tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5035949355013113578.post1112529582372936696..comments2023-10-17T22:56:42.784-04:00Comments on Only in The Republic of Amherst: Gateway shuffleLarry Kelleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02614645831526190536noreply@blogger.comBlogger36125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5035949355013113578.post-78063067586495535522011-08-12T07:01:52.099-04:002011-08-12T07:01:52.099-04:00Thanks a lot UMass. Frat Row WAS the Gateway Proj...Thanks a lot UMass. Frat Row WAS the Gateway Project. Everything else built off of that!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5035949355013113578.post-20458365905511390642011-08-11T17:14:23.929-04:002011-08-11T17:14:23.929-04:00Yeah, I believe I mentioned that to Deputy Chancel...Yeah, I believe I mentioned that to Deputy Chancellor Diacon after his brief presentation to the ARA last week.Larry Kelleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02614645831526190536noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5035949355013113578.post-63460448620148939932011-08-11T15:30:40.793-04:002011-08-11T15:30:40.793-04:00Long ago in a galaxy far, far away. March 15 to b...Long ago in a galaxy far, far away. March 15 to be exact.<br /><br />"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."Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5035949355013113578.post-26178272221535165612011-08-11T15:24:16.392-04:002011-08-11T15:24:16.392-04:00Pity. It was a great idea to link UMass with the ...Pity. It was a great idea to link UMass with the town center after too many years of UMass trying to wall itself off from town.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5035949355013113578.post-79166528374445549272011-08-11T10:48:44.544-04:002011-08-11T10:48:44.544-04:00So UMass has offically announced that Frat Row is ...So UMass has offically announced that Frat Row is out of Gateway. Leaving it dead.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5035949355013113578.post-64271497935489896282011-08-10T18:49:41.476-04:002011-08-10T18:49:41.476-04:00And if the residential tenants and business patron...<i>And if the residential tenants and business patrons were mostly associated with nearby UMass, or were empty nesters coming for retirement, they could leave their cars behind.</i><br /><br />Larry, let me tell you what John Lederlie once told me -- he (who was involved in building much of UMass) candidly said that "we never anticipated that we all would become so much in love with our cars."<br /><br />The people who have the money to spend in (or live in) your upscale project are going to demand the right to take their cars with them. They simply won't go if they can't drive -- they are that rich and that spoilt.Ednoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5035949355013113578.post-85374921632917923822011-08-10T18:43:29.750-04:002011-08-10T18:43:29.750-04:00Ed,
If it's so bad, why are you there?
Throwi...<i>Ed,<br />If it's so bad, why are you there?</i><br /><br />Throwing good money after bad...Ednoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5035949355013113578.post-62663331209924439282011-08-08T13:39:34.740-04:002011-08-08T13:39:34.740-04:00Gateway aside, congrats!Gateway aside, congrats!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5035949355013113578.post-84408315640548009772011-08-08T13:12:33.472-04:002011-08-08T13:12:33.472-04:00Strangely enough I landed a writing job a couple d...Strangely enough I landed a writing job a couple days ago. <br /><br />Now I will not have to let meetings get in the way.<br /><br />Although now that I think about it, the Gateway episode would make a fascinating business "case study."Larry Kelleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02614645831526190536noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5035949355013113578.post-61170061366872598612011-08-08T12:20:15.685-04:002011-08-08T12:20:15.685-04:00"Yeah, I had nothing better to do over the pa..."Yeah, I had nothing better to do over the past freakin year."<br /><br />Beats working for a living.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5035949355013113578.post-54353016579833432402011-08-08T11:44:49.069-04:002011-08-08T11:44:49.069-04:00Larry,
There is no way that this building would r...Larry,<br /><br />There is no way that this building would rely on underground parking. Then it would have no storage room. Nice try though.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5035949355013113578.post-28759813282051680262011-08-08T10:49:59.963-04:002011-08-08T10:49:59.963-04:00Yeah, I had nothing better to do over the past fre...Yeah, I had nothing better to do over the past freakin year.Larry Kelleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02614645831526190536noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5035949355013113578.post-47156879637093738462011-08-08T10:46:08.669-04:002011-08-08T10:46:08.669-04:00I see. Just as I thought, you were just b.s.ingI see. Just as I thought, you were just b.s.ingAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5035949355013113578.post-2267544531368150022011-08-08T09:52:15.745-04:002011-08-08T09:52:15.745-04:00A class act developer knows how to do underground ...A class act developer knows how to do underground parking.<br /><br />And if the residential tenants and business patrons were mostly associated with nearby UMass, or were empty nesters coming for retirement, they could leave their cars behind.Larry Kelleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02614645831526190536noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5035949355013113578.post-85045330744329175782011-08-08T09:26:41.435-04:002011-08-08T09:26:41.435-04:00You can't just scale up like that and you know...You can't just scale up like that and you know it. First of all, you and I know that all 80,000 square feet would not be developed. You have to allow for some green space and lots and lots of parking. The more you plan to pack into this building the more parking space you have to allow, especially if it has a retail mixed in, which needs even more parking than the residential.