the proposed deed restriction. Instead, the Corporation Council of the City of Boston, appointed by the Mayor, will also factor into the equation.
Another major concern for residents was an apparent lack of parking for a 100-person auditorium planned for the facility. Harvard has indicated that it will direct cars to the main Arboretum building for parking, and even provide a shuttle service between the two buildings.-
The Bulletin Newspapers
More on BC Master Plan
Allston/Brighton Bullitan
Brighton residents ask BC for more timeScott Wachtler 20.DEC.07
Part of Boston College’s $1.6 billion growth and renovation plan seeks to alter Brighton’s landscape, and that has some in the neighborhood worried.
BC's 10-year master plan was submitted to the Boston Redevelopment Authority earlier in the month. Some Brighton residents felt that the timing of the submission would not allow them enough time to properly evaluate the plan.
Braving the snow, ice and the cold, Brighton’s BC Neighbors Forum came together for an emergency meeting on Monday to discuss the plan. The mayor appointed, BC Task Force met the next day.
"Boston College has deliberately filed their master plan in the middle of December, on the first day of Hanukah, right before the Christmas holidays and New Year's in order to minimize resident participation and feedback," said Michael Pahre, facilitator of the BC Neighbors Forum.
Jack Dunn, BC spokesman said BC did take the holiday season into consideration and extended the comment period from 30 days to 45 days.
"They should show goodwill to the neighborhood by extending the comment period substantially to allow the neighborhood to respond," Pahre said.
As a result of the meetings, the BC Task Force voted to file a formal request to Thomas Keady, Jr., BC Vice President for Governmental and Community Affairs, asking that the comment period be extended so that the neighborhood could address the issues properly.
A letter from the BC Neighbors Forum was delivered to Jean Woods, Chair of the BC Task Force, asking them to hold a series of meetings that would address the issues of housing, athletic fields, traffic, transportation and open spaces. The Task Force is putting a plan together that aims to have weekly meetings for four weeks in January.
The Brighton portion of the 10-year master plan will add 30 new buildings, renovate eight more and create a new intersection while reconfiguring another one. The plan also includes the construction and reconfiguration of six playing fields.
According to Pahre, the plan that BC filed with the BRA doesn’t take the community’s concerns into consideration at all.
"BC put forward their ideas for this plan in the spring, presumably with the idea that they would get feedback from the neighborhood and change it," Pahre said. "They didn’t change it much in the end."
Alex Selvig, ran for the Allston-Brighton District 9 City Council seat in the last preliminary election. The issue of university expansion was a hot topic for all the candidates
"What it seems like is that BC has decided that it’s going to stand fast on part of the plan that they’ve been presenting to us for the entire year that I’ve been going to these meetings," Selvig said.
When the neighborhood saw the plans in the spring, the three biggest concerns dealt with the fact that in 10 years BC still wouldn’t be housing all of its undergraduate students on campus.
Neighbors are concerned that having too many undergrad college students in their neighborhoods would open the door for bad behavior.
"We have a big problem on football game days and on weekends when the kids are out partying," Selvig said. "It’s not to say that they’re all bad, but there’s a significant impact on the neighborhood."
Additionally, there is also concern about where the new dorms would be placed.
"There is broad neighborhood opposition for them to put any of those news dorms in the former seminary land," Pahre said.
Dunn wasn’t so sure that everyone in the neighborhood was against the idea of housing students on former seminary land.
"It depends who you ask," he said. "Residents of Cleveland Circle and other areas in Brighton strongly urged us to utilize the 65 acres we purchased from the archdiocese for undergraduate housing and they have born the brut of college students in their neighborhood for decades."
The BC plan would create 75 new beds and 40 parking spaces for graduate student housing on former seminary land on Foster Street.
The third major issue are the athletic fields, and in particular, the baseball stadium close to Lane Park.
"There are people whose houses will be extremely close to a 1,500 seat stadium. Plus they are proposing for additional fields, all which will have their lights on virtually year round," Pahre said.
Selvig said the stadium would only spread the problem of student partying further and bring noise and disruption throughout the neighborhood.
