Development

Design Standards – What They Are, What Residents Want

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More than 100 people showed up Wednesday night to find out about Watertown’s new design standards and give input about what they hope to get from them. Design standards and guidelines provide a visual and detailed explanation for how town zoning rules will work. The Town Council approved hiring David Gamble of Gamble Associates to create the new set of standards. During the meeting at Watertown Middle School – Gamble, who is also a Watertown resident – explained what design standards and guidelines can do and what they cannot do. They can:

Improve the character of new developments
Articulate standards of quality
Provide Examples
Represent spatial and dimensional criteria graphically

Gamble also warned they can also go too far, and make all new buildings look the same or be too restrictive.

Business

Watertown Biotech Firm Gets Big Funding Boost

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A Watertown biotech company received $20 million in funding to developing targeted antigen-specific immune therapies for maladies such as gout. Selecta Biosciences Inc., a clinical stage biotechnology, received the money from new and existing investors. “Severe gout is a highly debilitating disease and just one of the potential therapeutic applications of our proprietary Synthetic Vaccine Particle (SVP) platform,” said Werner Cautreels, President and CEO of Selecta. “With a well established development path and favorable pro forma economics, SEL-212 is a great opportunity. SEL-212 is just the beginning for us, as we have identified many biopharmaceuticals, including existing and new classes of biologics such as gene therapy, where the effects of anti-drug antibodies are deleterious.”

The company has offices at 480 Arsenal St.

Development

Planning Board Debates Changes to Pleasant Street Zoning

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The Planning Board debated whether to set aside certain parts of the Pleasant Street Corridor for commercial and retail projects, or leave it open for any types of development. Last week, the board looked at proposed changes to the Pleasant Street Corridor zoning. The special zoning area was created seven years ago to encourage redevelopment of former industrial properties on the West End of Watertown. Most of the projects that have resulted have been large residential ones, some of which were criticized for being too tall and too close to Pleasant Street. The Town Council asked for changes to the zoning to encourage other kinds of projects.

Real Estate

See How Much These Watertown Homes Sold For

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Three condo and townhouses sold this week, see the sales price. $345,000 – 110 Coolidge Hill Road Unit 3, 6 room, 3 bedroom, 2 full & 1 half bathroom, Townhouse condo/townhouse

Sponsored by:

$511,000 – 9 Church Hill St. Unit 9, 6 room, 3 bedroom, 2 full & 1 half bathroom, Townhouse condo/townhouse

$679,900 – 37 Upland Road Unit 37, 6 room, 3 bedroom, 2 full bathroom, condo/townhouse

Business

Boylston Properties Discusses Plans for Verizon Building

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Boylston Properties plans to turn the Verizon Building behind the Watertown Mall into office space. The owner of large parcels on the Eastside of Watertown said it plans to turn the building at 480C Boylston St. into a 160,000 square-foot office building, according to a story on Banker & Tradesman’s website. Boylston Properties President William McQuillan said he hopes to create space for biotech or technology companies. Read the whole story here: http://www.bankerandtradesman.com/news161379.html

Real Estate

Take a Look at the Homes that Sold in Watertown this Week

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Three homes sold this week in Watertown, see the details below. $585,000 – 180-182 Boylston St., 2 unit, 10 total room, 4 total bedroom, 2 Family – 2 Units Up/Down multi-family home

Sponsored by:

$521,000 – 313 Common Street Unit 2, 9 room, 4 bedroom, 2 full bathroom, 2/3 Family condo/townhouse

$560,000 – 56 Bartlett Street Unit 56, 7 room, 3 bedroom, 2 full & 1 half bathroom, Townhouse condo/townhouse

Development

Watertown Could Get 15 More Liquor Licenses for Restaurants

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In hopes of attracting more restaurants and commercial or mixed-use developments, Town Councilors have been exploring how to add up up to 15 liquor licenses in town, but they still must figure out where to put them. Watertown has 32 liquor licenses given to the town by the state through a quota system based on the town’s population. Communities can ask for more through a special act of the State Legislature, which is what the Town Council plans to do. A joint group Council subcommittee – Rules & Ordinances, Economic Development & Planning, and Public Safety – met Tuesday to discuss the issue. The group looked at adding 15 to accommodate recently approved projects with restaurants, projects coming down the line with restaurants and some of additional projects.

Development

LETTER: Neighbors Have Requests for Proposed Athenahealth Project

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Re: AthenaHealth LLC and Arsenal on the Charles

We appreciate the Town Council’s delay on the vote for AthenaHealth’s proposal for changes to the AODD. We are assuming they have realized, like we have, that we need more details from them in order to make an informed decision. Any changes to the AODD should be considered with the future in mind: how will these changes affect Watertown’s ability to control what happens on that property while AthenaHealth owns it, as well as after they have gone. We hope AthenaHealth stays for the long term and works with the town in good faith, but businesses come and go, so we shouldn’t give away our rights to some determination on that property. To this end, we are asking the Town Council and relevant town departments to do the following:

1.