Burren gets 2 am license, and other Davis news

[ron_newman]

Last night, the Licensing Commission granted The Burren a probationary extension of hours to 2 am on Friday and Saturday nights. They will review it again in six months. Former mayor Dorothy Kelly Gay spoke in support. I didn't attend this very crowded meeting, but a Somerville Journal reporter did, and you can read her report here.

While that was going on upstairs, I attended the rather placid Davis Square Task Force meeting downstairs. There's not really much news to report from it:

Boloco and Chipotle both gave presentations. The founder of Boloco handed out free mini-burritos and coupons for $1 burritos. Chipotle expects to open on July 1 in the former Buck-a-Book space. They will have 34 seats indoors and another 20 out on the plaza across from Starbucks. They will serve beer, but not margaritas (those would require a full liquor license). If anyone wants to try Chipotle before then, they just opened one at Wellington Circle in Medford. All Chipotle restaurants are company-owned, not franchises.

Mayor Curtatone commissioned a study of hotel demand in Somerville, which you can read on the city's web site. The study suggests a 100-125 room hotel on one of three vacant sites in Davis Square -- the Day-Herbert city parking lot, the private parking lot behind One Davis Square, or the Buena Vista garage next to Harvard Vanguard. I asked whether a hotel of this size could be built within the current zoning's 4-story/50-foot height limit, and the city officials said yes. Sara Rosenfeld reminded us that Mayor Capuano made a similar push for a Davis Square hotel back in 1992, but nothing had happened at the time.

Discussion of the bike path connection through Davis Square was postponed until the next meeting, whose date hasn't yet been set.

Comments

[ohohiloveyou.livejournal.com]

chipotle has pretty fucking good burritos. i don't care about authenticity as much as some people do, but they're damn good either way.

[pooka-madness.livejournal.com]

Seconded.

Also if that is for real your hair then I heart it.

Also your username, come to mention it.

[ohohiloveyou.livejournal.com]

it's actually a hat. haha.

my real hair looks like this (http://a218.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/38/l_912f3db513cee7b5403eb66ebf3d89d1.jpg).

the username is from a pipettes song. :)

[pooka-madness.livejournal.com]

A hat? Well geez, now I feel dumb.

[clevernonsense.livejournal.com]

Man, I can't wait to decay Connolly's quality of life.

[ifotismeni]

thanks so much for posting these news summaries, it's an important service.

[tut21.livejournal.com]

I agree. Thanks for keeping us updated.

[ronhaha108.livejournal.com]

Just what we need, another burrito place... I've seen that Boca Grande has been expanding (kenmore square, brighton), they should open one up in Davis too, just so it can become the burrito center of new england...

here's a good site to keep up with burrito dirt -> http://www.burritoblog.com/

[ron_newman]

Let's see, what are all the burrito places in and around Davis? Rudy's in Teele Square; Anna's in both Davis and Porter; Chipotle (coming soon); Boloco; Qdoba in Porter Square; Tacos Lupita at the other end of Elm Street. Am I leaving any out?

[cemeterygates.livejournal.com]

Taco Bell @ 2072 Mass Ave

[ron_newman]

No, that closed.

[dougo.livejournal.com]

True Grounds in Ball Square has breakfast burritos, do they count?

[syntheticnature.livejournal.com]

Blue Shirt Cafe and the ghost of Picante.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_meej_/]

The other Boloco location up on Boston Ave. near Curtis/Winthrop, if you're willing to count just-over-a-mile and into Medford as still in Davis-land.

[komos.livejournal.com]

Boca Grande and Anna's (http://www.bostonmagazine.com/articles/the_burrito_war) in the same place may cause space to fold in on itself.

[dirty-devlin.livejournal.com]

Just out of curiosity, what were they planning to discuss about the bike path? Extending it past Cedar? If so, that'd be nice.

[ron_newman]

No, I think this discussion was about trying to connect it through Davis Square. If you're interested in the extension beyond Cedar, you may want to go to the MaxPak/KSS zoning hearing at City Hall, this Thursday at 6 pm.

