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• Jamaica Plain 
• Apartment , Condo  
• For Rent 1650.00 

The Ethicurean put it better than I ever could have. Despite Jamaica Plain’s progressive community and seeming hunger for everything “green” and “sustainable”, they have missed the opportunity to secure Lionette’s Market at the Brewery. Apparently the problem is financing, which is a very familiar story in my industry as well. In an email Jamey Lionette said, “We are NOT moving into the Brewery.  We tried lots of different banks, lenders, and development corporations and they all felt the project was too big a risk,  so they all said no.  We got next to nothing from the city and less from the state.  I had several ‘money adviser’ type people who all thought it was a slam dunk, but alas, a Lionette’s market and year round farmer’s market at the brewery is nothing that any lending institution wants anything to do with.”

Lionette's Market has low carbon trike delivery

I was blown away when I heard this. Are you kidding me?! If ever there was a location perfectly suited for a “slow food“  business, it’s Jamaica Plain. Every condo in town would be getting deliveries from the little MetroPed trikes.

I’m on a bit of a sustainability/environmental warpath and I’m embarrassed to say that I never even thought about where my food was coming from until the last two years.

Vitoria Brokhof

This probably had a lot to do with my concern for my daughter Vitoria’s health. We saw a couple of documentaries that most of you are probably familiar with like, King Corn, Super Size Me, Fast Food Nation and then just happened to follow up with a 10,000 mile road trip which just happened to take us past some of the food we had previously been eating. We drove by one of those huge cattle yards on a cold rainy day. There were thousands of absolutely massive cows mushing around in 6 inch deep mud and manure. We slowed down to take in the unusual size of the beasts and actually witnessed one collapse under it’s own weight. This made us really get serious about our food (although we could be doing much better). Until you really start to look around, you don’t realize how hard it is to find food that is made within your state, let alone organic or at least friendly farm food.

I was at Trader Joe’s the other day trying to find foods that were localish. I was really surprised to find that they don’t put the origin of the food on the package. Obviously things that have complex ingredient lists are harder to pin down, but fish and berries, etc. should be fairly straightforward. Nope.

If you call Jamaica Plain home and you think you’d like to support a business like Lionette’s Market, then speak up. Write the JP Gazette, drop a post on Neighbor’s For Neighbor’s, or at least leave a comment here. Also, check out the links in this post and learn more about some of the factors involved.

I just happened upon Andree and Ken’s weblog on Neighbor’s For Neighbors community organizing website (I guess it’s working). I’m excited about the prospect of watching them renovate their very old home with an eye to giving it a zero carbon footprint.

Jack's Store is now JP Green House

I signed up for their newsletters and I think you should too. Here’s a snippet from their project page:

The JP Green House is a zero carbon* demonstration project, sustainable urban model and hub for 350.org climate action founded by Andrée Zaleska and Ken Ward. We are rehabbing an abandoned, 100 year old, former neighborhood store located on the line between Jamaica Plain and Roslindale in Boston, Massachusetts. Our aim is to achieve passivhaus standards, win substantial independence from grid supplies of water and electricity, and supply a large portion of our food on a modest income. We are retrofitting the former “Jack’s store” as space for workshops and trainings, neighborhood events and gatherings like our JP Family SongFest.

The JP Green House is located at 133 Bourne Street, Roslindale. We welcome visitors & volunteers and have a schedule of activities and events. You can contact us at:

greenhousejp[at[gmail.com 617.512.8350

This week I had the pleasure of working with a fantastic couple named Jenny & Richard. They were previously working mainly with my wife Christine but as she is away in Hong Kong, I was championing their cause. Jenny spotted this “For Sale By Owner” or FSBO on Craigslist and gave me a call. We were in to have a look at it on Saturday with many other prospective buyers. This transaction reminded me of how important the relationship with a buyer’s agent can be. This was a true team effort. The client, Jenny, actually spotted the property first, but because of my resources I was quickly able to research and value the property so we were ready to go as soon as we had seen the property. We crafted a solid, well-written offer and wham-o! For more info on how Buyer’s Agency works check out the FAQ on our website.

