Gateway shuffle

Former Frat Row, forever UMass

The Gateway Project, so named because it hopes to transform the main entryway to UMass while seamlessly connecting our largest employer to downtown Amherst, inched forward this evening...but once again demonstrated the changing nature of the project.

Deputy Chancellor Todd Diacon told the Amherst Redevelopment Authority, "We wholeheartedly support the Gateway Project." He also confirmed UMass funding for a traffic study in the Gateway corridor as part of their ongoing Master Plan.

Town Manager John Musante testified the town will sponsor warrant articles for the fall Town Meeting to hire consultants for a marketing study and to map out zoning changes required if the Gateway "vision," now endorsed by both the ARA and UMass, is to become a reality.

Zoning is a key factor which requires a two-thirds vote of Amherst Town Meeting. Since that body will deliberate spending tens of thousands on additional consultants for the Gateway project in November, the majority vote required will be a bellwether of how well the zoning vote--a higher hurdle--will fare.

Diacon also admitted, however, that his office would not advocate for the transfer of Frat Row, a 1.8 acre prime swath of land deemed a "catalyst" by the Gateway Vision consultant, to either the town or the ARA--although he stated UMass would landscape the wide open property and that they had no plans for building construction over the next five years.

UMass purchased the property, formerly home to five rowdy frat houses, for $2.5 million. Originally the Gateway Project commenced when UMass offered to donate the land for a private sector mixed use project but one providing significant housing. After a chorus of complaints from immediate neighbors fearing a resurrection of Frat Row, the housing aspect was significantly altered.

If Town Meeting approves the zoning change, individual private developers will have to undertake the task of transformation, with a form-based zoning code for guidance and a "vision" as inspiration.

Gateway is Gone

The Gateway Corridor Project, born September 1, 2010, died Wednesday August 4, just shy of age one, after contracting an all too typical case of NIMBYism.

The ambitious Gateway was conceived out of an optimistic, rare partnership between Amherst and UMass, as an urban renewal project with a mixed-used commercial development of high end student housing, commercial retail, and office space, a signature building or two plus significant green space, to revitalize the corridor connecting downtown Amherst with our flagship University.

The Amherst Redevelopment Authority adopted the infant and acted as nursemaid.

But the generational pessimism ingrained in the nearby neighborhood by seasonal waves of rowdy students, combined with overly inclusive public officials who allowed self interested "stakeholders" to hijack the public process, inflicted a heavy toll.

Gateway supporters were so concerned about negotiating the Town Meeting gauntlet--where a two thirds vote is required for zoning changes--that they watered down the project immensely, thus alienating a major player.

On August 4th UMass rescinded the offer to transfer ownership of Frat Row, the Gateway's crown jewel, a two-acre swath of open land dubbed a critical "catalyst" by ARA consultant Gianni Longo. The prime piece of property that ignited the very idea of a "Gateway."

With its heart and soul gutted the grand idea is gone. Now, Gateway belongs to the ages.



9/1/10

Todd Diacon, UMass deputy chancellor (center). During the intensive design charrette he was seated at the only table of ten that came up with a "minimalist" plan for Frat Row: keeping it wide open and green. They called it, "King Philip Street Park."

They got their wish, for now

The Springfield Sunday Republican reports

Gateway supporters show resolve

left to right: Todd Diacon, John Musante, Jonathan Tucker

If nothing else tonight's Amherst Redevelopment Authority meeting reaffirmed the strong partnership already forged between the ARA, Umass and the town, as Deputy Chancellor Todd Diacon and Town Manager John Musante clarified their vision for the Gateway Project before the ARA and a packed room of 50 onlookers, many of them concerned neighbors defending their backyards from the perceived spectre of the college town bogeyman: undergraduates.

Musante outlined four main objectives:

1) Create a development that the community wants.

2) Strengthen the neighborhood by constructing higher end housing to compete with seedy substandard slums.

3) Increase the towns tax base, stimulate jobs and bring customers to the downtown via the Gateway corridor.

4) Give the town a significant say in what gets developed there because indeed something is going to get developed one way or the other.

Deputy Chancellor Diacon called the Gateway a "signature attraction at the entrance to our campus". And to counter the constant complaint from neighbors about substantial undergrad student housing being a core requirement of the deal, Diacon pointed out the University is currently constructing 1,500 beds for the Commonwealth Honors College in the heart of the campus which goes a long way towards alleviating the needs for undergraduate housing.

