By Seth Daniel
Not only is David Goldman the developer of ‘The Lucas’ at the old Trinity Church on Shawmut Avenue, but he liked the product so much that he bought into it.
Goldman, a resident of the South End since the 1970s, of New Boston Ventures, said his latest South End project constructed in an old, historic church in the New York Streets area is running on time and is selling briskly. He said he has even purchased a unit, and that only one more of the 33 available units are left on the market.
Goldman and Project Manager Tim McGovern appeared any the New York Streets Neighborhood Association (NYSNA) meeting on Tuesday night to deal the progress of the complicated reconstruction project.
“It will really start to look like a finished product in the next few months,” he said, noting he will live in The Lucas. “We’re looking at occupancy in July or the end of July. I think we’re going to make that. We have a contractor that’s very motivated and we’ve worked with them before on the Salem Jail project.”
McGovern said the steel on the project is completed and the glass facade and curtain rising up to eight floors will now be installed in its entirety. Most of the cranes, he said, will be off-site very soon. The staging equipment, he said, should be gone by May.
One piece of the discussion was music to the ears of members of NYSNA, as Goldman said he and his company are advocating for the 5,000 sq. ft. lot they’ve been renting from the BPDA to become a new park.
New Boston has used the lot to store construction and staging equipment since the project started, but that will be winding down very soon.
“We have been advocating to the BPDA and the City to designate that lot as open space when we’re done and create a park there,” said Goldman. “Everyone seems to think it’s a great idea, but we haven’t seen any movement on it. If the neighborhood wanted to weigh in on that, it might go a long way. We think it would make a great park… I don’t think anyone is against it, but it seems stalled or not on the radar.”
That was wholeheartedly supported by NYSNA, who have been pushing very hard for months – since forming one year ago – to find a spot to designate as open space. Right now, the neighborhood has no open space and is absent of any mature trees as well – having been a forgotten industrial area for nearly a half-century.
So far, even after a series of City officials visited the NYSNA meetings, they’ve had no luck getting anyone to entertain the idea from the City.
NYSNA President Jamie Curtis said he would absolutely support the idea and there was talk that they should invite the City’s chief of open space, Austin Blackmon, to a future meeting to impress upon the City the dire need for some green space in the neighborhood before the opportunities are lost to development.
“I think we should absolutely support that,” said resident John Meunier. “We need designated open space very badly.”
New Boston Ventures is a product of Goldman and his business partner, both of whom began their careers working for the late U.S. Sen. Paul Tsongas. When Tsongas left public life due to illness, they began developing the South End, with the groundbreaking restoration of the Allen House Mansion on Worcester Square/Washington Street beginning a revival in the area. Since then they have completed Dover Lofts, the Modern, Lawrence Court and numerous other townhouse projects in the South End.