Dunn said according to the 10-year master plan, 92 percent of Boston College students will be housed on campus.
"That’s more than any other school in Boston. We think that is a significant accomplishment," Dunn said.
Kevin Carragee, a member of the BC Task Force, said it was possible for some of the dorms that BC is proposing to be built larger to accommodate more students.
"The new dormitories that they are proposing are four stories," Carragee said. "It strikes me, at best, that this is simply inadequate. There’s no reason these dormitories can’t be higher to house more students. There’s simply no reason for it. It’s just dogmatic."
Carragee suggested the new dorms should be six stories like the newest dorm that was built during the last master plan.
Dunn said that according to prevailing policies among universities nationwide, four story dorms, housing between 200 and 400 students, are more beneficial to intellectual enrichment and student formation.-
The Bulletin Newspapers
Brighton residents ask BC for more timeScott Wachtler 20.DEC.07
Part of Boston College’s $1.6 billion growth and renovation plan seeks to alter Brighton’s landscape, and that has some in the neighborhood worried.
BC's 10-year master plan was submitted to the Boston Redevelopment Authority earlier in the month. Some Brighton residents felt that the timing of the submission would not allow them enough time to properly evaluate the plan.
Braving the snow, ice and the cold, Brighton’s BC Neighbors Forum came together for an emergency meeting on Monday to discuss the plan. The mayor appointed, BC Task Force met the next day.
"Boston College has deliberately filed their master plan in the middle of December, on the first day of Hanukah, right before the Christmas holidays and New Year's in order to minimize resident participation and feedback," said Michael Pahre, facilitator of the BC Neighbors Forum.
Jack Dunn, BC spokesman said BC did take the holiday season into consideration and extended the comment period from 30 days to 45 days.
"They should show goodwill to the neighborhood by extending the comment period substantially to allow the neighborhood to respond," Pahre said.
As a result of the meetings, the BC Task Force voted to file a formal request to Thomas Keady, Jr., BC Vice President for Governmental and Community Affairs, asking that the comment period be extended so that the neighborhood could address the issues properly.
A letter from the BC Neighbors Forum was delivered to Jean Woods, Chair of the BC Task Force, asking them to hold a series of meetings that would address the issues of housing, athletic fields, traffic, transportation and open spaces. The Task Force is putting a plan together that aims to have weekly meetings for four weeks in January.
The Brighton portion of the 10-year master plan will add 30 new buildings, renovate eight more and create a new intersection while reconfiguring another one. The plan also includes the construction and reconfiguration of six playing fields.
According to Pahre, the plan that BC filed with the BRA doesn’t take the community’s concerns into consideration at all.
"BC put forward their ideas for this plan in the spring, presumably with the idea that they would get feedback from the neighborhood and change it," Pahre said. "They didn’t change it much in the end."
Alex Selvig, ran for the Allston-Brighton District 9 City Council seat in the last preliminary election. The issue of university expansion was a hot topic for all the candidates
"What it seems like is that BC has decided that it’s going to stand fast on part of the plan that they’ve been presenting to us for the entire year that I’ve been going to these meetings," Selvig said.
When the neighborhood saw the plans in the spring, the three biggest concerns dealt with the fact that in 10 years BC still wouldn’t be housing all of its undergraduate students on campus.
Neighbors are concerned that having too many undergrad college students in their neighborhoods would open the door for bad behavior.
"We have a big problem on football game days and on weekends when the kids are out partying," Selvig said. "It’s not to say that they’re all bad, but there’s a significant impact on the neighborhood."
Additionally, there is also concern about where the new dorms would be placed.
"There is broad neighborhood opposition for them to put any of those news dorms in the former seminary land," Pahre said.
Dunn wasn’t so sure that everyone in the neighborhood was against the idea of housing students on former seminary land.
"It depends who you ask," he said. "Residents of Cleveland Circle and other areas in Brighton strongly urged us to utilize the 65 acres we purchased from the archdiocese for undergraduate housing and they have born the brut of college students in their neighborhood for decades."
