SOMERVILLE—In a sort of meta-groundbreaking today, Mayor Joseph Curtatone gathered about him dignitaries to mark the start of construction at the epic Assembly Row on the banks of the Mystic (where construction has been going on for several weeks): "The first phase of construction will raise the 195-unit Avalon at Assembly Row building, to be followed by the 235-apartment AVA Somerville [rendered above]. At a dusty press conference held at the heart of the 45-acre site ... members of state government made their pitch for casting Assembly Square as the mold for development in Massachusetts." [Boston.com]
__
ALLSTON—Boston's stepping up its efforts to education college kids about their rights as tenants: "During a February sweep of a portion of Allston, inspectors found 82 violations ranging from infestations and missing banisters to faulty carbon monoxide detectors, blocked exits, and illegal living spaces at 25 units. As of Wednesday, 30 cases of the code violations in the 16 buildings inspected had been closed by the city after re-inspections found the violations had been corrected." [Boston.com]
Filed under: