OPINION: WINTER HILL STAR MARKET REDEVELOPMENT HEADS TO ZONING BOARD
Over the next few months, Somerville’s Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) is going to be taking up one of its most consequential decisions in recent memory. It concerns a development project that has large numbers of people around the city excited but some immediate neighbors leery. The project in question is officially known by its […]
OPINION: SOMERVILLE MEDIA CENTER SHOULD REMAIN IN THE HEART OF UNION SQUARE
Mayor Emeritus and Former City Communications Director Call for Public Access Station to Be Allowed to Stay in City-Owned Firehouse Today, the Somerville Media Center is operating under the threat of eviction from the City of Somerville. We believe this eviction decision needs to be, immediately, reconsidered and reversed. SMC, in its original form, as […]
DOES UNION SQUARE NEED ANOTHER LAB BUILDING?
Developer reveals new plans to replace block of shops with commercial structure (Somerville Wire) – In the heart of Union Square, the new 450-unit apartment building and the seven-story lab building are nearing completion. Last week, the owner of a block of buildings just across Prospect Street from the new buildings held their first public […]
US2 EXPANDS ITS UNION SQUARE FOOTPRINT
Two new lab buildings being designed on McGrath Highway at Medford Street (Somerville Wire) – US2, the developer currently leading the 17-acre building project in the heart of Union Square, recently purchased another property on the edge of the square, and is proposing to build nearly a million gross square feet of additional lab and […]
CITY HOLDS DESIGN WORKSHOP TO GET INPUT ON PUBLIC SAFETY BUILDING SITE PLAN
Participants use color-coded Lego pieces to suggest housing, stores, business and nonprofit offices, labs, medical/healthcare facilities, common areas, or green spaces for 90 Washington (Somerville Wire) – The City of Somerville went beyond Zoom listening and traditional public meetings last Thursday at a Lego design workshop organized to help understand what Somervillians want from a […]
DAVIS SQUARE DEVELOPER PLANS LAB SPACE AS SMALL BUSINESSES AWAIT UNKNOWN FATE
“The Sligos of the world might become history a lot quicker than people might think” (Somerville Wire) – Scape North America, the US arm of the UK-based company of the same name that has for years planned to build in Davis Square, is set to officially propose its new project to the Somerville Planning Board […]
NEW LIFE FOR CLARENDON HILL
City gives final approval for expansion, renovation of public housing Clarendon Hill, a 216-unit housing development in West Somerville, will be substantially enlarged, redesigned, and renovated, after the City Council last week authorized $14 million in borrowing to help finance the project. Located at 34 North St. between Alewife Brook Parkway, Powder House Blvd., and […]
HOW DO WE KEEP ARTISTS IN SOMERVILLE?
The City held a discussion of the Somerville Arts Space Risk Assessment (Somerville Wire) – While artist studio buildings are central to having a robust creative economy, many artists in Somerville are experiencing challenges, when it comes to affordability of and access to space. To address this problem, the Somerville Arts Council has collaborated with […]
BOSTON’S BOOMING LIFE SCIENCES INDUSTRY MOVES TO SOMERVILLE
Image by Boynton Yards “The more we can encourage developers to build commercial properties, ironically, I think the more affordable housing that’s likely to result in.” The largest life sciences cluster in the nation, Cambridge’s Kendall Square, is reaching a saturation point. The industry, on the other hand, has no signs of slowing down and […]
WINTER HILL STAR MARKET SITE DEVELOPMENT IN DISCUSSION
The potential project, still in an early stage of planning, has benefited from community feedback (Somerville Wire) – On Nov. 8, the Land Use Committee held a public hearing to discuss the possibility of having the Winter Hill Star Market site developed by Mark Development, LLC. While community members did express some concerns, the response […]
