Tuesday, September 1, 2015

Kendrick Place: Open For Business

Kendrick Place, Saturday
Kendrick Place, Sunday

The mixed-use five story building that has forever changed the face of downtown Amherst's north end is now open, having been issued a Certificate of Occupancy last night by Building Commissioner Rob Morra.

Phased move ins for the 36 badly needed housing units began this morning.

 Kendrick Place Monday:  Front Check in station (minus the ladder of course)

 Hallway art:  painting of an aerial view of salt mine (different view on each of five floors)

In addition to paying the town $150,000 in property taxes (based on a value of around $7.5 million) the upscale building will also house 100 tenants who are potential customers for nearby businesses.

 Kendrick Place, Tuesday:  moving in day

The revitalization of downtown Amherst is now off to a good start.

24 comments:

Anonymous said...

I was wondering what the cost of construction was for the building and the cost of the land?

Anonymous said...

Wait...Carol Gray told us TM members this was a "monstrosity".
It's not. Could Carol have been wrong?

12;25 The cost of land is public record (masslandrecords.com) and the ballpark cost of construction is on the building permit (also public record). Good luck.

Anonymous said...

Bring on the Carriage Shop project! This ADDS to the town….is sure as hell don't take away.

Anonymous said...

It sort of feels like we have a dorm downtown now. But that works out OK, because there are places all over UMass campus that feel like vibrant private commercial districts.

Anonymous said...

Downtown is pretty vital already. Aren't we the Number 1 college town? Or is it 2? Let's keep some perspective.

Anonymous said...

Carol Grey is a far left wing nut job who thinks the world is heating up and the future is bleak.

Anonymous said...

It's probably a good idea to stock up on canned food and bottled water. I've already laid in my survival supplies to last at least 9 months. My building compound is safe and fenced by razor wire; good luck to the rest of ya's."

Anonymous said...

What the building permit says is the cost and the actual cost can vary greatly. The permit fee is based on what the builder says. Does anyone verify the actual cost?

Rene said...

Anon 3:47 being "a far left wing nut job" and thinking the world is heating up don't necessarily go together. Lots of people of different political persuasions have carefully followed the science of climate change and agree that, yes, the global climate is warming. This is a matter of record at this point and all the name calling in the world won't change that fact. And, yes, unless we do something to stop it, the future is bleak. If you need verification, just pick up a copy of or go to the website of any scientific journal such as Scientific American and read the actual science.

Here's a couple of urls to help you along the way:

http://www.sciencemag.org/content/306/5702/1686.full

http://skepticalscience.com/97-percent-consensus-cook-et-al-2013.html

Anonymous said...

Be the first on your block to have a parking lot.....you will get rich!

Anonymous said...

Scientific Journal? Scientific American is a popular science magazine, not a Journal. If you understood the definition of science you would also understand that nothing can be matter of record in science terms. Fortunately there is no consensus on human global warming. In fact all signs say that the anthill that is human beings (the entire population of the planet fits into the state of Texas) could narely affect the planet and haven't. I wouldn't worry about humans, we have little effect on this planet.

Anonymous said...

Yes, the building is open, but will it be occupied? Dig a little deeper...

Anonymous said...

I have been trying to get someone to talk to me about purchasing a place in this building for months and months no one returns my phone calls or respond to my emails. I wonder if they want anyone to live in it all except the people they already wished would live in it before they even built it.

Rene said...

Anon 7:11,

Unless you are a troll, I'm actually pretty disappointed in your response to my post. I presented some factual information around the 97% consensus of climate scientists on global warming and your response was attack me personally and play word games. It's clear from your response you did not even bother to look at, never mind read, the links I supplied since one of them ("Science") is published by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).

The AAAS is the world’s largest general scientific society and publisher of the journal Science as well as Science Translational Medicine, Science Signaling, and a digital, open-access journal, Science Advances. AAAS was founded in 1848 and includes nearly 250 affiliated societies and academies of science, serving 10 million individuals. Science has the largest paid circulation of any peer-reviewed general science journal in the world.

