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By Greg Karczewski

On Wednesday evening, we at US2 are looking forward to joining the Union Square Neighborhood Council (USNC) in reporting back to residents, businesses and other stakeholders on the progress of ongoing negotiations around community benefits for the Union Square Neighborhood.

When completed, the USQ project will generate over $11 million in new tax revenue each and every year. That revenue will be harnessed to pay for things like a new Somerville High School, the Green Line Extension, streetscape improvements and measures to alleviate flooding in Union Square and elsewhere. Those new tax revenues, along with other benefits generated by the project, will produce over $500 million in new revenue for the city over the life of the project.

In addition to new tax revenues, the project is also committed to the following:

• Creating diverse job opportunities in Somerville – the Union Square revitalization will create nearly 10,000 new jobs (4,300 construction jobs and over 5,000 new, permanent jobs).
• Jobs for locals – the project will inject $2.9 million into the city’s Jobs Creation and Retention Trust to train residents for jobs that will be created by the project. Somerville residents and veterans will have first priority for available construction jobs.
• Funding the Green Line Extension – while Union Square is only one stop on the Green Line Extension, the USQ project will contribute $5.8 million toward it.
• Meaningful new affordable housing – the project will build up to 200 units of privately financed, affordable housing.
• Additional affordable housing funds – $10.9 million in housing linkage payments to Somerville’s Affordable Housing Trust will address additional housing needs.
• Sustainable building – the large majority of project buildings (92 percent) will be built to LEED Gold.
• Investing in public infrastructure – over $4.7 million will contribute to new streetscapes and upgraded infrastructure while other private investment will enhance pedestrian, transit and bicycle facilities, making Union Square more livable.
• Creating 2.5 acres of new public open space – the development will create landscaped pedestrian plazas, pocket parks, community gardens and an entirely new neighborhood park.

For the past seven months, we have engaged in thoughtful and sustained negotiations with the Union Square Neighborhood Council. Together, we are working to formulate a Community Benefits Agreement that will refine the overall benefits package for the project to more specifically address community priorities and ensure that our project will benefit the entire Union Square Community.

We have committed to funding over $3.8 million in community benefits priorities and are working with the council to utilize those funds and other resources to maximize local benefit. We take pride in the fact that we are contributing more to community benefits than any other developer in Somerville’s history. We wholeheartedly believe that, by partnering with the community, we can do well and do good. We look forward to further connecting with the community as we address questions and provide further updates with USNC.

Greg Karczewski is president at Union Square Station Associates (US2).