Samuels & Associates

Notice of Project Change Filed for Washington Village Samuels & Associates and DJ Properties have filed a notice of project change for Washington Village in South Boston. The change would result in an additional 90 residential units and around 15 parking spaces while retail space would be reduced by approximately 16,600 square feet.  New plans would replace approved Buildings A & B with one single building to include 214 residential units, 20,500 square feet of retail space and around 58 parking spaces. An increase in ground floor ceiling height and addition of one partial residential floor would increase the building height for this new building by around 15 feet.  The project change also proposed to move "The Green" to the west of the new building. The relocation of The Green will result in more activation of the streetscape along Damrell Street. The filing also notes changes to construction phasing on the project. According to the document, the first phase will include only this new building plus around 115 temporary surface parking spaces on the Buildings E and G sites. The development team now expects construction to begin in the 2nd quarter of 2020 with the remaining buildings to be constructed in future phases depending on market conditions. 

Take a Sneak Peek Inside the Trillium's New Fenway Location Trillium's first ground-up construction project -- the 1,500 square foot structure is designed by Studio Troika with a greenhouse-inspired feel. Sip beers on the open-air patio in the summer and watch the snow shimmer through glass windows in the winter. Trillium was born in Boston, and its newest space in the city will allow the roots to grow deeper. Photos Courtesy of Trillium Brewing Company

Orfano Opens at Pierce Boston Restaurateurs Tiffani Faison and Kelly Walsh open their highly anticipated Orfano tonight. Guided by the whimsy of “sorry Nonna,” Orfano is a subversive Italian-American restaurant that does not bow to traditions – its orphan spirit breaks away from regions and rules, conventions and expectations. The opening marks Tiffani and Kelly’s fourth restaurant and it solidifies that even their greatest fans cannot predict what they are capable of. As their most upscale concept yet, Orfano, as Tiffani so aptly puts it, “has moves.” The moves extend from the bar to the service to the décor, and underlie Tiffani’s unique ability to translate her own sharp humor into a dining experience that bestows guests with much more than just her gastronomic talent. A culinary maverick, Faison’s special sauce is in her ability to respect a cuisine’s roots while also fearlessly taking it apart and putting it back together in a way that only she could. With Orfano, she delivers next level Italian – delicious, elegant, humorous; distinctly different than anything else in Boston.     Orfano seats 96 in total: 16 at the bar, 20 in the café and 60 in the dining room. The café and bar are open to guests without reservations. Reservations are suggested for the dining room. Orfano is located at 1391 Boylston Street Boston MA - on the ground floor of Pierce Boston in the Fenway.

Renovations Continue at 401 Park - $2M Permit Pulled for Work on 2nd Floor Construction continues on the redevelopment of 401 Park Drive (the Landmark Center) in Fenway with a permit pulled for $2M of work to the second floor of the building. The permit calls for some minor demo work along with new millwork, painting, and flooring.    

BPDA Approves Samuels and Associates Parcel 12 Project The Boston Planning Board has approved Samuels & Associates transformative project on Parcel 12 in Back Bay. The new project will include an office tower featuring 325,000 square feet of space along with a 150,000 square foot hotel and ground-floor retail and restaurant space. A 1/2 acre park will also be included on-site along with numerous streetscape improvements designed to improve the pedestrian experience around the very busy intersection of Mass. Ave. and Newbury Street.  The development team told the board they hope to begin construction this coming winter.

Construction Complete for The Brynx in JP The redevelopment of the Goddard House along Huntington Avenue in JP is now complete. The former nursing home has been rehabbed into 110 luxury apartments with 39 additional apartments in a new construction building on the site overlooking the Emerald Necklace. Resident amenities at The Brynx include a terrace, a fitness room, and a resident lounge.

Permit Issued for Trillium Tap Room At 401 Park Drive A building permit has been issued for what will be Trillium's next Tap Room at the Landmark Center in Fenway. The permit calls for install of the new concrete slab along with plumbing, HVAC, electrical and fit-out to the 1,500 square foot space. The new greenhouse inspired space located in the front lawn of 401 Park Drive will be open year-round and is expected to be complete later this year.

Time Out Market Fenway Now Open The 25,000 square foot Time Out Market is now open as part of the revamp on The Landmark Center in Fenway. The food hall, located in the former Best Buy location features 15 eateries by local chefs and 2 full-service bars. The next phase of the Landmark Center renovation call, now under review, would construct a new 14-story, 506,000-square-foot office and lab building at the corner of Brookline Avenue and Fullerton Street with 17,000 square feet of ground-floor retail, and renovate Landmark Center’s existing 978,200-square-foot office and retail component. 

