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Use of key Assembly Sq. parcel debated
Yard 21 development ‘vital’ to Square’s future
By George P. Hassett
An Assembly Square area once designated for dense, office based development is in danger of becoming home to a single big box store, said members of the Mystic View Task Force this week.
Yard 21 is an asymmetrical piece of land located along the Orange Line tracks that could one day connect Assembly Square’s waterfront to an MBTA station.
The 9 acre parcel is currently owned by the Somerville Redevelopment Authority and is in the midst of being sold to Federal Realty Investment Trust (FRIT). FRIT is reportedly in discussion with Swedish home furniture retailer Ikea to swap the area around Yard 21 with Ikea’s waterfront property.
Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone said the proposed swap would allow dense, mixed use development to take place along the edge of the Mystic River.
Lawrence Paolella, former Ward 3 Alderman candidate and member of the Mystic View Task Force (MVTF), said plans for Ikea to take over Yard 21 would threaten any chance the city has to generate substantial tax revenue from a site once promised to be the center of a new urban village.
“At one point there were plans to build offices, pedestrian friendly shops and an arts center at Yard 21. Now we’re getting a huge retail store that will increase traffic and generate few jobs and tax benefits,” said Paolella.
David Dahlbacka, also of MVTF, said the arrival of Ikea in or around Yard 21 will create a branding problem for Assembly Square.
“A business center easily becomes known as a place for retail and big box stores. When you retroactively try to incorporate mixed use, high density development it is not successful,” said Dahlbacka.
Paolella said the city has no concrete assurances that FRIT will build the type of dense, mixed use development on their property that will benefit the city most. And Ikea, of course, will build a huge Ikea, increasing traffic and taking up ¾ of Yard 21.
“FRIT’s experience is in building retail and housing. Retail and housing generate no new tax money for the city. Ikea is coming to build a big box store that will do nothing to decrease automobile traffic,” said Paolella.
Curtatone said the city has a covenant with developers to ensure a certain type of development.
“If they don’t build they don’t make money. The value and financial return comes in long term, mixed use development,” he said.
Dahlbacka said the covenants the city has do not apply to Yard 21.
“The covenants have nothing to do with Yard 21, they only concern the strip mall and Ikea,” said Dahlbacka.
The misrepresentation of facts by Curtatone is a key roadblock to success at Assembly Square, said Paolella.
“There is a lack of transparency coming out of City Hall. We’re hearing nothing but sound bites about Assembly Square. We’re not hearing about how we are not reaping the full financial benefit we should have from that development,” said Paolella.
“There is no master plan here,” said Dahlbacka. “A furniture store is not a good replacement for mixed use development. We need a master plan for Assembly Square. A master plan would include a properly thought out transportation plan. We don’t have that, we are at the mercy of developers.”
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