The BC plan would create 75 new beds and 40 parking spaces for graduate student housing on former seminary land on Foster Street.
The third major issue are the athletic fields, and in particular, the baseball stadium close to Lane Park.
"There are people whose houses will be extremely close to a 1,500 seat stadium. Plus they are proposing for additional fields, all which will have their lights on virtually year round," Pahre said.
Selvig said the stadium would only spread the problem of student partying further and bring noise and disruption throughout the neighborhood.
Dunn said according to the 10-year master plan, 92 percent of Boston College students will be housed on campus.
"That’s more than any other school in Boston. We think that is a significant accomplishment," Dunn said.
Kevin Carragee, a member of the BC Task Force, said it was possible for some of the dorms that BC is proposing to be built larger to accommodate more students.
"The new dormitories that they are proposing are four stories," Carragee said. "It strikes me, at best, that this is simply inadequate. There’s no reason these dormitories can’t be higher to house more students. There’s simply no reason for it. It’s just dogmatic."
Carragee suggested the new dorms should be six stories like the newest dorm that was built during the last master plan.
Dunn said that according to prevailing policies among universities nationwide, four story dorms, housing between 200 and 400 students, are more beneficial to intellectual enrichment and student formation.-
The Bulletin Newspapers
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
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
More on Biolab
Bay State Banner
BU biolab beef brings local concerns to national stage
Dan Devine
The controversy over Boston University’s development of an anti-bioterror laboratory in Boston’s South End exploded this year, earning national headlines as judges, federal agencies and scientific monitors scrutinized the project slated to open next year.
The story started back in 2003, when the National Institutes of Health (NIH) awarded Boston University a $128 million grant to design and build a biocontainment laboratory, intended to include biosafety level 4 (BSL-4) research space, on Albany Street, adjacent to the university’s medical center. BSL-4 facilities host research on dangerous, exotic diseases like avian influenza and Ebola virus.
Many South End residents and environmental activists oppose the project, known as the National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratories (NEIDL), or “the biolab.” They are concerned that bringing such deadly pathogens into a congested urban neighborhood poses an extreme health risk to the area’s population.
Project supporters and health experts have responded by pointing out that in thousands of hours worked in BSL-4 labs, the U.S. has yet to experience a single infection.
In December 2005, NIH published a Final Environmental Impact Statement for the BU biolab, which the agency says “demonstrated that the construction and operation of the NEIDL did not pose a risk” to either the South End community where it will be located or any surrounding communities.Lawyers representing community opponents filed a federal suit against NIH in May 2006, claiming that NIH awarded BU the grant without conducting required risk assessment, environmental review or site analysis. Three months later, Suffolk Superior Court Judge Ralph D. Gants agreed, ruling earlier environmental impact assessments inadequate and calling for additional environmental review of the proposed lab.
Following Gants’ instructions, NIH and BU agreed to conduct a more detailed review of the biolab proposal that considered rural and suburban sites.
In the resulting report, released in August, NIH concluded that the laboratory posed no threat to the safety of residents in the surrounding South End neighborhood.
Opponents assailed the NIH report, citing an apparent conflict of interest in the NIH — the organization that gave BU $128 million to construct the biolab — being responsible for reviewing the university’s model.
After the release of the NIH report, a Boston University statement said the agency’s study “confirmed that the Albany Street location is the best and most appropriate site for the NEIDL and that its urban location is as safe or safer than less congested alternatives.”
Still unconvinced, the state ordered a study by a group of independent scientists from the National Research Council (NRC). The NRC released findings in late November that undercut the NIH report, characterizing it as “not sound as credible.”
In its review, the NRC wrote that “the [NIH] draft assessment does not effectively examine highly infectious agents, and therefore is not representative of a worst case scenario.”
The report added that the process used by the NIH “is not transparent, is not complete, and may not address the fundamental concerns of the community, particularly regarding environmental justice.”
Biolab opponents said the NRC review confirmed their beliefs that project developers failed to adequately consider the risks to South End residents.
“That is the point they have been making for four years — is that unless someone gives them an honest analysis, which has not yet occurred, we don’t know,” said Eloise Lawrence, an attorney at the Conversation Law Foundation.
