Sunday, January 31, 2010

Choocolate Cafe Opening on W Broadway



Blue Marble Chocolate Café, LLC
228 West Broadway
South Boston, MA 02127

Pursuant to M.G.L.A 140, Section 2 you are hereby notified to appear at the offices of the Boston Licensing Board.

WILLIAM F. ARRIGAL, JR - LIBRARY
ROOM 809A — CITY HALL - BOSTON
WEDNESDAY JANUARY 27, 2010 10:00 A.M.

Has applied for a Seven-Day Common Victualler License-To be exercised on the above premises-In one room on the first floor; kitchen and storage in the rear.

Manager, Jennifer Turner
Hours of Operation: Mon.-Sat. 7:00 A.M.-8:00 P.M.
Sun. 7:00 A.M-5:00 P.M.

Fort Point in NYTimes

There's an article on Fort Point in the travel section of the NY Times:

Designs on a Boston Hot Spot

BACK in 2006, the inhabitants of Fort Point said to be home to New England’s largest concentration of visual artists, met the news of plans for luxury condos with predictable resistance. Goldman Properties, a national real estate development firm, intended to turn the onetime industrial hub on Boston’s Inner Harbor into the city’s newest hot spot — Boston’s SoHo or South Beach. But much to the relief of the many artists, schemes to convert the stout 19th-century masonry buildings that define the neighborhood’s architecture haven’t come to fruition, thanks to the economic downturn.

Yet despite the change in development plans, the district has evolved in the last few years, though at a slower, more manageable pace. As would be expected, design is the central retail focus. The Fort Point Arts Community (617-423-4299; fortpointarts.org), an organization that supports and promotes the local creative set, has been hosting an open-studios weekend every fall for three decades (this year, giving visitors access to the paint-splattered work spaces of about 150 neighborhood artists). Last winter it introduced a shop that sells wares made by local artists, ranging from scarves to prints.

Other artsy boutiques dot the neighborhood’s maze of streets. Front (25 Channel Center Street; 857-362-7289; bobsyouruncle.com), a quirky shop that opened in 2008, specializes in clever stationery and tableware. Birch and Willow (319 Rear A Street, third floor; 617-423-3437; birchandwillow.com) offers a selection of lighting made from plant materials like twigs and branches (a 20-inch-high “Thicket” sconce is $295).

Then there’s the waterfront Institute of Contemporary Art (100 Northern Avenue; 617-478-3100; icaboston.org), which last year hosted the first museum retrospective of Shepard Fairey, of Obama poster fame. Through March 28, ICA is exhibiting immersive video projections by the Polish artist Krzysztof Wodiczko; it also features a well-curated gift shop with items like pyramid-shaped mirrors ($80 for three).

New food and drink options have followed the art influx, most notably two space-sharing spots from Barbara Lynch, the restaurateur behind Boston gems like No. 9 Park. On the top floor is year-old Sportello (348 Congress Street; 617-737-1234; sportelloboston.com) — Italian for counter service — offering cozy, pasta-centric dishes like chestnut bigoli with lobster, sage and brown butter ($17). Downstairs is Drink (617-695-1806; drinkfortpoint.com), where impeccable cocktails (all $10) include a neighborhood namesake, which adds Benedictine to a conventional Manhattan.

There are plenty of tempting daytime options, like a branch of Flour (12 Farnsworth Street; 617-338-4333; flourbakery.com), a bakery and cafe serving cinnamon-cream brioche ($2.95) and roasted lamb sandwiches ($7.50), and Channel Café (300 Summer Street; 617-426-0695; channel-cafe.com), delivering a locavore fix.

A too-cool attempt at a mixed clothing-and-dining concept, Achilles Project, closed its doors in August, but perhaps that’s just a sign that the Fort Point growth is developing at a healthy pace. In February, the 55-acre area achieved Landmark District status, making it much tougher for developers to strip away the Boston Wharf Company-constructed buildings — news that definitely made residents happy.

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Seaport Square Meeting, Wed, 1/27





Details on the project can be found on their site:
http://www.seaportsquare.com/sub_page.html


Seaport Square Public Meeting
6:00 – 8:00 PM
Wednesday, January 27th, 2010

Condon Elementary School
200 D Street, South Boston


Project Proponent: MS Boston Seaport, LLC
Project Description: In response to the comments raised during the Project Notification Form phase of review the Proponent submitted a Draft Project Impact Report on November 30, 2009, showing development on twenty-three (23) acres of vacant parking lots in South Boston, which are generally bounded by Northern Avenue, Seaport Boulevard, Congress Street and Summer Street, in the South Boston Waterfront known as “Seaport Square”. The proposed project contemplates approximately twenty-three (23) buildings on twenty (20) city blocks with a total of approximately 6.5 million square feet of development in a mixed-use project that will include approximately 2.8 million square feet of residential, approximately 1.3 million square feet of office and research, approximately 1.3 million square feet of retail and entertainment uses, approximately 600,000 square feet of education and cultural space, approximately 500,000 square feet of hotel space, as well Boston as below-grade parking garages that will accommodate approximately 6,500 cars. The Redevelopment Proposed Project will also include a 1.25 acre “Seaport Square Green” and a 0.75 acre “Seaport Hill” as well as other open spaces throughout the proposed project.


