NEIGHBORHOOD NEWS: Panera opens nonprofit Hub cafe

Customers pay what they can afford here

Jonathan Diotalevi wasn’t sure what to expect when he walked into Panera Cares near Government Center on Wednesday, the restaurant’s first day of business. The recent UMass Dartmouth graduate said he doesn’t have a lot of cash and was just looking for a cheap lunch.

A smiling employee greeted Diotalevi at the door, he waited in line, ­ordered a tomato- mozzarella panini, and then asked the clerk, “So, can I, like, just give you two bucks?”

Yes, he could. And he did, dropping the money into a nearby donation bin.

The restaurant at 3 Center Plaza may have been as busy at lunch time as any of the chains’s other cafes nationwide — more than 1,600 of them — but there’s a reason cochief executive Ron Shaich calls this one “a test of human nature.”

The nonprofit outpost of Panera Bread Co. doesn’t have any cash registers, or set prices. Instead, it depends on donations from customers who pay whatever they can afford. The Government Center shop is the fifth of its kind for the St. Louis-based company — the first in this region.

“I think it’s awesome because it’s obviously beneficial for people who are a little less fortunate,” said customer Yanick Belzile of Lowell. “We can ­afford to, so we put in a little bit extra. If we can help someone else who can’t pay for a meal, why not?”

Belzile said he donated about $3 more than the suggested donation, or regular retail price,

BOSTON HOUSING NEWS: Hopes are high for new development in Roslindale

The hulking power substation stands vacant at the edge of Roslindale Square, a bleak remnant of the network that powered trolley cars in Boston more than a century ago.

The Roslindale substation was one of several in Boston neighborhoods that supported the old streetcar network.

Out of use for 40 years, the brick building has slowly deteriorated into an eyesore that belies both its proud history and prime spot overlooking an active business district.

Now, after years of false starts, the city-owned substation is poised for a dramatic transformation: a mixed-use complex with dozens of apartments, restaurants, and a produce market.

The project, led by local nonprofits and a Rhode Island developer, involves restoring the original details of the 1911 building, designed by the prominent Boston architect Robert S. Peabody, and constructing about 40 apartments on an adjacent lot.


The substation itself will house a restaurant, small cafe, and the produce market. Pending city approvals, the developers hope to begin construction next fall.

The project would refurbish the building’s massive arched
windows, many of which were bricked over years ago.
 About 40 apartments would be built on an adjacent lot.

“This is going to completely change the way people see that corner,” said Kathy Kottaridis, executive director of Historic Boston Inc., one of the nonprofits leading the project. “It’s an exciting economic opportunity for this building.”

The project would refurbish the building’s massive arched windows, many of which were bricked over years ago. About 40 apartments would be built on an adjacent lot.

The project will refurbish the building’s massive arched windows — many of which were bricked over years ago — and create a stronger visual connection to Adams Park at the center of Roslindale Village. Mayor Thomas M. Menino, a longtime supporter of the substation’s revitalization, said the effort will save a key piece of Boston’s history and bring the dilapidated building “back to active life in the community.”

The substation was one of several in Boston neighborhoods that supported the old streetcar network that led to a period of rapid growth in the city.

Historic Boston is working on the project with Roslindale Village Main Street. Those groups

NEIGHBORHOODS: Seaport District gets another restaurant invasion

Restaurants with celebrity chefs and gourmet grocer quickly set up shop in the neighborhood

Barth Anderson was among an early wave of new food entrepreneurs in the Seaport District when he opened Barrington Coffee Roasting Company last year, gambling that as the economy slowly improved the nascent neighborhood would eventually turn into a full-blown community with an active social scene.

But even he’s surprised at the speed with which the Seaport is filling in. In the next few months, another wave of restaurants and entertainment options is scheduled to open in the Seaport District, seemingly racing the developers who are rushing to fill in the area’s empty lots with office buildings and residential towers.

“In an otherwise relatively tame world of development, this area feels like it’s on fire,” Anderson said. “It’s forging ahead against all norms.”

The latest influx involves some of the biggest names in Boston’s food scene, from celebrity chef Ming Tsai to veteran restaurateurs Seth Greenberg and Tom Kershaw, with options that range from neighborhood tavern, to French bistro, to gourmet grocer.