Perhaps this summary of peer reviewed articles from Yale University is more to your liking:

http://environment.yale.edu/climate-communication/filtered/?action=add_filter&f2=f2

PS, to correct one other inaccuracy in your post: I was originally trained as a scientist/engineer and know quite well what a scientific journal is, having read many of them for over 50 years.

Anonymous said...

Last I heard they only had 9 or 10 units rented in this building for 9/1, and at approx $1,300 PER BEDROOM, I am not surprised (three bedroom rents are in the neighborhood of $3750-4000/mo!!, one bedrooms $1700-1800/mo). Plus additional fees for "cafe" use of $250/mo or so. While there may be "cream" to skim off the top of Amherst rental market, it cannot be replicated over and over and over. Mark my words, an adjustment to market will come on this building, and 1 East Pleasant, if the financial backers allow the project to keep moving forward. Performance (or lack thereof) on Kendrick Place may stem that tide.....

Anonymous said...

Sorry. I've looked at the 'interior art' like 4 times now and I still can't make heads or tails of it. What hell is it...?

Anonymous said...

And you have an opinion. That is great. That does not make it correct, just your opinion. Scientists have been wrong since the field was invented. Before the Human Genome Project for example, 95% of scientists in the field believed that humans had nearly 100,000 genes and that the more complex the species the more genes. After we mapped the human genome it turn out, we actually discovered hunans had between 19,000 and 20,000 genes. To really make things worse, a moss plant had nearly 32,000 genes, about as many as a tomato and far more than the "more complex" human. If science gave us definitive answers it wouldn't be science. I too have an advanced degree, in fact two in the sciences. You can spit fire all you want, point to any website you desire, and look for whoever and whatever group agrees with your assertion. Many legitimate, working scientists including myself don't believe in concept of human global warming. I am glad you do. If it makes you happy, that is great. 100 years from now well know if the myth is real or simply what it is, nothing more than the earth heating and cooling as it naturally does and always has. In the mean time, I won't worry about the earth. It takes care of itself quite well, even with the human anthill that lives on it.

Rene said...

Anon 10:05,

Thanks for your somewhat more temperate and reasoned response and I"m happy that you're not a troll. You're right, I do have an opinion and so do you. And, yes, scientists have been wrong before and will be again. I guess where we differ most is that I think the stakes are too high just to dismiss what the accumulated data show. As much as you'd like to dismiss humans as "an anthill", the fact is we do have an impact on the earth as air pollution in any major city shows. As far as science not giving us "definitive answers", while the answers we do have may not be definitive for you, for many of us they are more than "good enough" to rely on to guide our actions. I suspect that you, like most of us, drive according to Newton's laws of motion and accept them as "definitive" in that context even though we know they are not universally applicable. It is in this sense that my opinions about global warming and its human causes don't need to be "definitive" as you would define it, they simply have to reflect the results of accumulated research to such a degree that they are reliable guides to navigating the world.

Finally, I don't think we're going to need 100 years to answer this question, probably only 50 at the most. If we are really unlucky, we'll experience severe effects of global warming in less than that as positive feedback loops go into effect. Unfortunately, although I can't state definitively, I will not be here then, so I won't get to see who wins the argument.

Anonymous said...

Rents in the homes on Kendrick Place are cheaper than the apts at Kendrick Place.

Yep- The building has the same name as the street in town.

Hopefully emergency services will be able to keep the two locations straight!

Anonymous said...

Vital? I think we could use a few more businesses that aren't restaurants.

Anonymous said...

Climate change is the Least of our worries. It's not science, it's ideology. And this is America. Where the president himself arrogantly marginalizes those millions who do not buy into the ideology. Science once held that the sun revolved around the earth. And God help the ones with a different view.

Anonymous said...

Hear! Hear! Even if you buy into the religion which holds that climate is warming, so what? It's warmed and cooled since the beginning of time. In the 1970's there were headlines about the coming ice age. May even happen one millenium.

Anonymous said...

This bit about the 97% of scientists agreeing is simply misleading bullshit. The same percentage was said to agree that the world was flat. Relax. In the meantime, I'd be happy to sell you some carbon credits. Carbon dioxide, or as the president calls it, "carbon pollution." Funny, I learned it was called photosynthesis. Necessary for life.

Anonymous said...

The stakes are too high because you've been scared by the government into believing they exist at all.