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5035949355013113578.post-24087896896124176632011-08-08T07:09:34.626-04:002011-08-08T07:09:34.626-04:00Take a look at Boltwood Place going up behind Judi...Take a look at Boltwood Place going up behind Judie's. That building will be in the $4 to $5 million range for valuation. It sits on a footprint of 2,500 square feet.<br /><br />Take at look at the old frat row. It's around 80,000 square feet, or 32 times larger.<br /><br />Do the math.Larry Kelleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02614645831526190536noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5035949355013113578.post-6797671127044992662011-08-08T06:57:00.346-04:002011-08-08T06:57:00.346-04:00You were clearly drinking the Gateway Kool-Aid. T...You were clearly drinking the Gateway Kool-Aid. That number is complete baloney. <br /><br />A million dollars in tax revenues would need over $65 million in taxable property value. All in an area with untaxable churches and the Chabad House, also a small motel that wasn't going away, existing residential houses, and a untaxed UMass building. The frat row was the only free and clear land to develop, and unless you were building a commercial skyscraper, (in which case the abutters really did have cause for alarm) then the tax revenues would only be a fraction of your million dollars.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5035949355013113578.post-36888990750710669802011-08-07T21:28:19.210-04:002011-08-07T21:28:19.210-04:00Ed,
If it's so bad, why are you there?Ed,<br /><br />If it's so bad, why are you there?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5035949355013113578.post-14425900053242166042011-08-07T13:08:55.901-04:002011-08-07T13:08:55.901-04:00UMass could then become a Mecca for the homeless w...<i>UMass could then become a Mecca for the homeless who wish to get a good education (of course UMass would also have to provide that free as well.)</i><br /><br />Larry -- four words never seen in the same version of reality:<br /><br />UMass<br />Free<br />Good Education<br /><br />UMass has maybe another decade of spiraling downward as it sells its Potemkin Village myth to the guidance counselors of the Great Lakes region, but every 19-year-old going back to his high school screaming "UMass Sucks!" is at least one more guidance counselor who won't blindly recommend UM to the graduating crop of seniors...<br /><br />It is about a decade until The Great Tag Sale....Ednoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5035949355013113578.post-40677045507776600292011-08-07T06:55:43.756-04:002011-08-07T06:55:43.756-04:00UMass should donate it to Hwei-Ling Greeney for a ...UMass should donate it to Hwei-Ling Greeney for a homeless shelter. <br /><br />UMass could then become a Mecca for the homeless who wish to get a good education (of course UMass would also have to provide that free as well.)Larry Kelleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02614645831526190536noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5035949355013113578.post-72938531300468549702011-08-07T00:07:04.885-04:002011-08-07T00:07:04.885-04:00Larry -- I won't say how much I was involved i...Larry -- I won't say how much I was involved in this, but the saner minds at UM (both here and 225 Franklin Street) realized that the land had been used to house students and if there wasn't going to be housing for students here, the university really didn't have much of an incentive to *give away* something they could (and are planning to) *sell* to someone else who is already involved in plans to provide housing to students on another part of campus...Ednoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5035949355013113578.post-58704613597365894172011-08-06T23:15:55.179-04:002011-08-06T23:15:55.179-04:00Cherry Hill lost over $1 million in operations alo...Cherry Hill lost over $1 million in operations alone these past 20 years, $40,000 this year. No comparison.<br /><br />Gateway was a glorious idea that could have generated $1 million annually in tax revenues. <br /><br />It was a gamble well worth taking.Larry Kelleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02614645831526190536noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5035949355013113578.post-48776195542844876892011-08-06T21:23:39.790-04:002011-08-06T21:23:39.790-04:00"At the moment it's only $30,000"
Y..."At the moment it's only $30,000"<br /><br />You really have gone over to the dark side. What a waste. You count every penny that the town spends on Cherry Hill and then brush off this boondoggle?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5035949355013113578.post-37902308147520885902011-08-06T13:07:22.559-04:002011-08-06T13:07:22.559-04:00Well, we already have a Planning Board, Zoning Boa...Well, we already have a Planning Board, Zoning Board and Design Review Board and to some extent all of them judge what's "nice" on a project (although they would never admit to it.)Larry Kelleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02614645831526190536noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5035949355013113578.post-6928702264420421962011-08-06T10:42:31.703-04:002011-08-06T10:42:31.703-04:00**But with "form based" it has to match ...**But with "form based" it has to match a preconceived idea of looking, for lack of a more technical word, nice.**<br /><br />An Amherst committee deciding what looks nice? Ouch. (No reflection on you there LK.)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com