Home Page

 

 

 

 

 

ARCHIVES OF LEAD STORIES

 

June 2, 2005

Yawu Miller

Ten years ago when activists struggled to secure public investment in Roxbury, vacant lots and abandoned buildings plagued Dudley Square.

Public investment did come in the form of more than $10 million in federal funds for development projects in the square.

The gritty part of urban redevelopment may well be over in Roxbury, with all but two of the most blighted Dudley Square buildings renovated. Now private developers are looking to cash in on some of the largest developable vacant parcels in the city.

Nothing illustrates the new-found interest in Dudley Square than the steady stream of prospective developers and commercial tenants phoning and visiting the Dudley Square Main Streets office.

“All of the real estate brokers who didn’t want to represent landlords here several years ago are wanting to represent them now,” said Executive Director Joyce Stanley.

The interest seems to be spurring developers who are bringing forward plans for condos, retail and office space.

“I think people are looking at Dudley Square and people are interested,” said Jeanne Pinado, executive director of the Madison Park Development Corporation.

Pinado, who recently redeveloped the Hibernian Hall building, is currently working on a project that would include 35 to 45 condominium units on the vacant parcel of land opposite the Modern Electroplating plant on Washington Street.

“It would be the first new construction of housing with a substantial market-rate component in Dudley Square in years,” she commented.

Other projects in the pipeline for Dudley Square include the Dudley Renaissance Center, a three-level entertainment center that will feature a restaurant, function hall, bar and gallery on Warren Street across from the Ferdinand Building.

“We referring to it as a multiplex,” said developer Russell Hill. “On any given day there could be three or four different functions going on at the same time.”

Stanley points to six major development proposals on privately-owned parcels in Dudley Square proper.

“These are the ones I know about,” she said. “I’m sure there are more.”

Stanley says she regularly receives calls and visits from developers and real estate brokers seeking opportunities in Dudley. While most of the projects come in under the six-story height limit favored by respondents in a recent poll Main Streets conducted, Stanley says two developers have proposed 20-story office and residential towers.

The current level of interest stands in stark contrast to the early ’90s when many of Dudley’s larger buildings had vacancies on their upper floors. Then, Stanley recalls, activists struggled to persuade Boston Edison to upgrade electrical service to the area.

“We had to argue with them because they didn’t believe any of these buildings were going to get done,” she said.

While Stanley welcomes the new interest in Dudley Square, she says parking, traffic and quality of life issues cannot be sacrificed for the sake of development.

“We’re trying to attract development that will enhance the neighborhood and bring jobs, not something that will wipe us out,” she said.

Main Streets hosted a meeting in May where developers, elected officials and Dudley activists kicked around ideas, discussed building heights and wrestled with the thorny issues of parking and traffic.

Stanley says the community still has work to do in figuring out the right mix of development density and parking.

“Even though everyone says we should make Dudley more pedestrian friendly, most of the people who filled out our surveys said one of the reasons they don’t come to Dudley was because of parking,” she commented. “Nobody’s discussing these issues in a logical way.’

Back to Lead Story Archives

Home Page