CLOSE OF COMMENT PERIOD: Tuesday, February 16, 2010


flour turns three





flour's Fort Point location opened three years ago today. Happy Birthday!

Monday, January 18, 2010

Reminder: Vote Tomorrow (Tuesday)

Tomorrows's election for Ted Kennedy's senate seat is a particularly important one. Please make time to vote!

For most (all?) Fort Pointers, our polling place is the Condon School at 200 D Street.

Saturday, January 09, 2010

Globe: State Should Buy PO Site

GLOBE EDITORIAL
Despite financial stresses, state should buy South Station site
January 9, 2010

http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/editorials/articles/2010/01/09/despite_financial_stresses_state_should_buy_south_station_site?mode=PF

FOR THE sake of present and future commuters, and of Boston’s slowly emerging Seaport District, the Massachusetts Department of Transportation should push forward with efforts to buy a 16-acre US Postal Service facility near South Station. Despite more than $10 billion in debt from past transportation projects, the agency needs to plan ahead. And it still has some fiscal options: The benefits of getting control of the mail-sorting Postal Annex are substantial, and the state should be willing to sell other assets - for instance, a parking garage near North Station - to raise the tens of millions of dollars that might be needed for the purchase.

...

Wednesday, January 06, 2010

Post Office Land Deal Falls Through

The Globe is reporting that the land deal to move the Post Office Annex from their current site at South Station is on hold because the deal for the parcel they would've moved to has fallen through. Unclear if it's just posturing, but if it did fall through, this would put on hold a number of projects including expanding South Station, a mixed-used project on the current site of the Post Office, as well as the new Postal Office site.

Commuter rail expansion threatened by collapse of South Station land deal
January 6, 2010 02:41 PM
By Noah Bierman and Casey Ross, Globe Staff

A complex deal to redevelop the US Postal Service's massive facility in Boston and expand commuter rail service at neighboring South Station has fallen apart.

Massachusetts Transportation Secretary Jeffrey Mullan announced today that the deal "will not move forward," which could significantly delay the MBTA's efforts to expand rail service to southeastern and central Massachusetts.

The Postal Service had planned to relocate to South Boston and hand over the mail-sorting facility to a private developer that was planning to build a large mixed-used complex on the 16-acre site. That redevelopment would have also cleared the way for the MBTA to acquire more land in the area to add tracks for expanded commuter rail service....

Friday, January 01, 2010

319 A St. at Landmark Commission Meeting, 1/14

There's a Fort Point Landmark Commission meeting which will include a section on the 319 A St. project proposed by Goldman Properties.


Fort Point Channel Landmark District Commission
Public hearing


Thursday January 14th, 2009
5 PM
Boston City Hall, Piemonte Room, 5th Floor

Agenda:

5 PM - Review and discussion of second DRAFT FPCLDC by-laws
5:15 - Advisory Design Review: 319 A St.
6:15 - Administrative Review: 24" x 15" sign at 330 Congress Street
6:20 - Adjournment

For additional information, contact the Fort Point Channel Landmark District Commission staff: 617.635.3850.

Fort Point in NYTimes

The NY Times has an article about the Boston waterfront which includes a section on Fort Point. 300 Summer, Flour, and Sportello are mentioned.


January 1, 2010
In Boston, Where Change Is in the Winter Air
By SARA RIMER

http://travel.nytimes.com/2010/01/01/travel/escapes/01boston.html

...

You could spend all day at the museum, inside and out. But now that you’re here, you’ll also want to explore the evolving Fort Point Channel neighborhood, its streets lined with old industrial lofts and warehouse buildings that slowly are being reclaimed as commercial and residential space, with a few artists’ studios to give it a bohemian feel.

You can try Barbara Lynch’s newest restaurant, the popular, casual Sportello on Congress Street. At lunch and dinner its counter is abuzz with movers and shakers who walk over from the financial district. Ms. Lynch, who grew up in a South Boston housing project, is a chef goddess in this town. Around the corner is Flour, a bakery and cafe where you can order sandwiches, salads and homemade desserts.

There are still artists around, though not nearly as many as there used to be. You can stop in at the galleries at 300 Summer Street, and further down Summer Street at the Boston Convention Center is a show of local artists, including the gritty urban landscapes of Vincent Crotty. Eventually you’ll get back on the HarborWalk.