If Gateway is built and the doesn't include undergraduates in the apartments that would "fine with us." The University is not demanding the housing be "only for undergraduates."


In his closing remarks, borrowing a them from President Obama (who borrowed it from 'Bob The Builder'), the Town Manager said confidently "I think we can do this. We have the talent. We can do something pretty special along North Pleasant Street."

Out of the four proposals received to lead the vision process, the ARA hopes to select a consultant by March 1st.
View from the head table

Gateway: "Not dead yet!"

I was considering a motion for the next Amherst Redevelopment Authority meeting to use our remaining funds ($30,000) to hire a hitman to take out Amherst Chamber of Commerce Director Tony Maroulis over his Front Page/Above-The-Fold comment in today's Amherst Bulletin: "I think what we came up with for the Gateway parcel is not so exciting." Yikes!

But then I received this email:

Sent: Thu, Jul 14, 2011 11:16 am
Subject: FW: Gateway article corrected quote for blog

My quote was taken out of context within a much larger conversation that was a much more relevant expression of my thoughts on Gateway. I said I wasn't excited about Gateway with the caveat that I said that that money was well spent. Especially since there is consensus around high-density zoning near and around Kendrick Park. The plan was also a rejection of the status quo, which in the end, even if we don't get what I think is exciting is a big step in the right direction.

I also made a lot of salient points about people insisting change is bad, expressed so within the article by Louis Greenbaum. Change is always happening, and we need to make some changes to be the best college town in America.

The project's legacy will be long felt, I believe, even if nothing is constructed on the parcel right away. People acknowledged what's there now is not acceptable, which suggests to me something MUST happen in the future.

Tony Maroulis

##################################

The Bully Reports

The article also makes it sound like the ARA is limping off into the sunset, dejected and defeated. Hardly. At our most recent June 30 meeting the ARA unanimously voted to accept/endorse the plan/concept/vision put forth by our consultant Gianni Longo, and to continue as the lead agency to promote the mutually beneficial partnership with UMass for the development of the former Frat Row, two acres of exceeding prime, open, shovel-ready, property.

Gateway remains open

Maybe it was the nearly 100 degree heat outside Town Hall as tonight's Amherst Redevelopment Authority meeting concerning the joint effort Gateway Project attracted more major players--Town Manager John Musante and UMass Deputy Chancellor Todd Diacon--then the usual contingent of concerned neighbors, with but one making a friendly appearance.

Or perhaps the prolonged public process and endless meetings with a plethora of public comments has resulted in a "vision" for that strategic corridor that could actually work to the benefit of all the stakeholders--including hard pressed taxpayers.

We voted unanimously to have ARA member Aaron Hayden (former Chair of the Planning Board and current Select Board member) draft a letter to the Planning Board politely suggesting they "adopt" the Gateway Vision as presented by our consultant Gianni Longo.

I suggested we also ask Town Meeting via an advisory article to support the Gateway Vision as that would allow even more public discussion by insiders who thrive on discussion; and if the broad general vision cannot muster a simply majority vote of that legislative body there's no way in Hell a specific plan will someday win over the two-thirds supermajority required for a necessary zoning change

The Town Manager, sitting shoulder to shoulder with Vice Chancellor Diacon, confirmed that "discussions with UMass are ongoing." He added that he was "very pleased with the planning charrettes and the responsiveness of the consultant."

The overall vision demonstrated that the town and ARA "was serious about broad community input." He circled back to declare the vision a "very, very positive step."

At our next meeting August 4 we should know whether UMass buys into the vision and still wishes to donate the prime 2 acre "catalyst" on which everything now hinges. The Town Manager will also have met with state officials regarding grants for infrastructure improvements and additional consulting on a market analysis, traffic study, and form based code zoning.

So before the steamy weather turns crispy cool, we will know if Gateway is a go...or a goner.

The Ghost of Christmas yet to come?

So yeah, I'm sticking my oversized neck out by publishing this but, unlike WikiLeaks, I will provide background and context for this important document, obtained under the legitimate protection of an Executive Session Monday night at the Amherst Redevelopment Authority meeting (legal advice from the town attorney is exempt from disclosure under Mass Public Documents Law.)

Kind of an "Executive Decision" on my part--as the acting Chair of the ARA and, as such, I of course take full responsibility.

