By Joseph A. Curtatone

(The opinions and views expressed in the commentaries of The Somerville Times belong solely to the authors of those commentaries and do not reflect the views or opinions of The Somerville Times, its staff or publishers)

On Monday, we held a groundbreaking for Partners HealthCare’s new administrative building in Assembly Square that will bring 4,500 permanent office jobs and 1,500 construction jobs to Somerville. This building is the first phase of Partners’ eventual 1.1-million-square-foot development that, when complete, will yield slightly more revenue for the City than the site would have generated in commercial taxes if IKEA had developed the site as previously planned. Partners’ move is a milestone—the first in what will be a surge of new businesses coming to Somerville, and this isn’t happening by accident. It’s only happening after years of patient, prudent planning with the community and investments based on that planning.

Before you can plan for something, you need a vision—and determination to match that vision and make it reality. In Somerville, that vision and determination comes from the people in our community. We’ve worked together to expand access to quality public transit, because we know the demand for both homes and businesses located near public transit. We also know that high-density, mixed use development around transit centers is the way to create a resilient, self-sufficient economic base. We’ve worked together to create walkable, bikeable neighborhoods, because we know the historic return to the urban core is fueled in part by the desire to live in a community where people can walk or bike to the store or local coffee shop, and that vibrant, close-knit communities are created when there are people out on sidewalks and in the streets and paths, walking, pushing strollers and biking.

We worked together and codified this vision in our 20-year comprehensive plan, SomerVision—a plan that asks not what we want to build, but what kind of community we want to be in 2030. In that plan, we match the community’s vision and determination with clearly defined goals. One of those goals is to create 30,000 new jobs as part of a responsible plan to create opportunity for all Somerville workers and entrepreneurs. Partners’ move contributes at least 4,500 jobs toward that goal, and our residents can take part in Partners’ career and workforce development program that focuses on youth and community members, along with its current employees. Local jobs improve quality of life for workers, decreasing the time and money workers spend on commuting and allowing them to spend more of that time and money on their families.

Job creation is critical to creating a resilient, self-sufficient economic base for Somerville, but we want to make sure we’re doing it in a smart way. The Partners building (and Assembly Row as a whole) adheres to those smart growth principles that are in SomerVision—transit-oriented and densely built, creating an active streetscape with office jobs above that support retail on the ground floor. Bringing in the daytime population of office workers that will eat, shop and purchase services in Somerville creates the kind of 18-hour economy that allows local businesses to thrive and flourish.

That’s important, but beyond that, Partners’ move highlights what can be built in Assembly Square and Somerville’s transformative areas as identified in SomerVision—research and development in industries that are tied to nearby academic and research institutions. It says to companies in health care, software, biotech and green tech: You can grow in Somerville. In Assembly Square, Boynton Yards, Inner Belt or Brickbottom, we are creating fertile ground where these companies can take root. Attracting and retaining those companies is a critical component of Somerville remaining competitive in the new economy, and our community has put in the work to make Somerville the obvious choice for them to call home.

This work benefits Somerville, but it also benefits the region and Massachusetts as a whole by creating a stronger regional economy. Partners’ move saves the costs of having multiple offices spread out across the area, helping it achieve its goal of maintaining affordable healthcare for people across the Commonwealth, while keeping Partners based in the region. And smart development like what’s happening at Assembly Row will result in hundreds of millions of dollars flowing through the Massachusetts economy.

Partners has already demonstrated its willingness to be an active contributor to our community by agreeing to municipal services contributions, which will help fund public safety, our school, roads and more in Somerville. I look forward to working with Partners and helping to build a stronger community, region and state for all.