Western Ave conversion hits another snag
Posted by DickH on 16 Jul 2008 at 08:12 am | Tagged as: Lowell
Despite the “happy talk” in the Sun a month or so ago that all objections to the conversion of the Western Ave studios to an artist live-work district had been resolved, the Board of Appeals this Monday night apparently raised an entirely new set of objections, threatening to defeat the proposal once again. The applicant asked for and was granted a continuance to prepare a response to the new “concerns” but the prospects for this project seem dim. The Sun hasn’t carried anything about Monday’s meeting yet.
What was it they objected to in general?
This go round it was ‘public safety issues’ and in the case of one board member, the way that affordability is defined for artist live/work space.
One item that the applicant read into the record listed some of the guidelines used by the Boston Redevelopment Authority to identify space suitable for artist live/work. They include:
Studios and hallways of oversize width to accommodate the shipping of large works. Freight elevators to carry oversize/overweight objects; and which would allow for noise, weekend and late night deliveries. Security should reflect the needs of artists who have on-site sales, employees and customers. Fire protection systems should include the ability to address industrial accidents. Electrical capacity should meet the various needs of different art forms. The window-to-room ratio adequate for natural light. Wall and floor construction needs appropriate “sound transmission coefficient” to prevent the transmission of sound from machinery, equipment or repetitive tasks. Special ventilation and air handling techniques individually tailored to ensure the safety and health of resident, visitors and neighbors. All spaces provide venting via the outside wall while providing a central ventilation system to the roof. Ceiling heights allow for the creation of large works and large equipment, including machinery and lighting. Floors constructed to provide extra weight-bearing capacity. It is not necessary that floors be highly finished. The minimum level of fit-out that is required to obtain a Certificate of Occupancy Permit from the Inspectional Services Department and that meets artists’ needs for open and flexible space is desired. Plumbing should include slop sinks if needed. Oversize dumpster capacity. Containers for the disposal of toxic/hazardous materials (such as turpentine/paints). Common space or meeting space to include display space for both art work and rehearsal. Access for outdoor work area available to all residents.
Western Avenue Studios has pretty much all of the above, fire safety issues were addressed in 2005. And the applicant has been heating 80,000 square feet, approximately 78,000 sf of which is empty, to maintain the integrity of the sprinkler system during the past few winters.
Back to the issue of affordability . . . there are very few true artist live work spaces out there but a comparison of spaces that meet a majority of the criteria offers the following comparison, one of the important criteria for artist live/work space is space . . looking at units that have pricing listed on the web and space between 1100 and 1200 square feet
1100 sf in Chelsea $279,000
1109 sf in Cambridge $649,000
1119 sf in Amesbury $295,000
1149 sf in Boston $449,000
1182 sf in JP $279,500
1127 sf at WAS in Lowell $184,900 (based on the original plan that was shot down in January . . . pricing for the new application has not been released)
This is why artist live/work space at Western Avenue Studios is considered affordable. It is not subsidized. It is priced a little high for the neighborhood, low compared to downtown . . . but it is the kind of space that artists need . . . and compared to what is out there, it is very ‘affordable’.
Maxine Farkas
Western Avenue Studios
For the love of God, when is the State Ethics board going to get busy in Lowell and put an end to this nonsense invoving a City Councilor/developer who has his hands dipped into every developmental cookie jar in the city, not to mention friends in high places.
How can one go about dropping a dime and alerting the state to what’s really going on around here?
Right in Lowell, just call them and complain.
I find it interesting that the paper, a week late, finally ran a story on it. Of course they probably just watched the LTC stream because they didn’t do any behind the scenes digging. Guess they were too interested in the continued bashing of the former superintendent of schools to do any real journalism.
BTW, the ethics commission will look at newspaper articles and I assume blogs in addition to citizen and other complaints in determining whether there is reason to conduct an investigation.