Pages
Stay In Touch
More
© 2021 The Somerville Times. All rights reserved.
Phase one includes three buildings and an open space. Completion will coincide with the opening of the Union Square Green Line MBTA stop in 2021 – an initiative of SomerVision 2030. — Photo courtesy of US2
By Denise Keniston
On Tuesday, July 11, the Somerville Planning Board took a big step forward in advancing the massive Union Square Revitalization of fifteen acres in Union Square. The board approved the application for a seven-story life science building, included in phase one – a four-acre parcel located on the corner of Prospect Street and Somerville Avenue. Two other buildings and an open space are also part of phase one and their applications will be voted on separately in the coming months.
“We are thankful to the Planning Board for their thoughtful consideration and approval. This will help to kick start the revitalization of Union Square and unlock the neighborhood’s potential as an employment center and regional economic driver,” said Greg Karczewski, President of Union Square Station Associates.
Planning Board member Dorothy Kelly Gay voted in favor and applauded the developer’s efforts. “I think you’ve [the developer] done a fantastic job and you’ve done exactly what we asked for [modifications to the application]. I’m very much in support.”
Not everyone at the meeting was as enthusiastic. Tori Antonino lives on Prospect Hill – a seven-minute walk from the project. She is an environmental activist and a founding member of Green and Open Somerville. “I’m disappointed in the Planning Board for approving the life sciences building,” she says. “Sustainability was our number one issue and the plans put forth by the developer, US2, fall way short of any of our major concerns. We wanted to see underground parking, affordable housing, and more green spaces, like what we see in Kendall Square.”
Activist Tori Antonino says Somerville’s Planning Board missed an opportunity to insist on more green initiatives like this rooftop garden in Kendall Square.~ Photo courtesy of Google Maps
Comparisons with Kendall Square are inevitable. Antonino says hopes of urban gardening and rooftop gardens, like the Kendall Square Roof Garden, are fading. “The life sciences building is just one of several buildings included in this huge project, and we still believe the Somerville Planning Board has many opportunities to insist on more sustainability and demand something spectacular, like what we see in Kendall Square.”
Last week, MEPA (Massachusetts Environmental Protection Act) office certified the building plans and affirmed the project complies with state laws and is ready to move forward with the permit approval process. US2 is working towards a LEED Gold certification and says the building will feature a “blue roof” as a water retention strategy, achieve a reduction in greenhouse gases through above-code performance. The building will also feature 8,900 square feet of arts and creative space, rotating exterior art walls, and ground-floor retail.
“Our vision for this project is to make Union Square into a destination for employers, create more green space, achieve housing goals with a range of affordability, and preserve the neighborhood character that everybody loves today.”
The completed project could take twenty years. The 15.7-acre plan will include 2.4 million square feet of new biotech, lab, office, residential and retail space that will support generating 5,300 new permanent jobs, along with more than 4,000 new construction jobs and will generate $11.3 million annually in new property tax revenue. The project will be comprised of 60 percent commercial and 40 residential development and includes over 3.5 acres of open space. The project also aligns with Mayor Joseph Curtatone’s SomerVision 2030, a guide for the city’s policy and planning since 2009.
Steve Mackey, chairman, and CEO of the Somerville Chamber of Commerce applauded the board’s decision. “For years we’ve seen Cambridge and greater Boston get all the funding and financial benefits,” he says. “It’s time Somerville has a piece. This building will be like no other as a huge addition to Somerville.”
The next Somerville Planning Board meeting is scheduled for August 8. Public hearings will be held on buildings 2 and 3, along with the open space.
If you found this article of interest, please consider sharing it.
I have been following the US2 developments since they were selected as the master developer. The lab building will be a huge step forward for the city, and finally this planning board is getting it. The old chairman would have breezed this through the entire development by now. The new leadership under Capuano and the new young woman have made me feel like we finally have a board that is trying to listen to the people who actually live here and not just developers. Could definitely use more green space though on the rest of the project.
I am so sick of people telling us that these large-scale projects are going to benefit the city. When has anything done here not resulted in paying more in taxes and fees?
It benefits the city, surely. The Mayor, the politicians, yes. Just not the people that live in it.
We okayed having our taxes raised to pay for the new High School, only to be told once it was a done deal that the cost for the new school was going to be higher than expected.
We were told bringing development would help us out, too. Well, I’m sure if you’re a construction worker, you’ve definitely gotten better job security. But it’s done nothing to lower the cost of living here. All it’s done so far is shut down bridges, worsened traffic, and caused rats to spread out all over the city.
We’ve always been snowed into approving things by the City, only to find out when it’s too late that the deals have changed.
All this new project is going to do for us is maybe give us “street cred” that the Mayor wants, and make us look like a clone of Boston and Cambridge. It’s not going to do anything for the people already living here struggling to pay our taxes to continue to stay here.
Will it lower our parking permits? Will it lower our property taxes? If anything, it will raise them due to supply and demand, because we will be even more in demand as a city for people to want to come to. Nothing has ever been done here as an improvement that made it more affordable for the people living here.
Of course, this project is going to take twenty years, according to the article, so hopefully I’ll be dead by the time it’s done, and I won’t have to worry about it anymore. That is, provided I can still afford to live here before then.
Linda, agree with you on taxes. You know a lab building and commercial buildings contribute WAY more in taxes per sq ft than residential, so yeah, building this commercial project might give us a valve for some residential tax relief. Or at least it won’t need to be increased again or as much.
Of course the HS has cost overruns, almost no project doesn’t, and I’m sure it was built into the financial projection.
I think the 20 year plan is ALL of the Union Square build out (last I knew it was going to be primarily commercial buildings with a few residential components). The lab buiilding if they get started this year will be done in a year or two.
Median and low income housing are important for all of those who need housing that is more affordable than market. But they produce far more municipal costs than they can cover with local tax contributions. Large scale retail is the same but provides products needed by residents. Housing for high income residents can produce net fiscal benefit but not nearly as much new fiscal benefit as new or re-developed properties that can provide upper story employment – basically labs or other modern work-spaces, which can be corporate or co-work spaces. As Somerville has the greatest shortage of jobs relative to residents per square mile out of all of Massachusetts’ 351 cities and towns, upper story employment that can provide good job opportunities for the local and regional economy will do the most to balance Somerville. Hotels look good on paper but are dependent on very high local job intensity and their fiscal benefits collapse quickly in economic downturns, when cities most need the money. As to green space, the South Boston waterfront developments have dedicated 40% of their total land areas to significant public open spaces, and Cambridge has had similar gains from development in districts like North Point. We should do no less!
Cheers
They are building about 1,000 housing units, which is 40% of the whole project and almost a 3% increase in total units across Somerville. We need these large projects to increase local housing supply.
“Preserve the neighborhood character”?!? Has he looked at the design for his project? I assume the neighborhood he’s referring to is out on Rt 128. This project will forever be an aesthetic pock on union square. But hey – tax revenue so it’s all good.
As a Union resident, I am 100% cool with someone finally building taller in that spot. I get a park and T station. As long as we put in provisions that local retail/restaurants dominate the square, welcome to the neighborhood.
The city needs more housing and commercial activities, but – as Tori said – more should be done in the D2 block to improve its livability. The best options to deliver quality open space -away from the traffic of Prospect Street- and to significantly slash the carbon emissions associated with these three buildings are being left on the table. What is built in the next 3-5 years will have a huge impact for the next 50-80 years. Decisions need to be made with long-term goals in mind.