GC: Photos

I’m surprised that anything is happening at Victory Plating, I assumed it was one of the many proposals which had been swallowed up by the recession.

I’m not too familiar with the details, but the plan as I understand it is a large bio-tech campus. Basically, everything everyone has been calling for on the 195 land.

You could take a cup half empty view on it and say that it sets back development potential on the 195 land as it is a big complex of what we want to be developed there. But rather than being developed on vacant 195 land, it is being developed on land where existing buildings need tearing down to make way for it, sigh.

Or, the half full view would be that it will energize a gap between the hospitals and the Jewelry District and could, maybe, jump start similar development which could land on the 195 land or other areas. The Eddy Street corridor between the hospitals and Davol Square, aside from having the highway cutting it asunder, has this area where there are under-utilized buildings, further enlarging the no-man’s land gulf between the tow. This development, occupied with workers, could provide a nice stepping stone between the hospitals, the Jewelry District, and the 195 land.

Of course all this is assuming that the project actually happens. As history has shown us, time and again, just because buildings are being knocked over to make way for development does not mean that development will happen.

In fact, I do not know this to be the case, but, new zoning regulations set to be presented to the City Council would make it harder to demolish buildings ahead of development, and this demolition could be being done so they don’t get caught up in those new regulations.