“I’m very bullish on the whole area,” said Greenberg, the owner of Mistral who plans to open a French eatery in a former textile factory on Melcher Street next spring. “It has huge

BOSTON REAL ESTATE NEWS: New development coming soon to Pier 4

Construction will start next month on mixed-use complex that will displace iconic Boston restaurant

Through years of redevelopment around it, Anthony’s Pier 4 has remained largely the same, serving up New England seafood classics in a brick restaurant at the edge of Boston Harbor.

But next month the changes that are rapidly redefining the Seaport District will finally arrive at Anthony’s doorstep.

Construction will begin on a massive complex that will eventually displace Anthony’s from its perch at the edge of the pier, and could mark the last chapter of the venerable restaurant. The project includes construction of three glass-walled buildings with hundreds of new residences, a hotel, and multiple restaurants.

Most important, a 1-acre waterfront park will be built where Anthony’s now stands. And for now the Athanas family, which owns the restaurant, has not settled on a new location — whether in one of the new buildings going up on Pier 4, or elsewhere in the Seaport.

“They’re still weighing their options,” said Douglass Karp, an executive with New England Development, the property’s master developer. “We think the world of those guys, and we’re committed to continuing to work with them.”

Anthony’s owners did not return a phone call Tuesday for comment.

The restaurant will remain open while the first new building at Pier 4 goes up, a 21-story apartment and retail tower along Northern Avenue. But it will have to close its current location when construction starts on the park, which is not likely for several years.

Ironically, the Pier 4 redevelopment will in many ways realize the original vision for the property by the restaurant’s founder, Anthony Athanas.

In the 1980s, when most of the Seaport was largely parking lots and empty industrial land, Athanas pressed to build a mixed-use development that would transform the land between Pier 4 and Fort Point Channel into “the next jewel in Boston’s crown.”

But Athanas lost control of much of the property in a legal battle with his former development partner, the Pritzker family of Chicago, and in the late 1990s hesold the development rights to Pier 4 itself to New England Development. Athanas died in 2005 at the age of 93. His family continues to operate the restaurant.

The plan by New England Development will dramatically change Pier 4, filling its half-empty

NEIGHBORHOOD NEWS: Boston parents speak up on school wants

Parents across Boston want schools that offer strong academics and a safe environment close to home. But their priorities differ based on where they live, a new Boston School Department report shows.


Residents of Charlestown, downtown, parts of Dorchester, East Boston, and West Roxbury are more likely to say they want their children to attend a school in their neighborhood. Those in Jamaica Plain, Roslindale, Mattapan and Roxbury prioritize safety over proximity.


The differing priorities illustrate the competing interests school officials must weigh as they design a new method to assign children to schools across the city. The complicated school-choice process — the subject of a yearlong series in the Globe last year — baffles and frustrates many parents, who say a system designed to promote fair access often unfairly shuts them out of the schools they choose.


Boston school officials hope to unveil proposals for revamping the student-assignment process in the fall and are weighing the feedback they received from members of the community at a series of public meetings and in online surveys.




An External Advisory Committee composed of parents and community members will also make recommendations on the best option to pursue in the fall. And a subcommittee of that panel meets Monday to begin examining a cache of data from the School Department, now posted online at bostonschoolchoice.org.


As school officials reconsider the assignment plan, they are focused on maintaining opportunities for all students, regardless of where they live.




“We felt it was incredibly important to assemble that data and make it public so that everyone knew the data that was available to analyze any number of models,” said Laura Perille, a Boston school parent who cochairs the data subcommittee. She also works as executive director of EdVestors, a nonprofit that works in partnership with donors to fund programs and school change initiatives.


The data provide information about the 125 schools across the city and the students who attend them.


Some charts, for instance, show the number of high-quality schools in each of the three zones that form the current geographic boundaries for students to apply for placements. If those zones change in future proposals, officials and parents want to ensure that each one has quality schools to offer.


Another spreadsheet details students’ race, neighborhood, and current school placement, so

MARKET TRENDS: Rethinking the 55-Plus Market

SOME would-be buyers who visit Villagio, a 55-plus housing development in South Brunswick, think they’ve arrived at the wrong place.

