A pre-COVID19 public meeting at City Hall.

By Denise Keniston
tw:@denisekeniston

The Clarendon Hill Redevelopment Project has been approved by the Somerville Zoning Board of Appeals clearing the way for Somerville’s most ambitious affordable housing project in recent years.

Currently, there are 216 worn-down affordable housing units at the Clarendon Hill site. The project proposes 591 total units: 216 affordable housing units, 80 new moderate-income units, and 295 new market rate units.

Ward 7 City Councilor Katjana Ballantyne has supported the project from its inception in 2016. “Somerville desperately needs affordable housing and Clarendon Hill needs to be redeveloped,” she says. “It’s been four long years bringing it this far. It’s a mixture of affordable and market rate housing which is so different from the 1970’s model where affordable housing was kept separate. Clarendon is a “social model” as well as an economic one. I think mixing affordable housing and market rate housing is going to prove extremely successful. This will mitigate some of the gentrification of Somerville.”

The Clarendon Hill Redevelopment Project includes four apartment complexes along with 34 townhomes.

Clarendon Hill has had a rough and tumble past. It was initially built in 1948 for returning WWII veterans, but over the decades it’s been neglected and underfunded. Public perception has been marred by an evictions scandal in 2013, a stabbing death this April, prostitution, and drug busts.

Jess Turner of Clarendon Residents Unite has worked with city officials since 2016 to make the redevelopment a reality. “We couldn’t be more excited to have this move forward,” says Turner, “Clarendon residents have fought hard for years to ensure the project considers every detail and that every Clarendon family is protected throughout the process. The Zoning Board approval is another leap forward for housing justice and a great achievement, not just for Clarendon families, but for our neighbors and future families in West Somerville as well,” she said, adding, “We are grateful for the overwhelming community support and opportunity for a safer, newer place to live. We are proud to continue to call Somerville our home.”

The redevelopment, which is being managed by the Preservation of Affordable Housing (POAH), Somerville Housing Authority, the Somerville Community Corporation, and Redgate Residential, has faced several financial challenges and setbacks that have delayed the timeline. Senior Vice President of Real Estate Development for POAH, Cory Mian, speaks to the financial setbacks. She says, “The redevelopment of the Clarendon Hill property is part of the state’s initiative called the Partnership to Expand Housing Opportunity. The program is providing many of the funds for the redevelopment of the site and is predicated on the introduction of a market-rate housing component to contribute to the reconstruction of the state affordable housing units.” Continuing, she says, “The State’s Department of Housing and Community Development is also s primary funder for the relocation. Beyond those sources, we continue to work with public and private lenders and investors, including the City of Somerville, to put in place the necessary funding for the redevelopment.”

The Clarendon Hill developer, Gate Residential, also developed Maxwell’s Green on Lowell Street with 184 luxury apartments.

The project includes four separate buildings, seven to ten stories high, and townhomes three stories high. Optimistic assessments predict it will likely take five years to complete. In total, the project includes 591 homes, 368 parking spaces, three street connections, 16,000 sf Central Park, 241 new trees, and all native plantings. Developer Gate Residential (who also developed Maxwell’s Green on Lowell Street) looks forward to getting started.

“We look forward to working with our partners and building on our experience with Maxwell’s Green to advance a mixed-income development that will benefit the current residents, the surrounding neighborhood and the City of Somerville,” said Greg Bialecki, a principal at Gate Residential, a multifaceted real estate investment and development firm specializing in the multifamily sector.

The Clarendon Hill Redevelopment project is slated to begin next summer. Every resident currently residing in the affordable housing units will be relocated and offered a unit in one of the new buildings. Current residents will be relocated as soon as the project gets underway in August of 2021.