Watertown News (https://www.watertownmanews.com/category/business/development/page/31/)
The Town Council wants to hear from Watertown residents and others about proposed changes to the Pleasant Street Corridor District. A public hearing will be held on Tuesday, Aug. 18 at 6:30 p.m. to gather input from residents about the proposed changes. A number of changes have been proposed for the area on the Westside of town. The major change would be creating three sub-zones within the Pleasant Street Corridor.
The Linx office complex which has an Arsenal Street address but backs onto the streets of Coolidge Square received approval from the Zoning Board of Appeals. As part of the project, which will turn the underused Verizon building into a 185,000-square foot office building, a new entrance will be added on the north side of the site onto Nichols Avenue. This feature was a plus for some and a minus for others. Architect John Sullivan said the new entrance will help the office be part of the area. “It will reunite the site back into Watertown and tie it into Coolidge Square and Arsenal Street,” Sullivan said.
The renovation of the Verizon facility on Arsenal Street received approval from the Planning Board, but not without concerns for how the project would impact the nearby neighborhood of Coolidge Square. The proposed project, called Linx Watertown, would have 185,000 square feet of office space, featuring a two-story atrium lobby with a cafe. It would have a significant amount of green space and would be located along the Watertown Community Path so developers hope it some employees will ride their bicycles to work. Developer Boylston Properties also believes the location close to Coolidge Square will help attract companies, which they believe will relocate from areas such as Kendall Square in Cambridge and Rte. 128.
Residents told developers of the half-acre park on Irving Street that they would like to see a nice green space where they can get outside, relax and perhaps play ball with their little kids.
Representatives from Greystar, which is building the Elan apartment and retail complex at Arsenal and Irving streets, gathered ideas during the first of two meetings held to help design the small park. The park would be owned and run by the developers of the complex. Landscape architect Blair Hines of Blair Hines Design Associates, said the park is quite small. It could fit one full-sized basketball court, but he said that would likely not be the right use of the land. It sits across from the new apartments, and near existing homes on Irving Street.
After more than nine months of work, Watertown’s new Design Standards and Guidelines have been approved, but not without some concerns. Before Watertown began working on the design guidelines and standards, developers only really knew what they could not build on a piece of land, said Assistant Town Manager and Community Development and Planning Director Steve Magoon. The standards and guidelines were one of the recommendations of the town’s Comprehensive Plan, passed last week. They were also the result of a push for something to deal with the development boom in town. The new standards and guidelines will give developers an idea of what the town would like the project to look like, said David Gamble, the town’s consultant in drawing up the standards and guidelines.
The Zoning Board of Appeals heard a split view of the hotel proposed to be built on Elm Street, with most of the those opposing the project living on or near the East Watertown street. The five-story hotel which would have more than 100 rooms would go right next to the back of Target in the Watertown Mall. The layout of the hotel on the property has changed so at the building now sits near the street, instead of having a parking lot in front. Also, some of the parking has been put underneath the building. Also part of the project would be removal of contaminated soil from the site, which used to be home to Atlantic Battery Company and had been a hazardous site monitored by the state Department of Environmental Protection.
The major apartment complex with a retail section on Arsenal Street at Irving Street received final approval from the Watertown Zoning Board of Appeals, but a small park remains to be designed with the help of the community. Known as Elan, the project being developed by Greystar will have 282 apartments and more than 10,000 square feet of retail space. The retail will be on the west end of the complex, and face other stores in the next-door apartment/retail complex being constructed by Hanover/Cresset across a shared driveway. Developers made a few changes to the plans approved by the Planning Board in May. The project features a glassed-in bridge connecting the east and west buildings.
Many neighbors and other residents are worried about what the new Arsenal on the Charles complex will look like, and the owners – athenahealth – will now be able to make give a more detailed presentation after the Town Council approved a master plan process. Athenahealth purchased the former U.S. Army complex from Harvard University, and plans to make a corporate headquarters with a retail section. The company wants to know they will be able to do the whole project, and seeks to get a master plan approved to layout the changes. Monday night the Town Council approved changing in the town zoning that will allow for a master plan to be proposed, and added some limits to what can be built at the Arsenal. New buildings, a parking garage and glassing in the space between the set of long buildings on the eastside of the Arsenal are proposed.