To members of a market segment said to avoid stair-climbing, second-floor bedrooms are not the only surprise. Villagio has a basketball court and a jungle gym, but at least so far, it lacks a clubhouse, which at a typical development of this type is usually among the first elements built.

“This is not your father’s adult community,” Mr. Gueyikian said during a recent tour of the development, a 100-acre property punctuated with 3,000- to 4,000-square-foot stucco houses painted in shades like amber, rose and terra cotta (although elevators are an option for their buyers). “The thinking was in the senior market that you sell your house and downsize, but some people don’t want to go to a smaller house. They want a new home with bragging rights. Today’s people are looking for the Porsche S.U.V., they’re not looking to buy a van.”

The 55-plus market was especially hard hit by the downturn in the housing market — so much so that in 2009 New Jersey passed a law allowing such communities to convert to serving the general populace. In any case, said Tim Touhey, president of the New Jersey Builders Association, “there’s been an evolution in the health and conditions of families.”

“Some 55 and older are still working and want office space,” he said. “Some may have adult children living at home. They want more variety and choice. And the development community is driven by what the market wants.”

In other words, Mr. Gueyikian may just have hit upon something. After several years in which, he said, buyers seemed to lose interest, Villagio is building seven houses, adding to the 43 that went up in late 2007. Long-range plans call for 210 homes.

A builder of million-dollar-plus houses in Holmdel, Marlboro and Colts Neck, Mr. Gueyikian said he identified an interest in his vision of 55-plus housing when meeting with a group of homeowners at his development in Ramapo, N.Y., which has retirement-age buyers living in $2 million to $3 million

NEIGHBORHOODS: Noisy Neighbors Be Gone

From noisy neighbors and adolescent garage bands to urban living spaces it can be hard to find some peace and quiet.

Enter QuietFiber® noise absorbing material. This versatile material is a solid way to address sound issues and can be installed as an easy do-it-yourself project. According to the makers of this revolutionary product, “QuietFiber is the only sound dampening product on the market that can be custom tailored to create a complimentary design element in any space. You have the sound abatement properties you need, in a product that can be completely hidden under a tapestry or in strategic spots throughout the room, or disguised as an artistic element within the space."Aside from relying on city and HOA ordinance enforcement, a strong hand with teenagers, or complaining to the noisy party, it can be tough to find a solution to a noisy space.

When complaints from neighbors began to trickle in for club owner Bobbie Rahmani in Los Angeles, California, he knew he had to find a way to deaden the noise and relieve his stressed out neighbors. He also wanted a solution that looked as good as it worked.

"We haven’t had any complaints since we hung the panels, and no news is always good news," Rahmani said of the noise deadening qualities of the Quiet Fiber treatments.

This versatile material is a solid way to address sound issues and can be installed as an easy do-it-yourself project. High sound absorbency QuietFiber is a two-inch thick DIY interior noise solution that can be cut to fit and simply hot glued underneath a bar, cabinets, countertops, tables, chairs, behind a wall tapestry or curtains. Slide a QuietFiber "pillow" on top

NEIGHBORHOOD NEWS: Developers offer 4 proposals on Greenway site

Four developers submitted bids Friday to develop a state-owned parcel along the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway in Boston, with one proposing a museum focused on the city’s history and three others pitching mixed-use buildings with residences, retail shops, and a hotel.

The submissions kick off the Massachusetts Department of Transportation’s second effort to find the right development plan for parcel 9, a triangular sliver of land along the Greenway near Faneuil Hall. The department rejected a previous round of bids for the property in 2009.

The property is located next to a planned public food market in a state-owned building at the corner of Hanover and Blackstone Streets. Each of the four proposals incorporates additional space for the food market in its plans for parcel 9.

Three of the 2009 bidders resurfaced to take a second shot at the property: Boston Museum wants to build a museum with a public food market on the ground floor; DeNormandie Companies is teaming up with Cresset Development on a plan for a food market, restaurants, apartments, and a rooftop garden; and Eamon O’Marah, now with the firm Jones Lang LaSalle, is partnering with Normandy Real Estate on a plan for a 180-room hotel, public winter garden, and a food market.

