Assembly Square Gateway | 65-75 Mystic Ave | Somerville

dshoost88

dshoost88

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This seems large enough to merit its own thread (and not to be confused with other projects at/near Assembly Row by different development teams).


Developer Raises $68M On CrowdStreet To Fund Huge Boston-Area Project

Two retail properties near Assembly Square were purchased in part using the largest CrowdStreet fund-raise to date, and the buyer is planning a major mixed-use project.
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A joint venture between Cabot, Cabot & Forbes and Normandy Opportunity Zone Fund LP, a fund sponsored by Cannon Hill Capital Partners, bought 65-75 Mystic Ave. in Somerville for $142M, according to public records.

The partnership said in a press release that the deal was made possible with $68M in equity from CrowdStreet, the real estate crowdfunding platform that has come under scrutiny in recent weeks and announced Monday night its CEO is departing.

The buyers also obtained a loan from Centennial Commercial Finance Group and Lionheart Strategic Management, according to a press release.

“We are pleased to have outstanding cooperation from our capital partners and lenders to take ownership of this exceptional property in the face of today’s challenging financial markets," Cabot, Cabot & Forbes CEO Jay Doherty said in the release.

The release didn't include details of the buyers' plans for the site, and Cabot, Cabot & Forbes declined to answer additional questions about the project.

According to a video pitch on CrowdStreet's website, the project, called Assembly Square Gateway, is planned to include 750 residential units, over 1M SF of life sciences space and ground-floor retail.

The fundraising was for the pre-development stage of the project, which included buying the site and getting the approvals to proceed. These investors could remain in the deal if it moves forward, CrowdStreet co-Head of Investments Ryan Strub said in the video.

"This project will be a welcomed addition to the neighborhood's growing life sciences cluster, a prominent community that embodies a live-work-play atmosphere and prioritizes convenience for its residents," Strub said.

The 11.5-acre property includes a 125K SF retail building that is leased to Home Depot and a 34K SF vacant building that was once home to a Circuit City. That property was envisioned to be a Walmart before plans fell through in 2012.

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Screen grabs from the linked video pitch on Crowd Street's website:
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chrisbrat said:
Pretty surprising. that Home Depot has gotta be wildly profitable.
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It's the #1 busiest location in the whole state, and one of the busiest in the whole Northeast because of the contractor traffic it gets. That's why there's a whole other location almost in eyeshot across the river at Gateway Center.
 
I know I've used it a lot in the past umpteen years and will miss it being so close, but I guess if getting rid of Home Depot at that location means more housing in the urban core, I'm for it.
 
With new proposals noticeably slowing down its nice to still see major new developments like this being proposed.
 
Glad to something proposed there. Always felt like there was much better use of that location instead of a home depot and empty circuit city.
 
To be clear, the renderings shown above are all pre-filing with Somerville, which is to say they are entirely conceptual/placeholders. They are for enticing investors with an illustration of what could be, not formally proposed. This means the actual construction isn't financed yet, so we have a ways to go before we see any action here.
 
RandomWalk said:
Definitely a first draft. It still has the trees on the balconies and roofs.
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Actually, what it looks like is a more photorealistic version of the City's vision drawings. The cross-shaped building is the giveaway.
 
This whole Assembly area is really becoming a major mini-city within Somerville. It's nice to see this proposal, but I have my doubts for labs/research with the bottom kind of falling out recently. However, housing would be a huge win. I think the Orange line in-fill station was such a HUGE catalyst for all this development. I hope other areas near Boston see this as necessary before slapping millions of square feet of space with little transit options. (I'm looking at you, Seaport.)
 
Wonder why those smaller adjacent lots at the corner of Mystic and Grand Union are still holding out? They must have had decent offers from developers by now... Was a happy customer of the barstool store there but as the first impression of Somerville when coming from Sullivan/Charlestown/Boston, it's not easy on the eye.
 
SomervilleRed said:
Wonder why those smaller adjacent lots at the corner of Mystic and Grand Union are still holding out? They must have had decent offers from developers by now... Was a happy customer of the barstool store there but as the first impression of Somerville when coming from Sullivan/Charlestown/Boston, it's not easy on the eye.
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Isn't that where IKEA is supposed to be built?? (sarcasm)
 
SomervilleRed said:
Wonder why those smaller adjacent lots at the corner of Mystic and Grand Union are still holding out? They must have had decent offers from developers by now... Was a happy customer of the barstool store there but as the first impression of Somerville when coming from Sullivan/Charlestown/Boston, it's not easy on the eye.
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Somewhere I saw a cool plan incorporating the existing streets, playing up that existing cobble stone driveway. Can't remember where I saw it though and if it was part of a formal proposal. Just mentioning in case someone knows what I'm talking about because it was more creative than the usual plopping down the big box with shrubs n shit and I'd like to see it again.
 
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