One of the sellers came from a family chocked full of Realtors so I’m surprised they tried to go it on their own, but in this case it appears to have worked out. There were three offers that we beat out to get under contract. I think in this case the house really speaks for itself. I get the opportunity to see a great deal of real estate as you can imagine. Most property that I walk into doesn’t do all that much for me. You get a little numb to it all I guess. I always want to redesign or start knocking walls down or the like.

Not here. This condo is very charming and the location doesn’t get any better. It’s literally 1 block from Centre Street.

Being a bit of a history buff, the architecture seems to have remained very much intact. It appears that the home looks very much like it did when it was built. Even the old slate roof is still in pretty good condition.

There is a spacious foyer with original staircase and knule posts that climbs to the second floor where you are greeted by a pleasant glass door to the living space. Despite being right in the middle of it – it feels fairly private and comfy. The current owners took the previous renovation a step further and renovated the bathrooms. Big improvement. This is not a huge unit, but at 1400 square feet or so it feels “just right” as Goldilocks put it.

I think the plan and the design is outstanding and I would have a very hard time picking my favorite room, but I’m partial to the kitchen/sun porch looking out over Warren Square. Congratulations to Jenny & Richard for finding such a spectacular new home! May you live many happy years here.

Kitchen and window to sunporch

Last year I attended a couple rather tense and sometimes heated meetings regarding the potential development at the corner of Green and Amory Streets in Jamaica Plain. This writer is of the opinion that The plan by Chris DeSisto of Maplehurst Builders was outstanding – at least in regard to the drawings, renderings and concepts shown that night in the E13 community room. If I remember correctly the DeSisto said the project would consist of roughly 13 units atop a commercial retail space. The community chimed in on what types of stores they would like to see including a cafe and an art supply store (personally, I think art supplies would be awesome, but question how viable this would be at this location.) There was to be parking below for the residential as well as a indentation to the sidewalk on Green allowing for, I think, three more cars to park short term during the day to patronize the stores, and then for the public in the evenings. It was a well thought, attractive and impressive plan. Unfortunately, the lot is still empty with nary a rock out of place.

Mixed use development by Maplehurst Builders

The project seemed to get through all the usual complicated hurdles such as the JP zoning committee and the BRA zoning board. The Maplehurst website shows the last news on the project as being a lawsuit filed by Carlysle Engineering late in June at the Superior Court.  Personally I’m hoping that the recession and the complications with the less than popular Carlysle Engineering hasn’t stopped this project completely. The Brewery District desperately needs the Amory Corridor to be developed. The existing junkyard look of the stretch from Green St. to the Foundry Lofts is terrible for the neighborhood. Even the anti-gentrification folks couldn’t argue that improving this length of Amory could only do good for the neighborhood. The billboard on the lot ajoining 154-160 Green St. came down a few weeks ago as well. It previously had a sign stating that there was future commercial space for rent by Denenburg Realty but there is nothing about it on the comapany website currently.

Just down from these projects, across the Green St. and adjacent to the T station is a new building that appears to be for various commercial offices and such.

It’s fairly plain but a fairly attractive piece of architecture. It’s clear that this side of the tracks is less afraid of a little modernization. The new building in the area seem to be trying to mesh fresh, clean lines with brick to call out to some of the historic buildings nearby.

It is my distinct hope that this area will continue to develop with this unorthodox Boston architecture as I am tres bored with the 1800’s! There I said it.

Prefabricating the Modern Dwelling - MOMA 2008

Digitally fabricated dwelling by Larry Sass

First, my father is German, and moreover a mechanic and a machinist. Need I say more? Second, I am a Realtor in Jamaica Plain, MA. I help people buy and sell real estate every day – and I listen to them. I know what they want and I know what troubles they experience. I have lots of experience with the Boston Redevelopment Authority and the Board of Appeals. “Variance” is not a word people want to hear around here. Finally, I went to school for Graphic Design, my wife Christine went for photography and we have surrounded ourselves with art for as long as we can remember. All this makes me an expert on prefab housing, right? Wrong. I do have some really strong opinions about it, however.

Could you live in this?

I’m referring to the little silver cube, the other little cuties are my wife and daughter. Being 6′2″ I don’t see myself being all that comfortable in this little guy. However, used as a building block to build a more manageable dwelling it becomes more feasible. The idea of being able to place these little guys in remote locations with a helicopter is even more intriguing. Totally sustainable and off the grid! Drop me in the mountains and leave me be. Sounds great doesn’t it?