Assembly Square Infill and Small Developments | Somerville

[choo]

Re: Assembly Square Redevelopment

hopefully this development will over the long term catalyze development toward integrating and growing spaces towards the T stations and their associated developments, both Assembly sq. and the GLX.

 

[TheRifleman]

Re: Assembly Square Redevelopment

Traffic has become an absolute NIGHTMARE in this area.

The Greenline expansion in Somerville is much needed and hopefully an Orange Line Stop at Assembly will be implemented.

 

[czsz]

Re: Assembly Square Redevelopment

So it's Station Landing, Phase II. Except there's a river between it and Phase I.

Hooray for the northern Orange Line TOD archipelago. Note that living here carless will be almost impossible, though, given the smallness and isolation of the development. The transit link really only takes cars off the road that are commuting, not those performing other tasks (who that lives here is going to depend on taking the OL for everything not included in this little enclave?)

 

[Matthew]

Re: Assembly Square Redevelopment

I hope that with the GLX and Assembly Square changing the neighborhood extensively, the bus routes will be updated to reflect that. Presumably a number of routes would converge on the Assembly Square station. Alternatively, you're still a quick hop away from the bus station at Sullivan. Not sure which will make more sense in 10-15 years.

 

[Officejab]

Re: Assembly Square Redevelopment

Hopefully with the pedestrian path to Stop & Shop(under 93) being built with the self-storage facility will help knit together Assembly to the rest of the city. Once the development is further along through construction the city has permitted plan to extend Foley St. to Mystic Ave. http://www.somervillema.gov/sites/default/files/documents/old_rnd/Design approach Middlesex.pdf While I believe the extension will happen, I don't see it happening in the next decade.

 

[HenryAlan]

Re: Assembly Square Redevelopment

The other side of the tracks is a soccer field, a river, and an industrial wasteland on the very far corner. You mean build something or connect to what exactly?

I mean build something. You have a T' station with developed land on one side, and nothing on the other (or at least that's how the proposal images look). There is a wedge of green stuff to the Southeast that should be built upon. When the station only has development on one side, we loose half of the reasonable walking distance circle.

 

[Semass]

Re: Assembly Square Redevelopment

I mean build something. You have a T' station with developed land on one side, and nothing on the other (or at least that's how the proposal images look). There is a wedge of green stuff to the Southeast that should be built upon. When the station only has development on one side, we loose half of the reasonable walking distance circle.

The wedge of green is Draw 7 Park, part of the DCR Mystic Reservation. The park is actually a nice amenity that will be greatly improved as part of Assembly Square. Federal Realty and DCR did a land swap that gave DCR the riverfront in front of the development. Federal is building the park and it should be nice. They are also building a bike/pedestrian underpass beneath rte. 28 which will dramatically improve non-motorized transportation. This will allow people to directly connect the rest of the DCR reservation. Beyond the Draw 7 park is a MBTA maintenance facility. Locals have been urging a easement/trail alongside the river which would connect to Sullivan Sq. Unfortunately, it would likely have to be a boardwalk of some sort and expensive.

 

[whighlander]

Re: Assembly Square Redevelopment

Its not dense enough and the area needs more Rail transit..., the area is also pretty hostile to Pedestrians...along Route 28.

NJ -- More rail transit? -- it sits on the Orange Line -- 3 stops and you are at North Station

Let's see how it develops as it starts to be occupied by shops, restarurants and people -- if it becomes a destination as well as a place for local residents then all of these negatives will be wasted

 

[whighlander]

Re: Assembly Square Redevelopment

This reminds me of the area built up by Wellington Station, except on a slightly grander scale. It should be a nice little enclave, but some areas will just never be accessible by outside foot-traffic, and it's not worth harping too much about it. I can't think of a single area I would want to walk through within 1/2 mile of here, and I have wandered down more streets in Boston/Cambridge/Somerville than anybody I have ever met.

DZH -- outside of the Somerville part -- where my wandering has been mostly restricted to around Davis and Union Sq. -- I'll challenge your wandering down streets in Boston and Cambridge.

