Cambria Hotel | 515 Somerville Ave | Union Sq | Somerville

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“CambridgeSeven Named Lead Architect for Cambria Hotel in Somerville”
https://bostonrealestatetimes.com/cambridgeseven-named-lead-architect-for-cambria-hotel-in-somerville/
 
Wonderful. So reminiscent of 50's Googie motels. Much more of this kind of thing.
 
That site has been vacant for a long long time. It's good to see something finally go up there.
 
That’s because it was highly contaminated. There is one section in the parking lot of the current project that is flagged to be left undisturbed.
 
Will they build the Coheed across the street?
Maybe a Rush and Yes and the whole place will be very "progressive".....
 
Is this redesign why the lot is still sitting empty with no activity? It's one of the biggest wasted lots in the city.
 
Is this redesign why the lot is still sitting empty with no activity? It's one of the biggest wasted lots in the city.

No - IIRC there was an owner camped on it or in bankruptcy court or something. This developer bought the site a couple years ago and has been working this project steadily since.

I'd expect construction soon. Sounds like they got approval and made revisions as they developed construction documents and got permits.
 
No - IIRC there was an owner camped on it or in bankruptcy court or something. This developer bought the site a couple years ago and has been working this project steadily since.

I'd expect construction soon. Sounds like they got approval and made revisions as they developed construction documents and got permits.

Oh good news! I've seen a few different proposals for this spot over the last 8 years. Nothing ever seemed to pan out. Glad it's on track this time!
 
Somerville Development Q&A September 11

NAIOP is hosting a breakfast with the Mayor and the big developers of the major somerville projects.

I've posted summaries for Assembly and Boynton already on those threads. For the Cambria hotel, he showed a couple of interior renders that I don't think I'd seen. Developer was approached by Choice Hotels specifically about that site - Choice has been building Cambria brand from scratch to get a higher-end option for their loyalty club members. Attractive because of proximity to Greentown Labs. Hired Cambridge Seven to get something quirky. Had nothing but compliments for the neighbors (a trend at this event) - the hotel is designed with a large lobby and restaurant with outdoor seating so that neighbors can activate the space. Everyone was delivering their projects in the late 2020-2021 time frame.

Greentown might be a draw, but strangely he didn't mention Harvard, which I'd imagine is the real reason Choice wanted a hotel there. It's at the foot of Park St and easy walking distance from the business end of campus.

On the event more generally - everyone talked up bike/ped, parking maximums (the guy from FRIT looked forward to when they could propose buildings at Assembly with no parking at all), and community support for urban-style development.
 

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