For their part, BU said the NRC’s review was just part of the process.
“We recognize that the [NRC] report states a number of concerns regarding the NIH methodology and analysis and are confident that the NIH will address those issues in its final report,” said a statement issued by BUMC following the NRC report’s release, adding that the Albany Street site “is as safe as or safer than alternative locations.”
Despite the NRC’s negative assessment, Mayor Thomas M. Menino told attendees at a Dec. 11 breakfast hosted by the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce he has “no fears about the biolab opening in the next year or so” and that there is “nothing [the city] can’t overcome” to achieve that goal.
Just two days later, the Supreme Judicial Court unanimously upheld Gants’ July 2006 ruling, meaning that BU must complete another environmental review of the biolab project and submit it to the state for approval, which could delay the facility’s anticipated opening next year. For the time being, however, construction continues, with building at least 70 percent complete.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
BU biolab beef brings local concerns to national stage
Dan Devine
The controversy over Boston University’s development of an anti-bioterror laboratory in Boston’s South End exploded this year, earning national headlines as judges, federal agencies and scientific monitors scrutinized the project slated to open next year.
The story started back in 2003, when the National Institutes of Health (NIH) awarded Boston University a $128 million grant to design and build a biocontainment laboratory, intended to include biosafety level 4 (BSL-4) research space, on Albany Street, adjacent to the university’s medical center. BSL-4 facilities host research on dangerous, exotic diseases like avian influenza and Ebola virus.
Many South End residents and environmental activists oppose the project, known as the National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratories (NEIDL), or “the biolab.” They are concerned that bringing such deadly pathogens into a congested urban neighborhood poses an extreme health risk to the area’s population.
Project supporters and health experts have responded by pointing out that in thousands of hours worked in BSL-4 labs, the U.S. has yet to experience a single infection.
In December 2005, NIH published a Final Environmental Impact Statement for the BU biolab, which the agency says “demonstrated that the construction and operation of the NEIDL did not pose a risk” to either the South End community where it will be located or any surrounding communities.Lawyers representing community opponents filed a federal suit against NIH in May 2006, claiming that NIH awarded BU the grant without conducting required risk assessment, environmental review or site analysis. Three months later, Suffolk Superior Court Judge Ralph D. Gants agreed, ruling earlier environmental impact assessments inadequate and calling for additional environmental review of the proposed lab.
Following Gants’ instructions, NIH and BU agreed to conduct a more detailed review of the biolab proposal that considered rural and suburban sites.
In the resulting report, released in August, NIH concluded that the laboratory posed no threat to the safety of residents in the surrounding South End neighborhood.
Opponents assailed the NIH report, citing an apparent conflict of interest in the NIH — the organization that gave BU $128 million to construct the biolab — being responsible for reviewing the university’s model.
After the release of the NIH report, a Boston University statement said the agency’s study “confirmed that the Albany Street location is the best and most appropriate site for the NEIDL and that its urban location is as safe or safer than less congested alternatives.”
Still unconvinced, the state ordered a study by a group of independent scientists from the National Research Council (NRC). The NRC released findings in late November that undercut the NIH report, characterizing it as “not sound as credible.”
In its review, the NRC wrote that “the [NIH] draft assessment does not effectively examine highly infectious agents, and therefore is not representative of a worst case scenario.”
The report added that the process used by the NIH “is not transparent, is not complete, and may not address the fundamental concerns of the community, particularly regarding environmental justice.”
Biolab opponents said the NRC review confirmed their beliefs that project developers failed to adequately consider the risks to South End residents.
“That is the point they have been making for four years — is that unless someone gives them an honest analysis, which has not yet occurred, we don’t know,” said Eloise Lawrence, an attorney at the Conversation Law Foundation.
For their part, BU said the NRC’s review was just part of the process.
“We recognize that the [NRC] report states a number of concerns regarding the NIH methodology and analysis and are confident that the NIH will address those issues in its final report,” said a statement issued by BUMC following the NRC report’s release, adding that the Albany Street site “is as safe as or safer than alternative locations.”