[ukelele.livejournal.com]

Are there actually any ideas on how that might be accomplished? I agree that better routing would be useful but I just can't imagine how it would work.

[ron_newman]

the plans I've seen discussed in the past involve narrowing the parking lot behind Brooks Pharmacy, so that a bike path/walkway can be placed along its north edge, then also widening the sidewalk next to the busway.

[ukelele.livejournal.com]

Hm. I can see that (though I hate the bike path as sidewalk idea), but it doesn't address the real problem, which is how to get across the vast tangle of streets. But I suspect that one's unsolvable.

Given that what bikers already *do* is go along the back of the parking lot and down the busway, I'm not sure what that plan would accomplish other than spend money, though...

[kpht.livejournal.com]

i vote for a tunnel.

[rekling.livejournal.com]

no, a bridge! over all of davis square! with a scrolling advertisement running along the sides!

and lite brights dangling from its underside.

-rek

[ceo]

There's already one under there, but they run trains through it.

[tsuki-no-bara.livejournal.com]

this may be a dumb question, but if they build a hotel on the parking lot, where are they going to make up the lost parking spaces? or would a hotel be a big enough benefit that they don't care?

and man, that's a lot of places to get a burrito/wrap in a short stretch of road.... altho it will be nice to have an actual store in the old buck-a-book.

[ron_newman]

I'd rather see a tax-paying hotel than a parking lot, but the Wednesday farmer's market would need a new location.

[plumtreeblossom.livejournal.com]

I would think that a hotel would be required to have at least some of their own parking (I could be wrong about that). I'm in favor of a hotel, though.

[ron_newman]

The report that the mayor commissioned suggests one-half parking space per room. I think it could be made even lower, though. People are going to come here mostly by public transit or by taxi.

[plumtreeblossom.livejournal.com]

That could work. I hope it happens because I have nowhere to house my family if they were to come visit, and they're not the B&B type.

Maybe the hotel's restaurant will serve burritos. :-)

[ron_newman]

Until we get our Davis hotel, Hawthorn Suites at Mass. Ave. and Route 16 is a reasonable walk from here.

[sarah-raz.livejournal.com]

That's a good point. The parking situation in Davis is pretty tight, but then, it IS right on the T.

[gildersleeve.livejournal.com]

I support a *boutique* hotel idea, but it's too bad they couldn't squeeze it in on the side of Highland where the banks/eye care place/ups store are - not only could that side of the square use some life, but it wouldn't border any immediate housing areas.

Perhaps building a hotel above the Buena Vista lot is a way to make the underground parking there more accessible - like 24 hour paid parking.

[ron_newman]

This is just a speculative study so far, and it probably made the most sense to concentrate on vacant land rather than on property occupied by existing buildings with existing businesses.

Sigh.

[twe.livejournal.com]

Davis is right on the T, but I am not any more. I will be sad to have even more disincentive to go visit my friends over there and go to the Somerville theater and stuff.

[dreamgirly19.livejournal.com]

My fiance said that all new properties in somerville/cambridge etc are required to create new parking underground with all construction.

So maybe theyd have underground?

[tsuki-no-bara.livejournal.com]

that makes sense, but wouldn't it just be for the hotel? altho maybe they'd add some public spaces too.

[clevernonsense.livejournal.com]

I'm sure they'd open it to the public. I'm also sure it wouldn't be even in the ballpark of the price of the meters :)

My money's on it won't happen within 10 years.

Chipotle Liquor License?

[billharnois.livejournal.com]

I think it's great that they're having outdoor seating in the DS Plaza. I think that alley way is really underutilized.

Is Chipotle getting a liquor license? I know some of their other branches have one. Davis Sq could really use a place where you can drink Margaritas/beers outside and "people watch".

Re: Chipotle Liquor License?

[ron_newman]

They are getting a beer and wine license, which is easier to obtain than a full liquor license. That's why they will serve beer but not margaritas. The Chipotle rep told the meeting that alcoholic beverages account for less than 4% of the chain's sales.

