By Greg Karczewski
President of US2

That is the question we asked everyone who attended the April 19th public meeting to review the first phase of USQ, a $1.5 billion transit-oriented development in Somerville’s Union Square. The public was invited to give us, Union Square Station Associates, feedback on the design of the first phase of the project, also known as parcel D2, which includes 175,000 square feet of lab/office space, over 400 units of housing, ground-floor retail and civic space.

Nearly 100 people attended the meeting at the Public Safety Building, where we shared our progress and gathered feedback from Somerville and Union Square residents about preliminary schematic and design plans as a first step in the next phase of the city’s Design and Site Plan Review process. Representatives from USQ’s design team joined me as we walked community members through the 4-acre parcel site located on the corner of Prospect Street and Somerville Avenue.

At full build-out, the 15.7-acre project will include 1.4 million square feet of new biotech, lab, office, residential and retail space that will generate 5,300 new permanent jobs, along with more than 4,000 new construction jobs and $11.3 million annually in new property tax revenue. Our project will be comprised of 60 percent commercial and 40 percent residential development and includes 2.5 acres of open space.

Working together, we will build upon all of the great things happening in Union Square to execute our collective vision and create a new destination for employers and a place for more people to work, live and discover everything that makes this neighborhood so vibrant.  Please visit http://www.unionsquarestationassociates.com/ to keep up to date on our progress and get involved in this collaborative process.