Garage Emerging as First Sign of Revere Project
They look forward to parking in the garage being built next to the Wonderland T station, but local commuters offered mixed views Wednesday on what direction additional development around the station should take.
The seven-level, 1,465-space garage will be available to Blue Line rapid transit riders parking at Wonderland station and future office building tenants once the Waterfront Square project, as it has been dubbed by its developer, gets under way.
Waterfront Square is being developed by Eurovest, a firm led by Revere businessman Joseph DiGangi. Eurovest Development struck a deal with the city of Revere in December 2007 to build a half billion dollar development on 10 beachside acres over the next 11 years.
Beverly commuter Taylor Lockwood said if DiGangi needs a good example of how to build a development around a rail station, he should look to Wellington Circle in Everett, where residences and restaurants coexist with the Orange Line T station.
“It’s relatively successful and a good example of how to serve people who don’t own a car or don’t want to drive,” Lockwood said.
Kathleen O’Shea lives in Ipswich and said she cannot imagine living next to a subway station like Wonderland. She thinks future development around the station should focus on retail stores.
“A mall is a better idea,” she said.
O’Shea looks forward to parking in the garage providing it is secure enough for her to feel safe walking to her car on nights she works late. She said temporary parking arrangements for commuters have improved since the winter.
“There were very few spots after 9:30 a.m. and I had to park across the street and cross ice and puddles to get to the station,” she said.
The garage is scheduled to be completed by June 2012. Future projects for Waterfront Square include a public plaza; 100-room hotel and a 145,000 square-foot office building planned for land adjacent to the garage site and stretching up the beach toward Point of Pines.
Mayor Thomas Ambrosino on Wednesday said work on Waterfront Square’s next phase begins this summer with the construction of a public plaza and pedestrian bridge. Ambrosino said a construction contract will be awarded in 30 days with work on the plaza slated to be finished by August 2012.
He said private development, including possible plans for home, will start in early 2013.
“We are very thrilled with the pace of progress so far,” Ambrosino said.
A description of the garage project provided by T spokeswoman Lydia Rivera states the garage is being built to consolidate commuter parking from several parking lots into a single garage.
“The parking supply in the garage will ensure sufficient commuter parking despite the loss of existing surface parking areas that are planned for development as part of a separate project,” the description stated.
The garage is being paid for with a combination of loans and grants totaling $59.3 million.
Commuter Edward Bourne predicts the garage and development planned around it will “boost traffic and stimulate the economy.”
“It will get people back to work,” said Bourne, who spent part of Wednesday looking for a job.
Lockwood said making commercial development the focus for the Waterfront Park development makes sense, but he said the area between Revere Beach and the T station could benefit from a park or other landscaped open area.
“It’s kind of desolate. What would really be great is if parking stayed cheap and there was a pedestrian crossover across North Shore Road,” he said.