[tt02144.livejournal.com]

I find this discussion concerning a hotel in Davis Square laughable. I don't see any way it would ever happen ~ the square simply could not sustain a building of that magnitude, without no longer being 'Davis Square' that is. The really funny part is the suggestions of its' location, especially that it should be on vacant land, rather than a place with an existing business or building. And then the locations suggested are parking lots. Are they not considered businesses? Newman made the suggestion that a 'tax-paying hotel' would be preferable to a parking lot. Are people so out of touch that they don't realize that parking lots pay taxes? And to suggest that you would need less than .5 spaces per room beause 'people are going to come here by public transit or taxi' is completely absurd. I would suggest that while some might, most people who are travelling do not consider hopping onto public transportation (especially in Boston) for an hours' trip which covers about 5 miles and several changes to be a fun trip - especially while toting luggage! I think Orleans, the Burren, Sagra, and other businesses would not be happy to lose an entire parking lot.

[ron_newman]

Two of the three parking lots are owned by the city, so in fact they pay no taxes. The third one is privately owned, but a parking lot surely pays less in taxes than would a commercial development.

Parking

[vonelftinhaus.livejournal.com]

I believe the parking lot behind the Burren & McDonald's is owned by the owner of that building and the city is in negotiations with him as we speak.

Re: Parking

[ron_newman]

but that isn't one of the three lots that the Mayor's report identifies as suitable for a hotel. It's quite a bit smaller than any of those three lots.

[gildersleeve.livejournal.com]

Just as a point of history, Davis Square did have a hotel, the Woodbridge, I think it was called. It was about 35-40 rooms and located where the current Ciampa Manor on College Avenue stands. As I recall, it burned down around in the late 70's. Certainly 35-40 rooms is very different than 150 rooms.

[tt02144.livejournal.com]

The parking lots owned by the city may not pay taxes, but create revenue through parking meters/parking tickets. They also provide a much-needed service. Many businesses in the square would go out of business without those lots. This discussion seems to be focused on where to put a hotel, and has by-passed the more important discussion of why, and at what cost. As they said in Jurassic Park, "Just because you CAN do something doesn't mean you SHOULD". This idea is akin to dropping that T-Rex right in the middle of Davis Square, and I think has more to do with city officials lining their pockets than with an actual need or desire.

[chumbolly.livejournal.com]

While I wouldn't say your counterpoints are laughable, I do disagree with everything you have said. First, the revenue generated by a municipal parking lot, compared to the revenue gained from selling a lot and then receiving tax revenue from the operation of a hotel isn't even comparable. Keep in mind that the Harvard Vanguard building in Davis sold two years ago for something like $40 million. That should give you an idea of what some of those parking lots would be worth to a developer.

Second, a lot of visitors to Boston that would be staying in a hotel don't rent cars, or, for that matter, ride the T; instead they use taxis. I certainly wouldn't rent a car if I came to Boston, and of the people I do business with from out of town, almost none of them rent cars (though I do work in the financial district, which, lacking ample surface parking, by your logic, should be a complete ghost town). Further, people who would be staying in a Davis hotel are not likely to be in town to do business out on 128, for example. Instead, I'd guess that a lot of visitors would choose Davis because they're visiting Tufts or looking for a less expensive alternative to Cambridge hotels and so the T or taxis would work just fine for them. Half a parking space per room is perfectly sufficient.

Lastly, lack of parking only kills certain types of businesses in certain environments. A strip mall in Acton without parking would be doomed, but even Home Depot (which generally needs tons of parking) has found a way to be successful in Manhattan. If lack of parking, as a rule, truly killed businesses, then rents in Harvard Square would not be some of the most expensive in the nation. As a matter of fact, if you were looking to generalize, the value of real estate in the Boston area is generally inverse to the availability of parking. And commercial real estate values are set almost entirely by the value of the leases for such properties, and business owners don't typically sign expensive leases if it doesn't make financial sense to do so (with a few exceptions, such as luxury goods makers who are willing to lose money on their flagship 5th Avenue stores).