I consider it a journalistic "correction" for something I previously published. When overly concerned, outspoken neighbor John Fox (a retired Washington attorney) visited the Amherst Select Board to rail against the Gateway Project and present to them a petition signed by 147 fellow "concerned citizens" he also attached to that petition an email exchange he had with town planner Christine Brestrup declaring Umass was subject to local town zoning and as such was limited in what they could develop on the former Frat Row, a now vacant prime piece of property (worth millions) sitting at the entry/Gateway to Umass.

Turns out our town attorney disagrees with that assumption. And it's an extremely critical point: UMass does not need the town or the ARA to build anything--including any kind of housing--on the former Frat Row. Backs up what Mr. Diacon pointed out an an ARA meeting months ago; they could build a 20 story residential project designed exclusively for undergrads if they so desired--all of it off the property tax rolls.

Key sentence of attorney Bard's email being the close: "It is therefore my opinion that, were UMass to retain ownership of the Gateway site and to development it for its own use in furtherance of its essential governmental function, such development of the site would not be controlled by the Town's Zoning Bylaw."

So NIMBY neighbors: be careful what you wish for. Torpedo the Gateway Project as envisioned in this joint coalition between the town, ARA and Umass...at your own risk.

ARA update: Remembering George N. Parks

So like all Amherst Redevelopment Authority meetings these past six months, tonight was nothing but 'Gateway Project.' And once again Deputy Chancellor Todd Diacon and Executive Director of the Office of External Relations Nancy Buffone showed up to demonstrate the continuing commitment of our major partner, Umass.

But if I were a cub Collegian reporter covering tonight's meeting, my lead fact would be that Umass will have a celebration ceremony to remember/honor/commemorate Marching Band Director George N. Parks on October 16--'Homecoming Day'-- at the Mullins Center, which has a seating capacity of 10,000... so that may be big enough.

Runner up fact: Deputy Chancellor Diacon confirming that the $182 million for student housing announced today in the Springfield Republican will have no impact one way or the other on the Gateway Project.

The 1500 bed dormitory will be in the center of campus (thus tax exempt) and God only knows how long that will take to get built since it will be a public undertaking as opposed to the Gateway Project which, like the Isenberg School of Management addition/renovation mostly funded by Jack Welch, will be farmed out to the private sector.

And finally, the ARA is now going to hold off on rushing a Request For Proposals for a consultant on the Gateway Project as we wish to carefully absorb more public advice--besides just the immediate neighbors who have given us continuous input.

The Springfield Republican reports

George N. Parks Facebook memorial page: 10,000 friends and still growing!

Let the floodgates open

Four viable consultants responded to the Gateway Project RFP

February may be the shortest month of the year, but for the Amherst Redevelopment Authority it will be our busiest in over a generation with three meetings scheduled to peruse proposals submitted by consultants competing for the job of leading a "visioning process" to ensure public acceptance of the proposed Gateway Project, the most ambitious undertaking for the ARA since founding almost 40 years ago.

At our last meeting 1/31 we were presented with the four consultant proposals and a legal opinion from the town attorney stating that Umass is indeed exempt from all local zoning when it comes to the Gateway Project, meaning they can do whatever they damn well please with that property--especially since they paid $2 million to acquire it, and tens of thousands more to demolish the five frat houses.

Of course if vocal NIMBYs had their way, the ARA would be spending the next three meetings playing solitaire. Their unelected leader, John Fox, appeared before the Amherst Select Board on 12/20/10 to submit a petition that requested a moratorium on the current consultant search.

Ironically the consultant is being hired precisely to attract and engage ALL stakeholders (including taxpayers townwide) in a process that allows EVERYONE a voice to shape what develops at that strategic location--not just those immediate neighbors with a misguided sensitivity fueled by a bawdy recent past.

This outreach curation will include at least six provincial stakeholder meetings and then another three Charrettes--a kind of Three Ring Circus where everybody gets to come under one big tent to share feedback.

By March 1st we will have chosen a consultant; they will spend 8 to 10 weeks dealing with a myriad of planning details--not to mention voluminous feedback from the general public.

Then the consultant provides the ARA with an initial draft of the "Gateway Project Vision" and we put it under our microscope. They then come back with a revised version incorporating our suggestions and that version, hopefully, is finalized by a majority vote (preferably a unanimous vote).

And even then, the finished proposal is formally presented in a joint public meeting of the ARA and the Planning Board. All leading up to the biggest hoop of all: a two-thirds vote of Amherst Town Meeting to approve the new zoning required for turning this dream into reality.

Yes, more hoops than a Chinese hula hoop factory. But in the end, well worth it.

