It looks like all systems go for the redevelopment of the old Circle Cinema in the Boston-Brookline borderlands. Everyone's favorite rubber stamp(TM), the Boston Redevelopment Authority, is expected to approve the project this evening after myriad changes amid area residents' objections to—you guessed it—its size. Originally, the redevelopment was supposed to produce 196 hotel rooms, 74 apartments, 18,000 square feet of medical office space and 14,200 square feet of ground-floor retail.
Plans now call for 162 hotel rooms in a Hilton Garden Inn; 92 apartments; and 14,000 square feet of retail (plus 188 parking spaces). Meanwhile, opponents have not given up the fight: They might have a six-story new development on their hands, but they are pushing the BRA to ban college students from renting any of the apartments (Boston College is right nearby). "Cleveland Circle has a lot of problems with the existing density of students in the neighborhood," a member of a community advisory committee told The Globe's Casey Ross. "There have been noise and rowdiness issues continually."
The BRA, however, appears to be pushing back, conceding nothing re: the student restriction. As it stands, as of later tonight, Cleveland Circle is in for a big redo.
· City Poised to Approve Brighton development [Globe]
· Project: 375-399 Chestnut Hill Avenue [BRA]
· Big Part of Cleveland Circle Plans X'ed Out [Curbed Boston]
· 1350 Boylston and the Battle for Building Boston [Curbed Boston]
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