The fourth proposal was submitted by Upton + Partners of Dedham, which is proposing 120 apartments, retail stores, and additional space for the public food market. The

NEW CONSTRUCTION: Charlestown lofts project ready to be developed

After a 17-year tussle over permits, Boston developer Michael Rauseo is finally moving forward with a project to transform a century-old warehouse in Charlestown into 124 loft-style apartments.

Rauseo, owner of the Suffolk Cos., said he will start a $40 million renovation of the long-vacant Terminal Storage Building at 267 Medford St. this summer, hoping to get the apartments ready for occupancy by fall 2013.

Even by the standards of Boston, where neighborhood opposition and quirky development rules can add years to a building project, Rauseo’s experience borders on the extreme.

After winning city approval in 1995, he hit a legal snag because of the project’s location near what used to be an active industrial port on the Mystic River; its location just inland from the riverfront put it in a state-defined district known as a “designated port area,’’ where law prevented construction of residences.

It took three years to get a state agency to lift restrictions on his property, and that decision was contested by owners of nearby commercial properties, further prolonging the battle. Ultimately the state representative for the area, Eugene O’Flaherty, got legislation passed to eliminate restrictions on the property. Meanwhile Rauseo had a separate battle over the project’s impact on tidelands that didn’t end until a favorable ruling from the Supreme Judicial Court in 2007. “It was an extremely long and arduous permitting process,’’ said Rauseo. “But the project is moving forward and it’s an excellent time to do so.’’

He is among several developers trying to take advantage of a burgeoning market for rental apartments. With vacancy rates low and many people opting to rent instead of buy, apartments are seen as a good investment by developers and lenders that provide financing for such projects.

The building, situated next to Charlestown High, will qualify for tax credits due to its recent inclusion in a federally recognized historic district. The National Park Service granted historical

NEIGHBORHOODS: Sperling’s Best Places Reates Boston Safest City for Children

NORTHBROOK, IL – News stories about tragic accidents, many that could have been prevented, seem to dominate today’s headlines. While accidents can happen anytime or anywhere, Underwriters Laboratories (UL), the global safety leader, commissioned a study with Sperling’s BestPlaces to determine the cities that stand out in helping prevent needless accidents and improving the safety of their residents, especially families with young children.

The study, “Safest Cities for Families with Young Children,” evaluated the 50 largest U.S. cities on specific criteria that contribute to home, community and overall personal safety. The results showed that 10 cities lead the way in helping reduce risk of fire deaths, pedestrian accidents and other mishaps that contribute to the estimated 14 million potentially disabling, unintentional injuries that children sustain each year.

The 2010 “Safest Cities for Families with Young Children” include:

• Boston
• Columbus, Ohio
• Louisville, Ky.
• Minneapolis, Minn.
• New York
• Portland, Ore.
• San Francisco
• Seattle
• Tampa, Fla.
• Virginia Beach, Va.

Each city was measured on 25 criteria encompassing child-focused, safety-oriented behaviors and regulatory best practices. As part of the methodology, the study filtered out cities with the highest crime rates and considered air quality, incidence of child pedestrian accidents, injuries and drowning. The study also focused on accessibility to hospitals; response time for fire and police personnel; and laws, codes and regulations that address smoking, home inspections, smoke and CO alarms, pool safety and bike helmets. The top 10 cities had the highest frequency or values in these categories.

“There is a unique set of safety considerations that goes into developing safe homes, communities and environments for raising young children, and the purpose of the study was to bring awareness to the best practices in those areas,” said Gus Schaefer, UL’s Public Safety Officer. “We hope that highlighting the importance of these safety practices will help keep more families protected.”

Though the study names only the top 10 safest cities for families with young children, UL notes that almost all 50 cities had strong safety regulations in place related to several of the criteria. The study revealed that:

• All 50 cities have some level of local or state legislation for smoke alarms
• 47 of the 50 cities have some level of non-smoking legislation
• 47 of the 50 cities have local or state legislation requiring carbon monoxide alarms
• All 50 cities require inspections after construction or remodeling
• 39 of the 50 cities have state or local laws requiring bike helmets for children

“UL was encouraged by many of the results – it’s clear that most cities are doing great things to improve safety at home and in the community,” said Schaefer. “Just as cities are continually trying to take steps to improve safety and prevent accidents, families should do the same. Even taking a few actions can cut a family’s risk of accidents significantly and encourage safety-conscious behaviors that can last a lifetime.”

