Eight Streets Assoc. Hears of Plans for 80 E. Berkeley St.

By Stephen Quigley

The Eight Streets Neighborhood Association held its winter meeting this past Tuesday and heard an overview of the development planned for 80 East Berkeley St. from Druker Company representatives Harry Collings and Barbara Boylan.

The development is slated for the northwest corner of East Berkeley and Washington Sts., spanning to Shawmut Ave. The project dates back to 2013, but recently has been changed to market the space to the life sciences industry. The nine-floor structure will have a garage and retail space included in the 265,000 square foot building.

Association member Emily Ryzak expressed concern about shadows that might be cast on Ringgold Park. Druker’s representatives said that the massing and height of the building has not changed, and no shadows will fall on the gardens.

Another concern expressed by the members was the use of the  dock spaces for loading and unloading. Boylan said that the docking space is on private property with extra space and will be a managed docking area, so that any impact on street traffic should be eliminated.

Association member James Heroux was more concerned about the changing of the building’s use to life sciences. He thought that the loading dock could be an issue because of increased traffic and noise.

“One would never find this anywhere near Back Bay and Beacon Hill,” he said.

The Boston Planning and Development Agency will be holding a virtual public meeting on Monday, March 14, from 6 to 8 p.m. Residents are requested to participate with their questions and comments.

Please register in advance for this meeting through the following link: https://tinyurl.com/80eberkeley.

The public comment period will run through March 28.

In a separate matter, State Representative Aaron Michlewitz told members that because of an increase in the population size of his current district, he no longer will be representing the Eight Streets neighborhood. Michlewitz has represented the community for the past dozen years, but this part of the district now will move into the district of State Rep. Jon Santiago.

All of those on hand agreed that the three local parks are in need of a good clean-up following a long winter.  At Ringgold Park, there is no official date for the cleanup or the Easter egg hunt. At Watson Park, plans are being finalized for the public meetings to talk about the redesign and the date of the first cleanup.  At Peters Park, two cleanups are planned with the first being Saturday, May 14, with a rain date of May 15. The second clean-up will take place Oct. 15 with a rain date of Oct. 16.

Community events also are being planned at the parks with more details to follow.

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