Thursday's big news was that the re-developer of the old Sullivan Courthouse in East Cambridge had agreed to add apartments to a plan that was previously all commercial and retail.
The primary plan pitched by re-developer Leggat McCall on Wednesday night at a meeting of the East Cambridge Planning Team (a vociferous opponent of the original all-commercial plan) called for 460,000 square feet of office space; 15,000 square feet of retail; and 25,000 square feet of residential space that would be comprised of at least 24 one- and two-bedrooms (the firm, according to Marc Levy at Cambridge Day, sees micro-apartments as "uncharted territory"). That's the primary plan.
But! Leggat McCall has offered a Plan B, too. Per Levy: The firm is "also exploring a proposal that cuts the height of the 22-story tower—as so many in the neighborhood want and said again Wednesday—by adding a building across 2nd Street. The approach would ultimately mean three buildings reaching as high as 50, 160 and 216 feet, losing 700 parking spaces from the current 1,100-car parking garage and requiring additional zoning." The same residents opposed to the original all-commercial idea are none too keen on this Plan B, however. Stay tuned.
· East Cambridge Sees Vision for Loathed Courthouse: Just as Tall, Not as Bad [Day]
· East Cambridge's Sullivan Courthouse: Yeah, Apartments [Curbed Boston]
· Our Development Du Jour archive [Curbed Boston]