City Scorecards

Boston: With its many colleges and universities within the city and surrounding area, Boston is a center of higher education and a center for medicine. It’s no wonder then that the city has the highest number of hospitals per capita. Boston also has low child injuries and pedestrian accidents and good air quality. To protect Boston’s air quality, the Boston Air Pollution Control Commission (APCC) cooperates with local, regional, state and federal agencies to develop strategies and programs to improve air quality throughout the New England area.

Columbus, Ohio: Columbus has the lowest incidence of vehicle-related deaths and child poisonings among the top 10 cities. The city also shines in its low number of pedestrian accidents. Recently, Columbus’ commitment to safety was evident when it hosted the National

NEIGHBORHOOD NEWS: Shreve, Crump & Low relocating to Newbury Street

Luxury jeweler Shreve, Crump & Low will move its flagship Boston store to Newbury Street as the first step in a reorganization that will absorb a separate company owned by Shreve’s chief executive and expand its facilities in Chestnut Hill.


Shreve will move from 440 Boylston St., where it has operated for seven years, to 39 Newbury St. around the end of the year. In addition, Shreve will take over and rename Chestnut Hill jeweler David & Co., also owned by chief executive David Walker, establish its corporate headquarters there, and double the size of the location to 12,000 square feet over the next 18 months.


“It is really a transitional and growth period in the history of Shreve, Crump & Low,’’ said Brian Walker, assistant of operations at the company and David Walker’s son. “Moving to Newbury Street will bring a heightened level of luxury to Shreve, Crump & Low and having a location in Chestnut Hill will help to better serve our Metro West clientele.’’


The moves by Shreve, which has operated in Boston since the late 18th century, come as the jewelry industry rebounds from the recent recession and pullback in consumer spending. Zale Corp., the North American jewelry chain retailer, reported same store sales rose 8.1 percent in the fiscal year that ended in July, compared to a decrease of nearly 7 percent in the previous year. Annual revenues increased 7.8 percent or $126 million.


Tiffany & Co. the global jeweler based in New York, recently reported that sales in the three months ending in July jumped 30 percent compared to the same period a year ago. Shreve, Crump & Low said its sales grew at a double-digit percentage rate in 2010 and are ahead of that pace this year.


“I think things have corrected themselves after 2008,’’ Brian Walker said. “There’s been a steady balancing growth across the board. Boston has a stable, strong economy.’’


The new Boston store will lose 2,000 square feet or 25 percent of selling space compared to the jeweler’s current location. But the owner believes the three levels of jewelry, giftware, and repair service will provide a more intimate shopping experience, responding to feedback from customers that they felt overwhelmed by the amount of space and merchandise in the Boylston Street store.

CONSTRUCTION: Hammurabi's real estate code

The ancient Babylonian Code of Hammurabi included some stiff penalties for builders of unsound homes:

• If a builder builds a house for someone, and does not construct it properly, and the house which he built falls in and kills its owner, then that builder shall be put to death; and
• If it ruins goods, he shall make compensation for all that has been ruined, and inasmuch as he did not construct properly this house which he built and it fell, he shall re-erect the house from his own means.

Oh there's more, but it gets a little morbid. Too much death for me!

But where are the Realtors mentioned? Have we always been a self-governing body of good talkers? I'm certain that as long as people have roamed the earth, middlemen and "middle-women" have existed.

I'm guessing the ANAR (Ancient National Association of Realtors) must have hosted some really great parties for Hammurabi and his wives. I'm thinking wine, flatbread, something stuffed with mint ... oh, and belly dancers -- lots of belly dancers. And thank goodness! What else would you expect for your 10 sheaves-of-wheat dues?

But just think ... what if we had been included in the code?

Picture this: You're at the signing. You've got your client's sandal in one hand and a hammer in the other and you're just about ready to nail that size 11 footwear to his new door post ... when that pesky title officer notices that you've failed to procure the buyer's signature on page six of the inspection report. Bah! You hang.

Yikes!

I think we'd be a mite more particular about those paper trails, hmm? That final disclaimer

NEIGHBORHOOD NEWS: Boston Herald moving to Seaport

The Boston Herald plans to relocate to the Seaport District early next year, the newspaper’s publisher said yesterday, abandoning its longtime headquarters in the South End for new office space in South Boston.


"It was very important to me that the Herald continue to make its home in the city of Boston.’’ Herald Media president and publisher Patrick J. Purcell said in a statement.


The company has signed a 10-year-lease at Seaport Center on D Street.


The newspaper will join a growing list of businesses moving into the waterfront area between Fort Point Channel, Summer Street, and the Boston Marine Industrial Park, including ad agency Allen & Gerritsen and Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc.


The Herald will occupy 51,000 square feet on two floors of the Seaport Center, according to a note sent to employees by Purcell yesterday.


The building was acquired by Boston-based Beal Cos. and Rockpoint Group in April 2006.


“While the move from our home for the last 53 years on Harrison Avenue is somewhat bittersweet, the amenities and efficiencies we’ll enjoy in the Seaport Center will be substantial,’’ Purcell wrote.


There are already plans to redevelop the Herald’s current headquarters, on the corner of Herald Street and Harrison Avenue.


The two-story building was built in the 1950s.


In June, Newton-based National Development filed a proposal with the Boston Redevelopment Authority to transform the property into a mixed-use complex with retail stores, apartments, underground parking, and amenities that include public gardens and outdoor seating.


Erin Ailworth Boston Globe September 7, 2011

NEIGHBORHOOD NEWS: Home, again in Roxbury

In Roxbury, $2.8m restoration of historic mansion to get underway

In its heyday, the mansion in Roxbury Highlands was a symbol of Boston’s growth following the American Revolution, a time when prosperity was washing across the city like a flash flood.


With his furniture business, Alvah Kittredge built the grand Greek revival home in 1836, establishing a neighborhood that attracted the likes of abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison and author Edward Everett Hale.


But over the ensuing decades, as Roxbury developed from a suburb into a teeming section of the city, the massive home on Linwood Street was forgotten - left to deteriorate into an amorphous white block with peeling paint and rotting columns.


Starting Monday, however, the home and its history will be the subject of $2.8 million restoration project that will result in apartments for five families at a property still very much rooted in its proud, if faded, past.


“We all know this is a beautiful and important house,’’ said Celia Grant, who has lived in the neighborhood, situated near Eliot Square, for 12 years. “It’s crying out to be lived in, and for a long time it’s been crying out to be saved.’’


The restoration is being spearheaded by Historic Boston Inc., a nonprofit group that preserves culturally significant buildings in neighborhoods across the city. On Monday the organization will host an open house, to be attended by Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino, whose administration took the property by eminent domain after its prior owner let it fall into disrepair.


“This is a historic part of our city, and we have to restore it,’’ Menino said, adding that his administration is working with residents to rebuild the nearby Alvah Kittredge Park. “You can build new sections of the city, but they won’t have the integrity that makes Boston what it is.’’


Historic Boston, which in August is moving its offices to the nearby Eustis Street Fire House, plans to divide the 6,400-square-foot home into five residential units, two of which will be designated as affordable housing. Because it is using state and federal tax credits for the project,

NEIGHBORHOOD NEWS: For rent: tiny slice of tony Newbury

Cash-strapped T looks to let a slab of sidewalk

On Boston’s street of boutique businesses, this might be the ultimate boutique space.

Right now the “property’’ on Newbury Street is just a slab of sidewalk, barely a dozen feet wide — 275 square feet in total — tucked against the back end of the Hynes MBTA station and a department store. But its owner, the MBTA, believes it has enough commercial potential that the agency is soliciting proposals from businesses to set up shop there.

“It was a dead space, a missing tooth on Newbury Street,’’ said Boston city Councilor Michael P. Ross, a big booster of putting the concrete slab to more productive use. “There’s no access or use for the MBTA — we can do better than that.’’

Through its real estate arm, Transit Realty Associates, the MBTA is proposing to lease the site for 10 years and wants a minimum rent of $24,750 for the first year. The deadline for bids is July 1.

However, there are no utilities to the location, and the winning bidder would be responsible for building its own facilities. And, no pushcarts.

The lease is part of the MBTA’s effort to solve its longstanding financial problems by turning its vast unused real estate holdings into money-making assets. Typically, though, the transit agency has much larger properties that draw developers eager to build sizable mixed-used developments, such as residential, office, and retail complexes. This one on Newbury, however, is barely big enough to park a truck.

But MBTA general manager Rich Davey is unfazed about the limited potential of the site.

“Any dollar that I can get is one less dollar I have to charge at the fare box,’’ Davey said.

And Ross said there is precedent for developing such an unlikely site: The long-vacant public restroom on the Boston Common will soon house an Earl of Sandwich shop.

“We just find these unused spaces and turn them over,’’ he said.

One interested businessman had previously pursued the site, but backed off when he became worried the construction would prove too costly.

Solomon Boucai, who owns Truffles Fine Confections and lives above the slab in the 360 Newbury

NEIGHBORHOODS: New meeting space could be boon

State panel is told expansion would boost economy, add thousands of jobs


An expanded convention center in Boston could pump an additional $222 million a year into the local economy, bring in 186,000 annual visitors, and create or support 7,300 construction jobs, according to the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority.


The new analysis was presented yesterday by authority officials to a state panel appointed to review a proposed $2 billion expansion of the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center that would include nearly doubling the meeting space and adding a 1,000-room hotel nearby. Next week, the panel will discuss recommendations that will be detailed in the final report to the state.


Many members of the 27-person panel, called the Convention Partnership, have said they are leaning toward recommending an expansion. But critics of the project point out that the convention industry has been suffering, even as the amount of convention space nationwide has expanded, and that there is intense competition for the up to $200 million in public subsidies that will probably be needed to pay for the hotel.


“You’ve got so many demands for public resources, and they are all competing. And do you want to choose the one in which the number of people attending conventions has gone from 126 million in 2000 to 86 million in 2010?’’ said Charles Chieppo, a longtime critic of the proposal who heads a Massachusetts public policy research firm.


In Boston, visitors to the John B. Hynes Veterans Memorial Convention Center and the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center fell from 870,000 in 2008 to 645,000 last year, although the convention authority is forecasting a reversal, with attendees climbing back up to nearly 782,000 this year.


The expansion would allow the center to host events that are too big for the existing space, said James Rooney, the executive director of the convention authority who leads the panel. Over the past five years, Rooney said, the shortage of hotel rooms and space limitations at the convention center have cost the city 61 events, which would have generated $140 million in economic impact and $8.6 million in tax benefits a year.


Currently, there are only 1,700 hotel rooms within a half mile of the exhibition hall, putting Boston well below the 8,000 rooms near the Philadelphia convention center and the 6,600 rooms near the exhibition space in Baltimore.

LOCAL NEWS: Faneuil Hall shops deal rejected

BRA says firm seeking lease hasn’t responded




The Boston Redevelopment Authority has denied a request by General Growth Properties to sell its Faneuil Hall Marketplace lease until the mall operator responds to the city’s repeated requests for information.


Peter Meade, director of the Boston Redevelopment Authority, said General Growth has refused to provide various documents related to Ashkenazy Acquisition Corp., the New York real estate firm set to take over the lease.


The requested records include Ashkenazy’s capital reserves and restrictions on those reserves, a proposed capital and maintenance plan for Faneuil Hall, pending litigation against Ashkenazy, proposals to retain and attract local merchants, plans to respond to merchants’ concerns, and the most recent financial statement for Faneuil Hall Marketplace.


“We have so little information, you can’t make an informed decision,’’ Meade said. “It’s owned by the people of the city and it’s our obligation to protect this. We weren’t looking for a dictionary here. It was seven items.’’


General Growth, based in Chicago, and Ashkenazy declined to comment. City officials’ refusal to approve the lease transfer is likely to hold up the $140 million deal recently reached between the real estate businesses.

LOCAL HOUSING NEWS: Plan for Herald site: apartments, stores

National Development may begin work in ’12; goal is a vibrant city block


A proposal to build retail stores, 262 apartments, and underground parking on the site of The Boston Herald was filed with the city yesterday, signaling an end to the newspaper’s operations at its longtime headquarters in the South End.


National Development, of Newton, told the Boston Redevelopment Authority it wants to transform the industrial property into a mixed-use complex that would incorporate public gardens, outdoor seating, and other amenities.