Gateway intensive visioning

Town Manager John Musante and Giani Longo of ACP

Last night's three-hour kick off charrette--1st of three--started out with a bang as it looked for a moment like the public meeting would become part two of the Jerry Springer show when Town Manager John Musante was interrupted in his opening remarks by Murray Eisenberg (an immediate neighbor) demanding to know the status of "undergrad housing" within the Gateway.
Murray Eisenberg sits after causing a scene (and soon left the meeting)

Musante took advantage of the jarring segue to announce the "Memorandum of Understanding" signed by Chancellor Holub, former Town Manager Larry Shaffer and ARA Chair John Coull on September 1, 2010 was now "off the table," meaning specifically private student housing would no longer target undergraduates--the major concern of vocal neighbors (assuming developers can stay within state and federal housing law).

And since deputy chancellor Todd Diacon was in attendance and did not throw his magic marker at Musante, it probably has UMass approval. At previous ARA meetings Diacon clearly stated that undergrad housing is not the main interest of his employer.

Todd Diacon, UMass deputy chancellor (center)

Between 70-90 folks crowded into the Bangs Community Center where they sat at random around ten tables, each with a large color zoning map of the north end of Amherst. First assignment was to define the Gateway area. Obviously the UMass owned former Frat Row was ground zero and one table envisioned the area as only that (called "minimalist" by ACP consultant Gianni Longo) and it would stay open green space, while the majority of tables drew broader lines both north and south, east and west or combinations of the two.

The "Preliminary Assessment for Urban Renewal Eligibility" shows (as neighbors pointed out early on) that no "blighted" properties exist in the region, as blighted only applies to vacant structures.

And in the immediate area directly opposite Frat Row a good number of properties are identified as "exhibiting decadent conditions" meaning poorly maintained structures with either peeling paint, broken windows, dangling electrical wires, etc.

In order for the state to approve an "Urban Renewal Plan" and allow the ARA full use of all its tools--including eminent domain--the area must be deemed in need of rehabilitation on a grand scale. But since the "area" has not yet been defined, that process will take place at a later date.

######################################
The fun continues today into the night:

Friday, 4/29 – Open House

8:30–10:00 AM Review of workshop results w/ ARA
10:00 AM–4:00 PM Preliminary Plan Development
Alternative development;
Land use considerations (Schematic Plan)
Transportation considerations (The complete street)
Sketch up 3-D model
4:00-6:00 PM Printing & Open House Preparation
6:00 – 9:00 PM Open House presentation
########################################

Color schematic of the Gateway area showing properties with decadent conditions

9/1/10 Memorandum Of Understanding (not to be confused with a legally binding contract):
click link below to read original agreement:
Agreement with UMass/ARA/Town

The Best Laid Plans ...

 Town Gown Steering Committee:  high ranking UMass & town officials, and other stakeholders (although Chancellor Subbaswamy was MIA)

After almost exactly one year from their inaugural meeting (10/30/13) the sprawling 24 member Town Gown Steering Committee tonight heard the "final presentation" from U3 Advisors, their $60,000 consultant charged with honing a vision for joint development of the economic and housing kind.

 Standing room only crowd for the presentation

Essentially what we got was a repackaging of the ill fated Gateway Project, another one-year endeavor that used a $30,000 consultant to put forth a vision of a grand mixed use development with student housing along the North Pleasant Street corridor, using the University's two acre parcel, the former Frat Row.  A project resulting from a public/private partnership that would house students, provided commercial amenities, and pay property taxes.

 

Former Frat Row North Pleasant Street at the "gateway" to UMass

Now called by U3 the "North Pleasant Corridor"

Mass Ave plan uses UMass parking lots and Phillips Street, the slummiest street in Amherst,  for a mixed use development

 

Current map of the North Pleasant Corridor/Gateway area

Study after study and now again this final report have concluded that Amherst does not have enough housing, driving up prices and driving out low and middle income workers. And our demographic is obviously studentcentric, reflected by the fact that Amherst has the lowest median age in the state.

You simply cannot talk about housing without including students, but when you do that -- because of the rancid reputation fostered by an irresponsible few -- neighbors bristle.

That bristle helped to kill the Gateway Project, The Retreat student housing project in North Amherst and they seem overly determined to kill the 1 East Pleasant Street project in the downtown because it dares to embrace student renters.

Simply put the town and University need to come up with a public/private partnership that can build a development to house STUDENTS without being torpedoed by the Pachecho Rule.

