Some Newburyport T Land for Sale, 05-05-2013

[jaymac]

The Real Estate section of the 05-05-2013 Boston Sunday Globe has an ad on p.5 offering ca. 11.11 acres neighboring the new commuter rail station for sale. It's not an obvious coffin-nail for Portsmouth expansion.
More details on this and other offerings at: www.transitrealty.com

[MBTA3247]

Curious, the parking lot closest to the main road is included on the list of parcels they want to sell.

[TomNelligan]

I'm under the impression that the current parking capacity at Newburyport is more than what's needed to meet demand. And of course the pseudo-Eastern RR 1990s station building has long been closed because the MBTA hasn't been able to find a commercial coffee shop type tenant to occupy it, thus rail patrons loose access to a heated waiting room and rest room facilities. Unfortunate.

[BostonUrbEx]

The Real Estate section of the 05-05-2013 Boston Sunday Globe has an ad on p.5 offering ca. 11.11 acres neighboring the new commuter rail station for sale. It's not an obvious coffin-nail for Portsmouth expansion.
More details on this and other offerings at: http://www.transitrealty.com

These parcels have been up for development for quite some time as far as I know. And none of the ROW to Portsmouth is for sale.

[BostonUrbEx]

The parcels mapped out in this image: http://www.transitrealty.com/images/pla ... ryport.jpg

[The EGE]

Newburyport has 814 parking spots, and 568 daily boardings. For whatever reason - better schedule? Cheaper fares? - most of the I-95 north ridership seems to gravitate towards the upper Haverhill line.

[joshg1]

The area is zone is I-1B industrial, with corporate offices preferred. I'd like to see one of two of the lots as apartment blocks- any TOD, but I doubt that is in the terms and conditions of sale. There's always room to build a garage on one of the parking lots if things pick up.

The lot/bus stop by 95 looks full whenever I drive by. The bus is more expensive, although it is difficult to compare as I don't know which is faster, and they go to different stations.

[jbvb]

The commuters from NH and ME have largely gravitated to the non-MBTA Lawrence garage; it's Zone 6, a short hop from 495 and you can park for $3 day rate with a train ticket. I have not checked for monthly deals, but the money saved from Newburyport's Zone 8 & $4/day is substantial. A couple of businesses on Rt. 1 are renting spaces to passengers too, and since Newburyport got the bike path finished a few years ago you can reach the depot entirely on sidewalks.

The bus park-n-ride by Rt. 113 is free and allows long-term parking. Some buses go via Logan, the rest direct to South Station. It's faster than the train unless Rt. 1 in Saugus is really wedged. The vernight parking makes it the only choice for air and Amtrak connections via South Station (provided you fit in the seats - C&J's pitch is way too short for people wearing 32" pant legs).

The busiest MBTA lot is actually in Newbury off Rt. 1, at the lower right corner of the picture. Parcel 1 is the 2nd least used lot, but it has frontage on Parker St. and could possibly get developer interest. However, Parker St. is sidewalk-less and there are properties that face Rt. 1 (by far the busiest road in the area) which have remained vacant or under-utilized for years. The other parcels are swampy land which is rather closer to the high tide elevation than I'd build on, post-Sandy and post-Irene. Newburyport has historically been agreeable to construction in swamp, but banks and insurance companies may have a clue by now.

My read: I don't know how the MBTA acquired this land, but if it came from the B&M it could have dated back to the original Newburyport RR in the 1870s - the former Newburyport/Eastern diamond is just above the label "Newbury" in the photo. Regardless, it isn't land they need, and won't have any affect on Portsmouth or parking, unless passenger counts double - the lot by the station building is much bigger than that on Parcel 1.

[NH2060]

From The Daily News of Newburyport (with fair use quote):

A construction project that until recently was described as an apartment complex with some affordable units near the MBTA train line is emerging as a modern live-work innovation hub where professionals can make their careers as well as their homes.

http://www.newburyportnews.com/news/loc ... 37d22.html