Re: “Neighbors push back on new Divinity School building”

I find the "visibility" rationale puzzling at best. The viability or marketing/recruitment strategy of the Divinity School does NOT hinge on drive-by visibility. Their students do not enroll because they happened to see the seminary from the road and think, "hey, that would be a good place to study." There are existing buildings at the top of the hill that could be repurposed or even rebuilt, much closer to the chapel and other facilities that CDS would like to maintain access to. I am a little troubled by the lack of specificity of what Giordano calls "compatible use" on the first floor. And finally CDS will be a tenant. How long will their lease agreement be? What "compatible use" would be found for a newly built three-story building in the middle of a wholly residential neighborhood adjacent to Highland Park? Is that the real reason we need a 130 space parking lot? Bottom line, after sitting through the Top Capital presentation and hearing what the neighbors asked and commented on, my strong hunch is that if CDS agreed to remain at the top of the hill instead of building a new three-story building -- totally inconsistent with the rest of the neighborhood -- the opposition would vanish.