Amherst resident Stan Rosenberg, a proud UMass graduate and l-o-n-g-t-i-m-e unabashed cheerleader for our flaghip University, is about to become President of the Mass Senate.

Surely he can steer a bill through the legislature to get not only approval for a public/private partnership, but an equally important component to any deal:  financing. 

No more studies, no more talk.  Just do it.

Reach for the sky

Boltwood Place is now in full construction mode as they race to ready for a Fall opening. The five story mixed use LEED certified building is the first major construction project in the downtown in a l-o-n-g time.

Technically described as "infill," the building, five floors reaching 50 feet in height on only a 2,500 square foot postage stamp of a footprint, will most certainly stand out on its own, and will also stand in as the poster child for exactly what the Amherst Redevelopment Authority had in mind when we donated the prime adjacent property to the town for the construction of the Boltwood Walk Parking Garage ten years ago.

The ARA meets this Friday to receive and discuss the Final Report from our consultant on the Gateway Corridor Vision in anticipation of the joint meeting with the Planning Board/public hearing on Wednesday, June 29 in the prime location Town Room from 7:00 to 9:00 PM.

Gateway Vision area

Gateway Vision Final draft (hot copy) It's a big file so you have to download the PDF

Interesting comparison of construction potential for Gateway

A Gateway, Guaranteed

UMass director of planning Dennis Swinford paid a courtesy call to the Amherst Planning Board on February 1st to talk about their "Master Plan" looking forward to the next fifty years, and at the end of the presentation he was queried about the Gateway Project.

You can tell by his reaction he was a tad unprepared for the question, perhaps why he blurted out the unvarnished truth.

 Dennis Swinford, UMass planning

Originally the Gateway Corridor Project was a joint development project between UMass, the town and the Amherst Redevelopment Authority. Umass would donate the 2 acre former Frat Row and the ARA would commission a private top shelf developer to build a grand mixed use project providing badly needed housing, parking and commercial business space--all of it on the tax rolls.

Neighbors, fearing a revival of the Animal House Frat Row days, lobbied long and hard, meeting after meeting to abort any part of the plan concerning housing. They brow beat town officials into altering the grand vision to an unrecognizable shell of its former self. UMass withdrew the offer of Frat Row.

On the night Deputy Chancellor Todd Diacon broke the bad news to the ARA he stated reassuringly, UMass had no plans to build on the property "for the next five years."

Chancellor Holub and Town Manager Larry Shaffer signed a "Memorandum of Understanding" at the 9/1/10 community breakfast (in front of 400 witnesses) jump starting the grand Gateway Corridor plan. Shaffer would later run off from his wife and the town to Michigan, Chancellor Holub was run off by the by the rough and tumble Boston pols, and Deputy Chancellor Todd Diacon just found another job with Kent State University.

And Gateway will become townhouse apartments (like North Village Apartments) and a signature building at the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue, North Pleasant Street, and Butterfield Terrace.

Now neighbors will get the devil they don't know.

Moving forward with Umass partnership

Mixed use block (retail on ground, housing above) owned by Dartmouth College in Hanover NH town center

While most--if not all--of the immediate neighbors may view it as "Sherman's March to the Sea" the Amherst Redevelopment Authority met again last night to continue plowing forward with the Gateway Project, a spiffy economic joint undertaking connecting the north end of Amherst town center with the heart of our flagship's campus. Yeah, that would be UMass/Amherst.

Interestingly, outspoken critic and of course next door neighbor John Fox wondered if Umass was really "invested" in the project. Well... they are giving away property that cost them $2.5 million only four years ago. I would call that invested.

And it would certainly not be unreasonable of them to, you know, make a condition or two regarding terms for the exchange--as in more housing for students, who are coming. With or without the Gateway Project.

But with this project they can avoid living in slums that have sprouted like weeds in neighborhoods all around town over the past 40 years to prey on those incoming nubies.

And with this project the town has tremendous control over the look and feel of the entire development. For the first time in my aged memory Umass wants to partner with the town (via the Amherst Redevelopment Authority) on an equal basis. They are the proverbial 1000 pound gorilla and they could do whatever they damn well please with the former Frat Row.

Our recent road trip to Hanover NH, where Dartmouth College stepped up as an Angel Investor in the downtown proves it can work. And it only takes one white crow to disprove the theory all crows are black.

