Allston residents concerned with future Barry’s Corner construction

With construction set to begin this month at Barry’s Corner, one of the first Harvard University-related projects in Allston since the approval of its 10-year master plan, about 30 community members gathered in Allston at a meeting hosted by the Boston Redevelopment Authority Tuesday to raise concerns about how the project will be managed.

Samuels & Associates, the developers of the projects near the intersection of North Harvard Street and Western Avenue, have advocated several economic and social benefits for the community, but many residents said they were irritated about the project itself or were distrustful of the effects construction would have on Allston.

“It [the project] hasn’t been thought out enough,” said Jason Marchando, 56, of Allston. “They [Samuels & Associates] need to do more. They don’t care about the neighborhood. They don’t care about the people. They only care about their project.”

The development at Barry’s Corner will include two joined mixed-use towers that will include 45,000 square-feet of retail space and 325 rental units that may house Harvard students above it, according to official plans.

Construction is supposed to start this month and be completed by September 2015.

Diana Pisciotta, spokeswoman for Samuels & Associates, said the towers are being developed by them independent of Harvard, but their project is meant to serve as a transition to increased presence in Allston by the university as it extends its campus in accordance with its Institutional Master Plan, which was approved in Oct. 17.

“This project has always been proposed by Samuels,” said. “Harvard knew that it wanted a non-institutional use on this site, something that was not intended for the Harvard community, but something that was intended as a transition between Allston and the Harvard campus in Allston.”

While residents said they were frustrated, Pisciotta said they were committed to improving the Allston area.

“What we’re trying to accomplish is not only residential building, but what we want to accomplish on the ground floor in terms of leasing to retail tenants, to restaurants and to other kinds of uses that are going to be beneficial to the community, but also serve to activate the streetscape and create a really lively ground floor experience for people walking through Barry’s Corner,” she said.

Brent Whelan, a member of the Harvard Allston Task Force, a city-appointed group of Allston residents who gave advice as Harvard developed its IMP, was not present at the meeting, but said he was worried the developers would only worsen a situation with which many residents are already frustrated.

“Harvard is involved in it [the project],” he said. “It’s land that they continue to own … [but] Harvard isn’t going to be specifically responsible for how the construction is done. And that is very worrisome because Harvard has the long-term interest in that community.”

In addition to concerns about Samuels, Whelan said Harvard’s intentions for the Allston area were also questionable.

“We’re really worried that the city isn’t able to somehow overrule developers as large as Harvard, whether it will go anywhere is something we won’t find out until this construction goes forward,” he said. “Will Harvard be a better neighbor during this? Will Harvard say it’s not even our project, its on our land, but it’s somebody else’s responsibility? We don’t know … We didn’t get a lot of the conditions that we wanted [in the IMP] and so it’s sort of a mixed picture.”

Several residents said the primary issues they were focused on were about the impact a two-year project at a major intersection would have on traffic in an area that already deals with congestion.

Benny Omid, 43, owner of a Dunkin’ Donuts in Allston, said he did not trust the construction companies because they would create traffic levels even higher than they projected.

“Any construction that is going on around that area is going to affect me one way or another,” he said. “Because of the traffic of an earlier construction project … they [Samuels & Associates] said they would take a right on another street before they even come to that intersection, near my business … So that automatically affects my business. “

Andy Breeding, 51, of Allston, said he was more trusting of the construction plan, but he still had major issues with it.

“It seems this is the end of a much longer process, and my concerns are mainly around traffic,” he said. “It sounds like substantial efforts are being made to address the traffic issues. But I think there is perhaps room for some improvement.”