Assembly Square Infill and Small Developments | Somerville

What's the deal with who will own what once all the buildings are done here? Is the entire outdoor mall with resi on top all owned by the same company? I hope it's broken up and there's a diversity of ownership... that would give this place the chance to develop more of an organic feel to it as it matures over the next few decades.
 
stick n move said:
More on block 8.

https://boston.curbed.com/2017/5/2/15505624/somerville-assembly-row-block-8

block8.0.jpg
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Anyone know what those two 2-story buildings are that are in the middle of the street? Is that for the T stop? I'm ok if it is for that. But if it isn't, why the hell is that there as an annoyance mucking up a nice looking boulevard? No one needs to replicate the awfulness of that new chatschka store they just built next to Quincy Market.
 
shmessy said:
But if it isn't, why the hell is that there as an annoyance mucking up a nice looking boulevard? No one needs to replicate the awfulness of that new chatschka store they just built next to Quincy Market.
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It is street-activating retail (and I'm looking forward to it). That Quincy Market may have done it badly does not say that Assembly must fail. Maybe Quincy Market fails precisely because it is too touristy (I haven't looked closely) with "once a year" purchases, whereas Assembly is more a "once a month" kind of venue.

They've already proven (to me) that they can do a nice job with the JP Licks that anchors the northern edge that they can do a very nice job when the mix in low retail.
 
shmessy said:
Anyone know what those two 2-story buildings are that are in the middle of the street? Is that for the T stop? I'm ok if it is for that. But if it isn't, why the hell is that there as an annoyance mucking up a nice looking boulevard? No one needs to replicate the awfulness of that new chatschka store they just built next to Quincy Market.
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As Arlington notes, it's a repeat of the pattern a few blocks north, and the existing one works really nicely with JP Licks and River Bar.

https://goo.gl/maps/6qvs5EK8cay
 
Arlington said:
It is street-activating retail (and I'm looking forward to it). That Quincy Market may have done it badly does not say that Assembly must fail. Maybe Quincy Market fails precisely because it is too touristy (I haven't looked closely) with "once a year" purchases, whereas Assembly is more a "once a month" kind of venue.

They've already proven (to me) that they can do a nice job with the JP Licks that anchors the northern edge that they can do a very nice job when the mix in low retail.
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I believe one of them will be a Cafe Nero.
 
I don't see it as "mucking up a nice looking boulevard." If anything, it's an improvement.
 
A few of those small, glass enclosed structures housing casual eateries are exactly what should be scattered around the Greenway...not many but a few would certainly be welcomed.
 
shmessy said:
Anyone know what those two 2-story buildings are that are in the middle of the street? Is that for the T stop? I'm ok if it is for that. But if it isn't, why the hell is that there as an annoyance mucking up a nice looking boulevard? No one needs to replicate the awfulness of that new chatschka store they just built next to Quincy Market.
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I think one is JP Licks?
 
atlantaden said:
A few of those small, glass enclosed structures housing casual eateries are exactly what should be scattered around the Greenway...not many but a few would certainly be welcomed.
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I agree, and not just the Greenway. A few well-positioned, right-sized kiosks would not go amiss in the Fens near the playing fields or Agassiz Road, the Riverway, Jamaica Pond etc.
 
Yup agreed, there's a bon me kiosk across from po square park and I think it does a nice job of activating the far detached end of the park.
 
Arlington said:
It is street-activating retail (and I'm looking forward to it). That Quincy Market may have done it badly does not say that Assembly must fail. Maybe Quincy Market fails precisely because it is too touristy (I haven't looked closely) with "once a year" purchases, whereas Assembly is more a "once a month" kind of venue.

They've already proven (to me) that they can do a nice job with the JP Licks that anchors the northern edge that they can do a very nice job when the mix in low retail.
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To each his own, but I'd much rather wider sidewalks on the sides that allow more outdoor cafe seating - for more of an open outdoor festival atmosphere than the turtling indoors and cutting down of a boulevard view.