An executive with National, which has an agreement to redevelop the property with Herald publisher and owner Patrick Purcell, said the tabloid is planning to move from the property by the end of the year. The executive, Ted Tye, said the Herald is considering two locations in Boston but declined to say where. A spokeswoman for the Herald could not be reached.


Last month, the newspaper said it was negotiating to have the tabloid largely printed and distributed by The Boston Globe.


The proposed redevelopment of the Herald’s headquarters promises to enliven a drab corner of the city where Chinatown, the South End, and South Boston meet.


The two-story newspaper building was constructed in the 1950s.

NEIGHBORHOODS: Fencing Etiquette

Avoid fence disputes by practicing fence etiquette—a good neighbor policy. If you follow zoning regulations and share basics with neighbors before construction, you can install a new fence AND stay on good terms with the folks next door.


Must-dos

Observe boundaries: Don’t risk having to tear down that fence by going even one inch over your property line. Study your house line drawing or plat or order a new survey ($500 to $1,000) from a land surveyor to be sure of boundaries. Fence companies usually install a foot inside the line, to be on the safe side.


Respect limits: Fencing companies obtain permits and must know local zoning regulations for height, setbacks, and other restrictions. Height limits typically are 6 feet for side and back yards; 4 feet for front yards. More restrictive rules often apply to corner lots, where blind curves can limit driving visibility. To avoid disputes, review restrictions with your fence company before choosing a fence.


Follow HOA rules: Fencing companies are not responsible for knowing home owners association dos and don’ts; that’s your job. Unless you want to suffer committee wrath, and

As Hynes events dwindle, plans to expand in South Boston face debate.

Officials considering a massive expansion of the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center often trumpet the facility as a phenomenal success, saying it has outperformed expectations and generated billions of dollars for the Massachusetts economy.


But while the growth of the South Boston exhibition hall is undeniable, much of that business has come at the expense of Boston’s other convention hall, the John B. Hynes Veterans Memorial Convention Center. Since 2006, five of the Hynes’s largest events have relocated to the newer, bigger hall, shifting visitors across town instead of bringing new ones from elsewhere.


And in those past five years, the number of hotel nights from visitors to the two halls combined is up only 9 percent, according to data provided by the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority. The new convention center alone was projected to have increased hotel nights by 18 percent in the same period, according to a 1997 study commissioned by a state-appointed panel, which also predicted the Hynes would not be hurt by the larger convention center.


Since the South Boston facility’s first full year of operations, hotel stays generated by the Hynes have declined 12 percent.


“There is a reason why cities don’t try to operate two convention centers: Because you end up cannibalizing one of them,’’ said Heywood Sanders, a University of Texas professor who tracks the convention industry. “In this case, it’s very clear that is what has happened to the Hynes.’’


James Rooney, the head of the convention center authority, said Sanders’s argument is a “red herring.’’ The South Boston center, he argued, has drawn new events to Boston and retained others from the Hynes that would have left for larger venues elsewhere. He also asserted it is unfair for critics to use a 1997 report to question the performance of the convention centers, because that document could not have anticipated the amount of economic upheaval in the intervening years.


“America has just gone through the worst recession since the Great Depression,’’ he said, adding later: “We’ve gotten sucked in by people like Heywood Sanders to measuring the success of this industry strictly on the notion of how many hotel-room nights are generated. That is narrow-minded thinking.’’


The performance of Boston’s two convention centers will be hotly debated in the months ahead, as city and state leaders consider whether to spend up to $2 billion to double the exhibit and meeting space at the South Boston hall, and build a 1,000- to 1,200-room hotel next door.


For taxpayers, a lot is at stake: A state panel studying expansion determined the hotel alone could require up to $200 million in subsidies. And expanding the convention center itself may require hikes in tourist-targeted taxes and fees on hotel rooms, rental cars, and other services.


On the other hand, Rooney said not expanding the convention center may cost even more in lost events and tax revenue.


Hotel-night stays are one of several key barometers used by the small community of consultants who advise the convention center industry on economic and financial matters. Even the Massachusetts’ authority cites hotel-night stays in its reports as a measure of its financial performance and economic contribution.