35 McGrath Highway | Somerville

Equilibria

Equilibria

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Plans: https://www.somervillema.gov/sites/default/files/McGrath 35 - HV Drawings - 2021 12 14.pdf
Facades: https://www.somervillema.gov/sites/default/files/McGrath 35 - Exhibit B - 2021 03 21.pdf

This and 15 McGrath will completely transform the feel of that corridor.

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Dr. Rosen Rosen said:
Is this news?I don’t think I’ve seen plans for 35 McGrath before. (Next door to 15 McGrath project). Plans at Somerville Urban Design site.

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Currently at 35 McGrath, a white box.
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Doesn't look like any of these renderings have been posted:

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Love their vision for converting the GLX to high speed rail.

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via chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://s3.amazonaws.com/somervillema-live/s3fs-public/2024-10/McGrathHwy35_ZP24-000049_ArchitecturalPlans_20240731.pdf
 
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Across the street at Twin City Plaza Supercuts and Sally's are closing. The employees of Supercuts were handing out cards to show other locations. They told me that the landlord does not want to renew their leases. The former Rite Aid still sits empty. I wonder if there are long term plans for this plaza. Has anybody heard about possible development here? Housing? Housing and retail?
 
Tango said:
Across the street at Twin City Plaza Supercuts and Sally's are closing. The employees of Supercuts were handing out cards to show other locations. They told me that the landlord does not want to renew their leases. The former Rite Aid still sits empty. I wonder if there are long term plans for this plaza. Has anybody heard about possible development here? Housing? Housing and retail?
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Taking it upmarket: https://s3.amazonaws.com/somerville...1/McGrathHwy22_ZP24-000061_Plans_20241015.pdf
 
Equilibria said:
Taking it upmarket: https://s3.amazonaws.com/somerville...1/McGrathHwy22_ZP24-000061_Plans_20241015.pdf
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Ugh! Lipstick on a pig as they say. I wish an urban type housing development, including a continuation of the East Cambridge street grid, would go in here instead of this ticky-tack suburbia. A lot of shopping centers nationally are drying up because of the rise of online shopping. I wish this one would too. There could still be a food supermarket there and some retail, but a full-blown suburban shopping center? No.
 
Equilibria said:
Taking it upmarket: https://s3.amazonaws.com/somerville...1/McGrathHwy22_ZP24-000061_Plans_20241015.pdf
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Equilibria-Thanks so much for the information, but what a disappointment! No housing included at all. I thought that maybe at least 10 stories of housing would be a good fit especially somewhere in the parking lot. I was expecting something like the Arsenal Mall redevelopment in Watertown but on a much smaller scale. Instead, all they are doing is recladding and replacing the signage. Canalside at Cambridgeside is a step forward but this development takes us back to the 1950s. Cannot Regency Properties see the potential of this area?
 
Tango said:
Equilibria-Thanks so much for the information, but what a disappointment! No housing included at all. I thought that maybe at least 10 stories of housing would be a good fit especially somewhere in the parking lot. I was expecting something like the Arsenal Mall redevelopment in Watertown but on a much smaller scale. Instead, all they are doing is recladding and replacing the signage. Canalside at Cambridgeside is a step forward but this development takes us back to the 1950s. Cannot Regency Properties see the potential of this area?
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Sure they can - they can see the potential to keep making money on the shopping center with a minimum of investment. They have a few properties that aren't strip malls, but retail really seems to be their competency.
 
This seems like a paint and patch job to land bank it for the post-grounding market.
 
The floating text over the windows/glass makes the store signage very difficult to read. I wonder why they want to keep that design aspect despite throwing all this money at a new façade.
 
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