Construction on Washington Village Expected to Kick Off This Year Since approval nearly 3 years ago, Washington Village has been one of South Boston’s most anticipated projects. With Samuels & Associates joining the development team late last year, it appears the project is finally set to start construction before the end of 2019. Peter Sougarides, Principal at Samuels & Associates discussed the neighborhood changing development at a CREW Boston luncheon last week. While most recently Samuels success has come in Fenway, their roots can be traced back to Dorchester/South Boston where they undertook their first project, The South Bay Center. Nearly 30 years later they are back in Southie looking to further revitalize this formerly industrial section of the neighborhood that is ideally located just a few minutes from downtown, with easy transit access. Having spent roughly 5 years working on master planning and zoning for their Fenway endeavors along with gathering and addressing neighborhood input, the Samuels team was more than prepared for a project of Washington Village’s size. Sougarides expressed the importance of working with local residents to understand their feedback on development. These discussions led to the creation of an urban village featuring over 1500 residential units with around 80 shops and restaurants. Samuels also just opened a 1-acre park at 401 Park Drive as part of the Fenway Center redevelopment to bring more green space to the neighborhood. With this thinking in mind, Samuels entered the Washington Village project by first taking a step back and setting out to determine what the area really needs. With almost 700 residential units plus around 100,000 square feet of retail planned the development team wants to look at how they will attract a variety of residents and create a place that others from outside the neighborhood will also want to visit. Sougarides stressed the importance of getting the retail right along with a need for great restaurants and new niche fitness concepts. A final, very important aspect of the development will be a large amount of open and active outdoor space. These programmed spaces will bring the community together and also draw in others from outside South Boston. When asked about parking for the project, a hot button issue in Southie, Sougarides mentioned this was one of the questions they are still working on resolving. The neighborhood is requesting around .7 or .8 spaces per unit however in their experience they have not seen that high demand in transit-oriented urban developments. Sougarides expects the first stages of the project to come in around this higher ratio with data on decreased demand then used to justify a lower ratio of closer to .4 or .5 spaces by the end of the project. The big question on everyone's mind is, of course, when will construction kick off.  Sougarides told the crowd they expect to begin work on the first building, low-rise residential to include around 200 units of housing, by the end of this year. The rest of the project will then continue along Old Colony Ave. based on market demand.  With Boston’s growing population Sougarides and his team see the demand for these new units however they will closely monitor the market to determine size/type of units and what amenities they need to bring in residents/buyers.

Construction Nearly Complete for The Brynx: First Units Expected to Open This Month Final touches are wrapping up for The Brynx in Jamaica Plain as first units in 221 South Huntington Avenue are expected to open by the end of this month. The second stage of the project, 201 South Huntington will follow shortly after and open around July 1st. In total, the project will feature 149 apartments, a mix of studio, 1, and 2 bedrooms ranging in price from $2460 through $3920. Resident amenities will include garage parking with automated car stackers, a fitness center with indoor rocking climbing wall, and a large treetop outdoor patio.

NPC Approved for Dot Block During Raucous BPDA Meeting Although the updated plans for the Dot Block were not up for public debate at the BPDA meeting on April 11th, a group of disgruntled citizens were on hand to speak in opposition of the project. Chairman Timothy Burke's gavel got quite a workout as he tried to silence the crowd who claimed the $200M, project set to clean up a long-blighted industrial area, will displace Dorchester residents. Despite the interruptions, the NPC was approved, even receiving positive feedback from a Board member who is a neighbor to the project. The newly approved plans call for an increase in residential units from 362 to 488, 66 of which will be IDP units. The increase in units allows for deeper levels of affordability than required and 33 of the IDP units are designated for Neighborhood Diversity Preference. Changes were also put in place to decrease the retail/restaurant square footage to 23,000. With smaller spaces the development team hopes to be able to welcome more local, small businesses to the project. The final major change to the plans was to the parking. The previous plan called for an above ground parking garage which has now been moved below grade allowing for significantly more green/open space, around 1.3 acres in total. A spokesperson for Samuels and Associates, who joined the project team in December of 2018, told BLDUP via email:  "After many months of review and feedback, we are pleased to have earned BPDA approval to move forward with revised plans for the Dot Block project.  The current proposal improves upon the project originally approved by the BPDA in 2016, adding more housing opportunities, connecting neighborhoods together and providing more open space." A construction start date is yet to be determined.  

DotBlock Under Official Review The proposed mixed-use development in Dorchester is under official review. The development will transform a collection of vacant parcels located at the juncture of Dorchester's Savin Hill, Jones Hill, and Meeting House Hill neighborhoods. In total, approximately 487 residential units will be built at DotBlock, a mix of apartments and condos, across five mixed-use buildings. DotBlock will include approximately 37,000 square feet of retail with underground parking for 360 cars. Among DotBlock's residential amenities will be a pool and fitness facility and around 15,000 square feet of green space.