Despite the NRC’s negative assessment, Mayor Thomas M. Menino told attendees at a Dec. 11 breakfast hosted by the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce he has “no fears about the biolab opening in the next year or so” and that there is “nothing [the city] can’t overcome” to achieve that goal.
Just two days later, the Supreme Judicial Court unanimously upheld Gants’ July 2006 ruling, meaning that BU must complete another environmental review of the biolab project and submit it to the state for approval, which could delay the facility’s anticipated opening next year. For the time being, however, construction continues, with building at least 70 percent complete.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
Expanding at UMass/Boston
Dorchester Reporter
UMass trustees debate campus re-design, dorms
December 27, 2007
By Gintautas DumciusReporter Correspondent
Two new academic buildings, including a gleaming, state-of-the-art science facility (minus dangerous infectious diseases). Two new parking garages to replace the crumbling substructure holding up the plaza and campus. A glass façade and new entrance to the Healey Library.
And, of course, dorms.
UMass-Boston's final conceptual plan, presented to UMass trustees on the last day of fall semester classes earlier this month, calls for 1,000 beds in the first phase, while reaching at least 2,000 beds by the end of the 25-year plan.
The plan is the first major redesign since the 1970s, when the Columbia Point campus was built on Dorchester Bay, creating a brick fortress and a sprawling, barren plaza. University officials now are hoping to move towards more modern, skinny buildings with wider hallways, pedestrian walkways and more greenery outside.
The first phase of the plan includes stripping away the windswept plaza and replacing it with walkways and a new science building. An academic building could sit on the current field by the Quinn Building, a one-time site for dorms, though UMass officials say there is no defined set of buildings laid out, merely placeholders for the sake of future planning.
Student housing buildings would be placed closer to the Harbor Point apartments, where many students, numbering as many as 1,000, already reside, essentially creating what UMass officials have referred to as "de facto dorms."
The next steps for the campus include engineering how they go about bringing down the plaza and the scope of the demolition.
Some members of the 22-member board of trustees, which signs off on individual campus projects through the university system's borrowing requests, raised concerns that the plans, which will remain subject to change over the course of the next two decades, could create an "overly-residential" campus.
Trustee Jennifer Braceras asked whether it would mean "importing more suburban white kids onto campus," a notion Chancellor Keith Motley disputed, saying the focus will remain on Boston Public Schools and Boston itself. Motley noted that students come from 330 out of the 351 cities in the state, and 2,000 students come from Greater Boston.
Other trustees voiced support for the plan.
"The devil will clearly be in the details and the dollar signs," said trustee Ruben King-Shaw, Jr. He added, "There are students who would like to have a campus-like experience."
Added James Karam, a Fall River developer and former chairman of the board, "We're never serving the local community by serving a substandard product."
He told Motley: "Please don't stop dreaming."
Some faculty members expressed concerns over the layout of the academic buildings, which remain years away from being built.
"We're concerned about having too many large lecture classes called into being," said Rachel Rubin, president of the faculty staff union. "There is this push and we're concerned that we go overboard."
The final design for the campus comes after months of planning and two lightly attended meetings for the Dorchester community.
UMass officials plan to meet with the Columbia-Savin Hill Civic Association on Jan. 7, when a presentation on the final plan is expected. The civic association has included some of the strongest opponents of dorms, several of whom are holding their fire before the presentation.
UMass-Boston's immediate neighbors also weighed in. Secretary of State William Galvin, who runs the Massachusetts Archives in between the campus and the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, wrote a letter to UMass officials and trustees in late November raising concerns that the conceptual plans would encroach on the archives and its own plans to expand.
Any construction within the parcel would hurt his office's "future ability to adequately store additional historic artifacts, papers, documents and state agency's records that make up the history of the Commonwealth," he wrote in a Nov. 29 letter.
UMass officials say they are having ongoing conversations with Galvin's office and that their plans don't invade the archives' five-acre parcel.
In an e-mailed statement, Tom Putnam, director of the JFK Library, said they were "excited" to learn about the campus's "ambitious plans."