Those buildings on the sides look quite impressive - the center structures kind of block the view and bring down the impressiveness of that boulevard. Just my opinion. If everyone else likes that, fine.


http://l7.alamy.com/zooms/24fc20847...-alfresco-at-outdoor-restaurant-in-et0430.jpg
 
shmessy said:
To each his own, but I'd much rather wider sidewalks on the sides that allow more outdoor cafe seating - for more of an open outdoor festival atmosphere than the turtling indoors and cutting down of a boulevard view.

Those buildings on the sides look quite impressive - the center structures kind of block the view and bring down the impressiveness of that boulevard. Just my opinion. If everyone else likes that, fine.


http://l7.alamy.com/zooms/24fc20847...-alfresco-at-outdoor-restaurant-in-et0430.jpg
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Have you been to Assembly Square? I have a hard time imagining someone experiencing the space and feeling like it would be better if JP Licks and the building housing it wasn't there. If you haven't been, poke around on Streetview a bit and see what you think. There's PLENTY of room on the sidewalks for cafe seating and the atmosphere is pretty good (I can't imagine it would be better if that wasn't there).

I think I'd agree- if a similar structure adversely impacted the area on either side of the street, it shouldn't be there. However, that's not the case with JP Licks (seriously, it's pretty conducive to cafe seating and I don't know that the view is even remotely adversely impacted), and it doesn't look like that will be the case at the other end of Assembly Row where a similar structure is proposed.
 
Does anyone know of any "before and after" renderings of the changes over the past 5ish years? Not like dirt lot versus now, but originally proposed vs currently proposed? There's been a few announcements recently about all these new units and I can't figure out if they were always the plan. A few of the blocks have been modified, but it's hard to say which renderings reflect that. I tried looking back, but couldn't find exactly what I was looking for.
 
Tombstoner said:
I agree, and not just the Greenway. A few well-positioned, right-sized kiosks would not go amiss in the Fens near the playing fields or Agassiz Road, the Riverway, Jamaica Pond etc.
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They'd also be perfect in MIT's' East Campus expansion.
 
sm89 said:
Does anyone know of any "before and after" renderings of the changes over the past 5ish years? Not like dirt lot versus now, but originally proposed vs currently proposed? There's been a few announcements recently about all these new units and I can't figure out if they were always the plan. A few of the blocks have been modified, but it's hard to say which renderings reflect that. I tried looking back, but couldn't find exactly what I was looking for.
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Here is one from 2012. Blocks 1-6 are basically the same footprints.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Bv6NpeCCcAAVj-4.png
 
I can't even fathom the traffic disaster this would be if IKEA were in the mix.
 
shmessy said:
To each his own, but I'd much rather wider sidewalks on the sides that allow more outdoor cafe seating - for more of an open outdoor festival atmosphere than the turtling indoors and cutting down of a boulevard view.

Those buildings on the sides look quite impressive - the center structures kind of block the view and bring down the impressiveness of that boulevard. Just my opinion. If everyone else likes that, fine.


http://l7.alamy.com/zooms/24fc20847...-alfresco-at-outdoor-restaurant-in-et0430.jpg
Click to expand...

What on Earth are you talking about?? The area in question @ Assembly is a veritible sea of patios. Earls (x2), River Bar (x2), JP Licks (x2), Tony C's, Ernestos, and Paul all have patios. The River Bar patio I would argue is in contention for one of the top 10 in the Boston area. Huge open air patio, fire tables, couches, tables, indoor bar that opens up in the summer. Seriously, if it were not for the obnoxiously expensive drinks, it would be perfect.
 
chmeeee said:
What on Earth are you talking about?? The area in question @ Assembly is a veritible sea of patios. Earls (x2), River Bar (x2), JP Licks (x2), Tony C's, Ernestos, and Paul all have patios. The River Bar patio I would argue is in contention for one of the top 10 in the Boston area. Huge open air patio, fire tables, couches, tables, indoor bar that opens up in the summer. Seriously, if it were not for the obnoxiously expensive drinks, it would be perfect.
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That guy has clearly never been there. He drove around on Google maps and thought it was appropriate to throw that crazy opinion in
 
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