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84 Linden St. remains undeveloped 1 year later

A year after the Linden Street fire the property has been sold but no development has been made. PHOTO BY MICHAEL FERRUGGIA/DAILY FREE PRESS FILE
A year after the Linden Street fire the property has been sold but no development has been made. PHOTO BY MICHAEL FERRUGGIA/DAILY FREE PRESS FILE

The property that once housed a number of Boston University students looks very much the same as when it burned to the ground a year ago Wednesday — an undeveloped, burned-out hole in the ground.

However, plans are in the works to redevelop the property, said Michael Berger, the listing agent for the property.

Berger, a senior sales associate of Gibson Sotheby’s International Realty, said when the fire took place, the property was on the market.

“It’s a single-family house, originally,” Berger said.

Berger said the property has been bought, and is in the process of development.

“The house was on the market,” he said. “They sold it to another person who is going rebuild it as a single family house or going through the approval process to make it a two family house.”

The property, located at 84 Linden St., was nearly destroyed completely. At the time, the Boston Fire Department estimated the cost of damages to be more than $500,000.

Berger said the property was quite valuable before the fire.

“It had no problems at all,” he said. “It was very valuable. The developers saw a lot of potential in this house. There’s a lot of demand for developers who want projects like this. There are a lot of people who want to move in the Allston-Brighton area.”

The original house was a colonial-style home built in 1880. It had 2,300 square feet of living space, according to the listing online.

Although the property has been sold, the real estate post for the house remains online.

The property is listed for $359,000.

It was sold in as-is condition, with the remnants of the burned-out structure still standing on the property. A small, red barn that survived the blaze was also sold with the property.

The fire left several students injured and one in critical condition after he jumped from the second-story window to escape the flames, according to authorities.

The cause of the fire is still unknown.

A year after the Linden Street fire the property has been sold but no development has been made. PHOTO BY SARAH FISHER/DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
A year after the Linden Street fire the property has been sold but no development has been made. PHOTO BY SARAH FISHER/DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

After a year, all of the residents who were in the house at the time of the fire have made a full recovery. While the house was not an official BU fraternity house, seven members of Sigma Alpha Mu had lived in the house since early September 2012.

Alex Epner, a fraternity brother and BU junior in the College of Communication, said he woke to find the house ablaze.

“Everyone got out of the house in a manner of minutes,” he said.  “But the entire house was on fire by the time we woke up.”

While six of the brothers were sent to area hospitals to be treated for smoke inhalation and other minor injuries, the seventh, Josh Goldenberg, a College of Arts and Sciences junior and Sigma Alpha Mu brother, was severely injured when jumped from the second floor.

Alex Cuetara, president of Sigma Alpha Mu and a COM senior, said Goldenberg is now making a strong recovery.

“After a long recovery, we’re happy and very grateful to welcome him back,” Cuerta said.

Epner said Goldenberg has made great progress since the night of the blaze.

“Josh seems like the same old guy before the fire, for the most part,” he said. “Everyone is recovering as well as they can.”

Cuerta said the brothers were committed to each other in the aftermath of the fire.

“Just hours after the fire, a relief fund had already been created,” he said. “Additionally, from the time Josh was taken to the hospital, to the time he went home to Connecticut, our brothers regularly visited him in rehab. We’re a family here. When one of our brothers is going through a tough time we’ll be there for him.”

Epner said they are still looking for another off-campus residence.

“I loved living in a house with my friends,” he said. “And I’m sad we lost the house but we are all right, and that is what is important.”

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