By Maeve Lawler

The Somerville Redevelopment Authority (SRA) reviewed the Request for Qualifications (RFQ) draft to go forward with the redevelopment plans for 90 Washington Street at its December 21 meeting.

90 Washington Street, a 4.3-acre site owned by the SRA, will be redeveloped to house a new public safety building complex; retail, commercial, residential, and community buildings; green spaces; and civic areas, according to the city’s website.

The RFQ, set to be released on January 19, is the first phase in selecting a development team for the project. Ted Fields, the senior economic development planner for the city, presented the RFQ draft to the SRA Board Members.

Through the RFQ process, interested developers are asked to share their qualifications, past project experience, how they will secure financing for the project, experience promoting the participation of minorities and women, and the inclusion of minority-owned and women-owned businesses in past projects. The RFQ process is estimated to end in March 2023.

The city and the SRA will then choose a small group of RFQ respondents for the second phase of the selection process, called the Request for Proposals (RFP), which will be released in May 2023. In this phase, respondents will provide proposals for the redevelopment of 90 Washington Street to the city and SRA. This includes a conceptual development plan, an overview of the development team structure, details about the team’s diversity, equity, and inclusion, and a financial offer to the city to acquire the property. By December 2023, the SRA will choose one or more developers to negotiate a development agreement.

Other items on the agenda discussed by SRA Board Members:

• On behalf of all Board Members of the SRA, Eileen McGettigan – a retiring legal counsel to the SRA – received a special appreciation for her legal services over the past 10 years.
• Ben Demers, an economic development planner for the city, gave the SRA an update on the redevelopment of 32 Webster Street by a local nonprofit community development organization, Just a Start. This group plans to turn 24 Webster Street into affordable housing, a project that would start in January 2024 at the earliest. Demers said that it’s a possibility 32 Webster Street will also be part of Just a Start’s renovation plans, but this will be revisited in the new year.
• The SRA agreed to stick to their normal meeting schedule, every third Wednesday of each month, in the new year.

The next SRA meeting will be on January 18.