Before and after photos of how it worked in Hanover NH

ARA and Select Board member Aaron Hayden reports

Request for proposals on Gateway Project, about to go out to the private sector

"Of the people, by the people..."

And of course the most important part of Mr. Lincoln's eloquent quote, "for the people." Or to paraphrase President Kennedy 50 years ago: "Ask not what your town can do for you, ask what you can do for your town."

February 1st was shaping up to be the NIMBY Superbowl, as two volatile meetings were in conflict: the Amherst Redevelopment Authority meeting (bordering on a public hearing) concerning the Gateway Project and the Amherst Department of Public Works committee's public hearing on closing off Lincoln Avenue to our largest by FAR employer, Umass, and used as a direct route to there for almost 150 years.

Of course the neighbors ensconced on Lincoln Avenue will converge on the DPW public hearing to champion turning their neighborhood into an exclusive enclave at taxpayer expense (not to mention creating a nightmare for travelers to and from THE major destination spot in Amherst.)

And some of those same neighbors will be pulling double duty by also attacking the nearby Gateway Project citing noise and increased traffic.

Some will even be a triple threat by invading the Feb 10 Zoning Board of Appeals public hearing to attempt blocking Amherst Brewing Company's move into the former Leading Edge gym's cavernous commercial space on University Drive.

Build Absolutely Nothing Anywhere Near Anyone: Banana Republic indeed!
#####################################

From: Larry Kelley

Sent: Wednesday, January 19, 2011 11:27 AM

To: Musante, John; Mooring, Guilford; Tucker, Jonathan

Subject: Feb 1st ARA extravaganza

One of our PR friends at UMass just pointed out the Town Room is taken the night of Feb 1st by the DPW hearing on Lincoln Ave "calming". 

Now I know we have to keep Phil Jackson (and his band of merry NIMBYs) happy and all, but it strikes me that Gateway is a tad more important.

Is there any way we can move that DPW hearing to the Bangs Center or--better yet--the date, so Umass community relations folks can attend it and the ARA meeting???



Larry K

(Acting) Chair ARA

From: Mooring, Guilford To: Musante, John Tucker, Jonathan 

Sent: Wed, Jan 19, 2011 12:53 pm

Hi. This is the regularly scheduled PWC meeting. We could move as long as there is a big room available. They meet the first Tuesday of each month.

From: Larry Kelley
Sent: Wednesday, January 19, 2011 1:02 PM

To: Mooring, Guilford; Musante, John; Tucker, Jonathan


I will rent a very large tent (The ARA has a few bucks left in an Administrative Account.)


Sent: Wed, Jan 19, 2011 2:41 pm
Larry and Jonathan,

How about moving the ARA meeting to the previous night 1/31 in the Town Room? There will be neighbors interested in attending both ARA and PWC. I have checked with Nancy and Todd at UMass and they are available. Jonathan, the Town Room is reserved by my office for the Select Board that night but they are not planning to meet. Let me know ASAP.
John P. Musante

And so we did. ARA Meeting: Monday, January 31, Town Room, Town Hall.
#####################################
A tad less busy in 1860

Amazing that Lincoln Ave actually predates the University or the original Massachusetts Agricultural College. Even more amazing that the People's Republic of Amherst named a major street after a Republican President (years before he became a martyr.)

Click on the two links below for the official DPW renderings (and how much did they cost?):

The Berlin Wall of Amherst

Close up of the Berlin Wall

Gateway: out of the gate, off and running

The Amherst Redevelopment Authority had a most productive meeting, including a brief 10 minute Executive Session to discuss property acquisition, that started this evening at 5:00 (instead of the usual 7:00) and wrapped up at 6:30.

ACP Visioning and Planning, awarded the four-month consulting contract only two weeks ago at our March 1st meeting (one of four bidders for the $30,000 contract), already demonstrates one reason they were chosen: A team will be in town all day this Friday for a series of work sessions with town planning staff, including a walking tour of the proposed main corridor (although an exact footprint is still to be determined) and formulating a list of stakeholders to include in the ultra-public process about to unfold.

The ARA is treating the walking tour of the possible impact area as a "site visit," which is a public meeting--so the general public may tag along--but no policy discussions or public comments will take place.

The old "Frat Row" at the main Gateway to UMass, 1.86 acres of prime real estate, is currently the only swath of land that is certain to be included in the final plan. UMass will donate the keystone piece to the ARA after state legislature approval. Senator Stan Rosenberg, one of the state's more powerful politicians, resides in Amherst and graduated from UMass/Amherst, our flagship institution of higher education.