"We look forward to working with our partners on Columbia Point and at UMass to help make this project a reality and a positive for the entire community," he said.
The plans come as the Boston Redevelopment Authority is also looking at Columbia Point.
The university's full plans, and past documents, can be viewed on UMass-Boston's website at www.umb.edu.
UMass trustees debate campus re-design, dorms
December 27, 2007
By Gintautas DumciusReporter Correspondent
Two new academic buildings, including a gleaming, state-of-the-art science facility (minus dangerous infectious diseases). Two new parking garages to replace the crumbling substructure holding up the plaza and campus. A glass façade and new entrance to the Healey Library.
And, of course, dorms.
UMass-Boston's final conceptual plan, presented to UMass trustees on the last day of fall semester classes earlier this month, calls for 1,000 beds in the first phase, while reaching at least 2,000 beds by the end of the 25-year plan.
The plan is the first major redesign since the 1970s, when the Columbia Point campus was built on Dorchester Bay, creating a brick fortress and a sprawling, barren plaza. University officials now are hoping to move towards more modern, skinny buildings with wider hallways, pedestrian walkways and more greenery outside.
The first phase of the plan includes stripping away the windswept plaza and replacing it with walkways and a new science building. An academic building could sit on the current field by the Quinn Building, a one-time site for dorms, though UMass officials say there is no defined set of buildings laid out, merely placeholders for the sake of future planning.
Student housing buildings would be placed closer to the Harbor Point apartments, where many students, numbering as many as 1,000, already reside, essentially creating what UMass officials have referred to as "de facto dorms."
The next steps for the campus include engineering how they go about bringing down the plaza and the scope of the demolition.
Some members of the 22-member board of trustees, which signs off on individual campus projects through the university system's borrowing requests, raised concerns that the plans, which will remain subject to change over the course of the next two decades, could create an "overly-residential" campus.
Trustee Jennifer Braceras asked whether it would mean "importing more suburban white kids onto campus," a notion Chancellor Keith Motley disputed, saying the focus will remain on Boston Public Schools and Boston itself. Motley noted that students come from 330 out of the 351 cities in the state, and 2,000 students come from Greater Boston.
Other trustees voiced support for the plan.
"The devil will clearly be in the details and the dollar signs," said trustee Ruben King-Shaw, Jr. He added, "There are students who would like to have a campus-like experience."
Added James Karam, a Fall River developer and former chairman of the board, "We're never serving the local community by serving a substandard product."
He told Motley: "Please don't stop dreaming."
Some faculty members expressed concerns over the layout of the academic buildings, which remain years away from being built.
"We're concerned about having too many large lecture classes called into being," said Rachel Rubin, president of the faculty staff union. "There is this push and we're concerned that we go overboard."
The final design for the campus comes after months of planning and two lightly attended meetings for the Dorchester community.
UMass officials plan to meet with the Columbia-Savin Hill Civic Association on Jan. 7, when a presentation on the final plan is expected. The civic association has included some of the strongest opponents of dorms, several of whom are holding their fire before the presentation.
UMass-Boston's immediate neighbors also weighed in. Secretary of State William Galvin, who runs the Massachusetts Archives in between the campus and the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, wrote a letter to UMass officials and trustees in late November raising concerns that the conceptual plans would encroach on the archives and its own plans to expand.
Any construction within the parcel would hurt his office's "future ability to adequately store additional historic artifacts, papers, documents and state agency's records that make up the history of the Commonwealth," he wrote in a Nov. 29 letter.
UMass officials say they are having ongoing conversations with Galvin's office and that their plans don't invade the archives' five-acre parcel.
In an e-mailed statement, Tom Putnam, director of the JFK Library, said they were "excited" to learn about the campus's "ambitious plans."
"We look forward to working with our partners on Columbia Point and at UMass to help make this project a reality and a positive for the entire community," he said.
The plans come as the Boston Redevelopment Authority is also looking at Columbia Point.
The university's full plans, and past documents, can be viewed on UMass-Boston's website at www.umb.edu.
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