Check Out the Homes that Sold in Watertown This Week

See the homes that sold in Watertown this week. $520,000 – 11 Church Hill St. Unit 11, 6 room, 3 bedroom, 2 full & 1 half bathroom, Townhouse condo/townhouse

$380,000 – 210 Palfrey St., 6 room, 3 bedroom, 1 full bathroom, Bungalow single-family home

Sponsored by:

$370,000 – 119 Spruce Street Unit 1, 6 room, 2 bedroom, 1 full bathroom, 2/3 Family condo/townhouse

$846,000 – 113 Watertown St Unit 113, 9 room, 4 bedroom, 5 full & 1 half bathroom, Townhouse condo/townhouse

Here are This Week’s Open Houses in Watertown

A number of homes have open houses in Watertown this weekend. $579,000 – 14-14A Charles St., 2 unit, 12 total room, 6 total bedroom, Open House: Sunday 1:30-3 p.m.

$925,000 – 75 Summer St. Unit 75, 3 bedroom, 3 full 2 half bathroom townhouse, Open House: Sunday 2-3:30 p.m.

Sponsored by:

$529,000 – 12 Wilson Ave. Unit 12, 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom 2 family, Open House:
Saturday 11 a.m.-1 p.m.

$379,000 – 87 Fayette St. Unit 87, 2 bedroom, 1 bathrooom 3 family, Open House: Saturday 1-3 p.m.

See What the Town’s Design Standards, Guidelines Will Look Like

Come and see what Watertown’s new design standards and guidelines will look like at a community meeting on Jan. 22. 

The meeting – the third in the series of community meetings on the design standards and guidelines – will be held at Watertown Middle School on Thursday, Jan. 22 from 6 to 8 p.m.

At a meeting in October, consultant David Gamble of Gamble Associates 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. What they can’t do is:

Regulate building use
Replace zoning or building codes
Redesign streets and public rights-of-way
Masterplan areas of the town

The town has created a website about the design standards and guidelines: http://www.watertown-ma.gov/index.aspx?NID=831
See previous stories on this subject:
Design Standards – What They Are, What Residents Want
Town Council Rejects Moratorium, Will Fast Track New Design Guidelines
Town Hiring Consultant to Create New Design Standards, Guidelines

Residents Say Irving Street Project is Good, But Needs Work

The proposal to build a complex with nearly 270 apartments and retail space got some good reviews from residents, but they said more work is needed for the project that would go at the corner of Irving and Arsenal streets. Tuesday night, representatives from Greystar and Oaktree FX – developers of the former Pirolli brick yard – presented the latest version of the project. Some major changes have been made to the project, which is serving as a test case for the town’s design standards and guidelines. Like the project, the standards and guidelines are still being developed. One of the highlights of the most recent version is the “jewel box” bridge that spans the two buildings in the Greystar project, dubbed Elan Watertown.

Multiple Open Houses This Week in Watertown

Homebuyers, you have several open houses to check out this weekend in Watertown. $499,000 – 33 Hunt St., 2 unit, 9 total room, 3 total bedroom 2 family, Open Houses: Saturday 12-1:30 p.m. Sunday 12-1:30 p.m.

$485,000 – 94 Stoneleigh Road, 3 bedroom, 1.5 bathroom colonial, Open House: Sunday 12-1:30 p.m.

$925,000 – 75 Summer St. Unit 75, 3 bedroom, 3 full 2 half bathroom townhouse, Open House: Sunday 12-2 p.m.

Sponsored by:

$634,000 – 23 Hearn Street Unit 1, 3 bedroom, 2.5 bathroom townhouse, Open House: Saturday 12-1:30 p.m.

$529,000 – 12 Wilson Ave Unit 12, 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom 2 family, Open House: Sunday 11 a.m.-2 p.m.

Town Councilor Opposes Proposed East Watertown Hotel

East End Town Councilor Angeline Kounelis has come out against the proposed hotel on Elm Street that recently came forward. 

Elm Hospitality LLC submitted preliminary plans for a five-story hotel with more than 100 rooms to the Watertown Planning Department. The hotel would be at 80 Elm Street, right behind Target in the Watertown Mall, and would replace the former Atlantic Battery Co. facility. Kounelis said she does not believe the site is appropriate for such a project. “I will state from the start, I will not support the hotel proposal,” Kounelis said.

Eastside Neighbors Holding Meeting to Discuss Proposed CVS

Neighbors from East Watertown will gather to discuss the CVS proposed to go into Coolidge Square. The Coolidge Square Neighborhood Group send out the following announcement about the meeting:
The Coolidge Square Neighborhood Group has called a Community Meeting for Monday January 12 at 7 p.m.  The meeting is intended to discuss a neighborhood response to the proposal to build a 14,000 square foot CVS at the corner of Arlington and Mt. Auburn Streets that is presently under consideration by the Zoning Board of Appeal. The gathering is intended to provide residents with information and a forum to air their concerns.  Many residents feel that the project is out of scale with the rest of the Coolidge Square Business District and will generate too much traffic.

UPDATED: Developers of Proposed East Watertown Hotel Holding Meeting

Developers who plan to propose a hotel on Elm Street will host a community meeting to talk about the project and get feedback. Elm Hospitality LLC seeks to build a hotel with over 100 rooms on Elm Street, behind the Target at the Watertown Mall. See more information on the project here. The meeting about the proposal for 80 Elm Street – the former Atlantic Battery site, will be held on Jan. 20 at 7 p.m. at the auditorium at the Apartments at Coolidge School, 319 Arlington St. in Watertown.