In 2007 Alpha Tau Gamma, Inc. sold the property to UMass for $2.5 million and as part of the deal donated $500,000 the Stockbridge School of Agriculture endowment plus covered the $300,000 demolition/clean up costs. Since they were a private entity, in their final year of existence as infamous party houses they paid Amherst $60,000 in property taxes.

Since the Gateway Project will also be privately owned-and-operated, it could easily generate over a million dollars in annual tax revenues for our cash-strapped municipal coffers. Giddyup!

There they grow again

93 Fearing Street. Lincoln Apartments (brick building behind fence) in back.

Umass is in the process of purchasing 93 Fearing Street, probably because of its prime location abutting Lincoln Apartments, recently renovated family housing (105 units) set aside for Graduate Students and faculty. The house,currently assessed at $403,000, has been owned and occupied by the same family for 50 years.

Obviously owner-occupied houses in that neighborhood are not the problem when it comes to rowdy student behavior.

Next door neighbor Gretchen Fox appeared before the Amherst Select Board on 10/25 to complain about the purchase and husband John Fox has also been routinely attending the ARA meetings over the past six months to question The Gateway Project.

Since this will take the three-family house and property (over one acre) off the tax rolls it will cost Amherst about $6,500 annually in lost revenue (plus 2.5%.) Umass is the #2 landowner in town behind Amherst College and overall tax exempts own half the property in town.

####################################
-----Original Message-----
From: Todd Diacon
Cc: Nancy Buffone ; MusanteJ@amherstma.gov ; casanderson@amherst.edu ; nhoffenberg@gazettenet.com
Sent: Fri, Nov 5, 2010 3:36 pm
Subject: Re: Umass/town relations

Dear Larry: Thank you for your thoughts and query.

I have met with John Musante to discuss 93 Fearing Street, and soon will follow
up on the meeting with a memo explaining our plans for that property.

As to the other issue, we believe the Gateway Project will produce the win-win
situation of additional housing that individuals affiliated with the university
will find attractive (undergraduate students, graduate students, new faculty),
while contributing to the town's tax receipts.

Todd Diacon
Deputy Chancellor
University of Massachusetts Amherst
tdiacon@umass.edu

On Nov 5, 2010, at 1:13 PM,
Amherstac@aol wrote:

Not asking as an ARA member, just as a nosey blogger. The bricks-and-mortar
media sleep from around noon Friday until Monday 9:00 AM, but I do not.

What is up with 93 Fearing Street? I could not help but note the Fox household
has divided to fight a two-front war: John Fox continues to hammer The Gateway Project (and I would not take heart that he failed to show for last night's ARA meeting) on the Commentary pages of the venerable Daily Hampshire Gazette and Amherst Bulletin and wife Gretchen attacks Umass for purchasing 93 Fearing St via public comment at the SB meeting Oct 25.

Since the sizable property is contiguous with Lincoln Apartments, I'm assuming it will be used as housing of some sort? And IF melding seamlessly with Lincoln Apartments that would seem to indicate Grad students or faculty, thus making the neighbors happy?

Of course the upside for the neighborhood is a downside to the town as Grad
Students/Faculty have a far greater impact on our public schools. Last I looked
we had about 60 kids (@ $14,000 per) attending Amherst schools from tax-exempt housing located at Umass, including Chancellor Holub's two daughters.

And speaking of which, what is the status of the Amherst school department's
modular classrooms at Mark's Meadow?

The 5 year "Strategic Agreement" signed with Umass about 4 years ago did clearly state that if Mark's Meadow closed Umass would sort of, maybe, consider a Payment In Lieu of Taxes to cover the $750,000+ in education costs for children in the public system from Umass?

And if the purchase of 93 Fearing street goes through, that will cost the town
another $6,500 or so in property taxes per year. If I were your PR flack I
would be thinking about all of this (especially now).

Larry K

Tax-exempt house with a view

Neighborhood Shake Up?

So it will be interesting to see (and hear) how the immediate neighbors living near our economic Leviathan react to the news that Lincoln Apartments, which for over fifty years housed families, graduate students, UMass staff, and visiting faculty will now be accepting the dreaded "undergrads."


Well, maybe.  


