Heather P.
Yelp
A very noisy, incompatible commercial tenant caused many artists to move and an increasing amount of residences to be transitioned into solely workplaces - displacing more residents, without notifying investors who made the purchase of the building possible. When one invests thousands of dollars to ensure residents are not displaced, there should be transparent communication when residences are lost.
When the artists needed money from investors for this building purchase it was advertised as an artists' live/work space so that professional artists could reside in addition to making art in the area without being displaced by the increased high-end developments. Numbers were given as to how many residences there would be. Since the purchase, the building evolved from its 100% arts/culture requirement and slowly there was less arts/culture square footage starting with the ground floor and basement. There are documents with the city of Boston for something called a 100 Acre Plan and Midway Studios was to satisfy the neighborhood's cultural requirement by being 100% arts and culture. I'm unsure how a boxing gym, national brand snack company, or commercial architecture firm satisfies that requirement.
At first, the building had four floors of residences. Residents in floors two through four have complained for 3+ years about the boxing gym using insufficiently insulated punching bags and loud microphones and speakers before the building's stated hours of quiet enjoyment. This excessive unresolved noise and vibration from punching bags and speakers has caused and continues to cause many artists to move and an increasing number of residences to be transitioned into work-only spaces. The point of Midway Studios was to prevent Fort Point's artist residents from being displaced. The original mission seems to be failing and communication about this to investors should be a given.
