Sickening Smack at 1954 Comm Ave

The owner of 1954 Comm Ave has chopped down all the beautiful trees on his property during the past week. I saw many of the stumps on Sunday morning, and it looked awful.

You might think this to be the owner's right, but it apparently isn't, according to reporting by the A-B TAB: since the property is protected with a deed restriction and has landmark status within the Aberdeen Architectural Conservation District, he needed prior approval.

This is the owner who has applied first to demolishing the house to build a large development, then to move the house to another location. He was rejected both times. He has listed the property with a real estate agent among "commercial" or "land" properties, not residential.

Before (photo: Meaghan Ackermann of A-B TAB):


After (photo: Karen Elowitt of A-B TAB):


Yuck.

1954 Commonwealth Avenue: Update

The Boston Globe's City Weekly ran a report on this property, which includes a little reporting by blog browsing. Neighborhood concerns about the real estate sales agent subtly pitching the property towards developers appear to be grounded in reality:

Realtor Todd Glaskin of Coldwell Banker said he wasn't trying to "oversell" the property and is telling prospective buyers to do their homework. "If you could blink your eyes and fast forward two years, you know something amazing will be there," he said.

House at 1954 Commonwealth Ave Back on Market

The Allston Brighton TAB reported that the historic house at 1954 Commonwealth Avenue has been placed back on the market. The current owner bought the house in 2004 and has since sought approval to demolish or move it. Since it is located in the Aberdeen Architectural Conservation District and presumably contains a restriction against demolition on the property's deed, the Boston Landmarks Commission recommended against both moves.

It's nice to see the system work the way it should by blocking a developer's bad idea. Bravo to the local activists and BLC for fighting this one.

This owner is about to get stuck with a loss in his real estate speculation. He paid $2.8 million for it, but it is only assessed by the city at $1.1 million, so it is unlikely he'll get back his cost -- much less his $3.3 million asking price. As the TAB reports, however, the owner isn't mentioning the deed restriction in his listing. And he has listed it under land/commercial properties, rather than the 3-family residential unit it is. Please, please, don't sell it to another developer and put the neighborhood through this again.