According to a polite memo to the neighborhood from Lisa Queenin, Director of Community and Regional Legislative Relations: "With the housing pressures on campus and our desire to maximize all available housing options for both undergraduate and graduate students, we may open Lincoln Apartments as a housing option to senior undergraduates who choose to live in this quiet community"

Lincoln Apartments is contiguous with Fearing Street, which is located in the heart of the Gateway corridor leading to UMass from Amherst town center.  Frathouse Pi Kappa Alpha, the scene of violent fights this past weekend (earning them two $300 "Nuisance House" tickets from APD) is located on the corner of Fearing Street and North Pleasant Street and the worst party street in town, Phillips Street, is one street over.

 Lincoln Apartments top left, Pi Kappa Alpha middle right

Rowdy student party houses poisoning the neighborhood was reason #1 the Gateway Corridor Project-- a joint commercial/residential  mixed-use development between the town and UMass-- was derailed.

The two acre parcel of property (formerly "Frat Row") that was to be the crown jewel of the town/gown joint development is now also a potential site for additional housing, assuming the Gateway project does not arise from the dead.

The other 'Gateway' project advances

Kendrick Park: A giant green amoeba in the heart of Amherst

The Amherst Select Board on Monday heard the first public presentation on design specifications for Kendrick Park from Peggy Roberts chair of the Design Committee and their consultants, the Cecil Group (who also applied to the Amherst Redevelopment Authority for the Gateway Project proposal but lost out to ACP Associates) concerning this crown jewel of downtown property that abuts the Gateway district leading to UMass.

Amherst is about to develop its very own Central Park.

When will they ever learn? (sequel)

So missiles in the form of beer cans launched from the snipers lair located on the 3rd floor balcony of this humble abode at 27/28/29 Phillips street resulted in three $300 "nuisance house" tickets to the responsible parties late Sunday night/early Monday morning.

Since they were "beer cans" it's safe to assume they were empty--even so, any metal object hurled from the 3rd floor of a building gets a fair amount of assist from gravity and can do damage if you happen to be on the receiving end.

The nitwits are lucky APD did not charge them with "assault with a dangerous weapon."

And yes, I'm sure I will hear about incidents like this Thursday night at the Amherst Redevelopment Authority meeting as we continue to move forward with The Gateway Project, where the former 'Frat Row' directly across Phillips Street is headed for a mixed-use private development partly to provide new higher end student housing, but mainly to connect the downtown with Umass and to increase our pathetic commercial tax base.

Naturally, neighbors think the Gateway Project will result in more rowdy student behavior rather than less. Kind of like your toddler wailing over their first flu shot, not realizing the overall benefits.
Phillips Street is less than a beer can throw away from the heart of the Gateway Project: Former Frat Row, owned by Umass but about to be donated to the ARA

When will they ever learn (Original)



Frat Row circa 2005

If You Build It?

Revive the Gateway Project

Actually they are already coming (2,000 over the next seven years) so the need for additional student housing is a given.

Two years ago UMass was willing to donate a prime swath of lush lawn for a mixed use development that would help solve two imbalances in our little college town:  taxable housing for our #1 demographic and commercial space for goods and services -- all within walking distance of the heart of the campus or downtown Amherst. 

The Gateway Project died because public officials failed to show resolve in the face of adversity:  NIMBYs with sharpened pitchforks and flamethrowers.

Now after the tumult created by "The Retreat," it's time to take a second look at The Gateway, and this time GET IT DONE.

According to a recent Op/Ed column in the Amherst Bulletin, UMass Chancellor Subbaswamy states "The university is committed to exploring the feasibility of a legislative remedy that would allow us to pursue public-private partnerships to address our housing needs."  Bingo!

What the Chancellor is referring to is a work around of the 1993 "Pacheco Rule" that protects public services from being privatized (no wonder then Governor Weld tried to veto it):

A "Special Act" exempting Amherst and UMass from the rule -- but only in a case of public/private partnership to construct new student housing on campus property.  The former Frat Row for instance.

 Former Frat Row, ready to go!

This "Home Rule Petition" is just what the Chancellor ordered, and would fall into the hands of able state legislators Stan Rosenberg -- a shoe in for the next Senate President -- and Ellen Story.

Two recent influential housing studies indicated the clear and desperate need for student housing, starting with the simple fact that 59% of our population are "college aged".

And until that problem is solved all other aspects of housing concerning families, retirees, low-and- moderate income, or the homeless will never be solved.

If the "rising star" Housing & Sheltering Committee really wants to make the difference, they need to prepare a warrant article for Town Meeting initiating this Special Act process.  Now!