New, Better Proposal for the Red Cab Site

This week, the Brookline Planning Board will be reviewing the 111 Boylston Street site, better known as "the former Red Cab site." According to the Town Calendar, the Board will discuss this in Room 111 of the , and estimate that discussions will begin at around 7:45 p.m.

Town Meeting Member John Bassett talked more about the proposal in an e-mail, explaining that a building permit has been applied for, and the proponent has met with the Design Advisory Team three times in developing this plan.

Says Bassett, "The proposal is much smaller than the proposal Leggat-McCall made in 2006. It uses only the land east of Kerrigan Place and thus is allowed less built space. It rises about 40’ and three floors above Boylston St., where the Leggat McCall proposal was about 58’ and four floors. Thus the shadows on White Place and the visual impacts on White Place, Davis Ave., Boylston St., and Walnut St. will be less."

The proposed building is shaped like a trapeziod, with uniformly-shaped floors. It will also have a two-level parking, with a total of 139 spaces, and then two floors for offices.

"Great care has been taken with the design of the long north side that faces White Place. It should look much better than the present empty and neglected property." Bassett adds.

The zoning for this site was recently amended in , and has been amended before. The most recent changed included the , defining the upper limits of a building which could be built on the site.

The Design Advisory Team included White Place resident Merelice and Walnut Street resident Angela Hyatt, Jerry Kampler and Mark Zarillo from the Planning Board, and architects David Lee and Sergio Modigliani were also on the board. Bassett and several other neighbors attended the meetings, including Frances Shedd Fisher, Dan Saltzman, Linda Olson Pehlke, Jane Chung, Charles Osborne.

"The proponent asserted the right to build under the old zoning and has chosen a smaller site and a smaller building. And the proponents have listened to the neighbors." Bassett concluded, "This proposal is an improvement. Much better than the previous proposal, and also better than what’s there now."

The materials have not yet been decided, and the plans are at the Planning Department, subject to change. If you would like more information, or to express concerns about it, stop by the Aug. 25 meeting at Town Hall.