Hudson Street Redux

Monday, September 15, 2008

If you grew up in the 1950s, the pictures from your neighborhood in that era look a lot alike, no matter what part of the country it was.

Those big, heavy American cars are parked in the street, and the kids wore their striped t-shirts in the summer, their wool peacoats in the winter.

It's that way in Chinatown now, as adults who were youngsters then look at the collections of black and white photos from their childhood -- and envision a rebirth.

The east side of Hudson Street, just south of Kneeland Street and west of the Albany Street ramp to the Turnpike, was demolished to make way for the Turnpike Extension from Route 128 in the 1960s.

In fact, the side of the block facing Albany Street had already been torn down in the 1950s for the Central Artery. It was a double-whammy.

Now, courtesy of the Big Dig and the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority, that whole block, currently an elongated grassy space, will be rebuilt -- to modern specifications and tastes -- and put back on the neighborhood map.

One of the partners in the joint development team is the Asian Community Development Corporation, whose president, Carol Chang, was born at 80 Hudson St. in 1950. The other partner is New Boston Fund, Inc.

A week ago at noon, a small group of consultants and developers' representatives met Rick Bourre, a representative from the state Department of Environmental Affairs' Massachusetts Environmental Protection Act office, who was making an official site visit to the property.

Public comments on this project are due tomorrow, and it doesn't automatically require a complicated environmental impact review. MEPA will decide.

The project, which extends south past Harvard Street to Tai Tung Street, was designed by Goody Clancy.

It is a varied block of 325 residential units, both rental and for sale, with 50 percent in the so-called affordable category.

A large park, stepped down a 24-foot grade change between the Albany ramp and Hudson Street, separates the northern buildings and townhouses on the south. Height varies from 20 at Kneeland down to 10-13, then seven, then lower to the south.

The developers will have a long-term lease with the Turnpike. Had the authority sold the land, it would have had to go to the highest bidder -- and Chinatown desperately wanted to control what goes up there.

There are four spaces two retail establishments and two community spaces with two levels of parking.

The development, on what is known in Big Dig terms as Parcel 24, still has to go through the city's large-project review.

"This is very exciting for us," said Janelle Chan, project manager for ACDC, who is much too young to remember the '50s.


Janelle Chan of ACDC shows off a new Hudson Street.

THEY'RE HOME

The handsome modern residential buildings at NorthPoint in East Cambridge, known as Tango and Sierra, are finally being occupied.

Both designed by CBT, one was supposed to be occupied a year ago, the other about six months ago. But the joint owners of the project have been scrapping like scorpions in a bottle, and a bunch of prospective owner-residents got caught without.

Now they're in, or some of them.

Sue Hawkes, chief executive of The Collaborative Companies, which is marketing the condos, told us 27 owners have moved in, of 30 that plan too soon. At peak, 118 of the units were sold, but -- it's a painful story for one that started with so much promise -- the delay took it's toll.

A brand new edgy campaign -- "Condolicious!" -- started yesterday. Access and easement issues were worked out by the warring parties, even though the lawsuit isn't quite yet settled, so the buildings will begin to be called home.

Tango is a 12-story, 292-unit building, most on a single level.

Sierra, eight floors with 99 units, is less traditional -- lofts, presumably for younger buyers.

Both buildings are contemporary, understated modern, with lots of glass and some great views.

The prices, we thought when construction started, were attractive. Presumably they still will be, ranging from $350,000 for an 800-square-foot residence to the $900,000s for top floors and larger ones.

The huge mixed-use NorthPoint complex, the rest of it yet to be built, is on the market, now being handled by Eastdil Secured.

A new MBTA Lechmere Station, adjacent to NorthPoint and across the street from its current location, will be built by the state instead of the developer, as previously planned, and that has been encouraging to some.

"We're very excited," Hawkes said of the new marketing campaign, created by Doerr Associates Inc. of Winchester. "It'll be eye-catching."

Boo-boo: I wrote concerning the proposed Green Line extension through Somerville that a spur might go to Union Square. I later corrected it -- thanks to Jim McGinniss -- to say it will go there, but the alignment is uncertain.