But in a sense you are right -- a lot of Somerville is still in the transition from Industrial to Knowledge Economy -- much as Cambridge was doing in the last two decades. It will still be a considerable period -- say through the next economic cycle before most of Somerville begins to look and function like most of Cambridge. In the mean time there are still going to be a lot of old, low-value warehouse and derelict industrial sites gradually turning into acres of parking for the new stuff.

 

[whighlander]

Re: Assembly Square Redevelopment

The aerial view misspells Charlestown. That doesn't bode well for this project.

Isak -- the developer Federal Realty is not a local outfit -- and spelling is not a requirement of development skill

Hopefully after you look at the Assembly Row website -- click on gallery and "Rows of Succcess" -- you will see the previous developments that they've done in Virginia, Maryland and Californiacan and be able to contribute more substantively to re-launch your posting career on the ArchBos

 

[whighlander]

Re: Assembly Square Redevelopment

To bypass Rt 28, Somerville is building an underpass similar to the one below the BU Bridge. See here on slide 48: https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B1Y_jIpLYtpyY0dVT2gtaUQwS1U/edit#

That being said, absolutely this is a de facto gated community. Where are people going to go from here? Wander the beauties of the Ten Hills neighborhood, or amble dreamily across Sullivan Square? For bike-to-T commuters in the Winter Hill/Ten Hills neighborhood though, the addition of the 28 underpass footbridge will make Assembly Square's Orange line stop a more pleasant transit link than Sullivan Square. It also stitches one more piece of the Mystic River pedestrian paths together.

Kjd -- some people use terms such as de facto "gated community" as if it meant something -- However it is an utterly inappropriate term when talking about a development that is sitting on a transit line station and an Interstate Highway. This development is nearly as far from the concept of a suburban gated community as you can get.

Perhaps at this point of its evolution it is inward looking, as Federal Realty, the developer, has significant experience with urban setting developments. There task at Assemby Sq. is to be responsible for transforming a major part of a former industrial wasteland into an open regional destination mall and office space. The associated residential components are provided by Avalon Bay, another experienced developer.

Give this development time to internally establish a presence for the new residential community and those who arrive on the site from all over the region. If its is successful in a decade or two some of the surface parking may get converted to garages and other higher value uses.

 

[datadyne007]

Re: Assembly Square Redevelopment

Being in the retail industry, I'll say that there is a HUGE demand for outlets in Boston. Tourists are constantly asking how they can get to outlets and currently the only way right now is to rent a car and drive way out to Wrentham. Having outlets within the rapid-transit core should make this place an instant success. The rest is just icing on the cake.

This isn't just a generalized retail development. This is a retail development that is fulfilling a market need that does not currently exist in Boston. That's why I'm so excited about this development. A huge chunk of Boston's economy is retail and this will only help the retail industry grow in this city.

 

[HenryAlan]

Re: Assembly Square Redevelopment

Whigh,

I suggested the gated community concept, not meaning that it would resemble the traditional walled suburban enclave. My intention was to make the point that it wouldn't interface well with the surrounding area, that it would seem remote and unaproachable. You can quibble with the term I chose, but why not instead address the actual point.

 

[Ron Newman]

Re: Assembly Square Redevelopment

In the mean time there are still going to be a lot of old, low-value warehouse and derelict industrial sites gradually turning into acres of parking for the new stuff.

That would be a very bad idea, and Somerville would be foolish to ever allow it. We're pretty good at repurposing old industrial sites for new uses. For instance, part of the old Ames Envelope factory complex is now Artisan's Asylum.

 

[whighlander]

Re: Assembly Square Redevelopment

Whigh,

I suggested the gated community concept, not meaning that it would resemble the traditional walled suburban enclave. My intention was to make the point that it wouldn't interface well with the surrounding area, that it would seem remote and unaproachable. You can quibble with the term I chose, but why not instead address the actual point.

Henry -- I think that I addressed the "inward looking" aspect of the Assembly Row development -- looking at the Federal Realty website for Assembly Row -- it seems that they are positioning it as a self-contained place where someone can live, work and play -- that can insure the financial success of the development.

However, they also point out the acessibiliy of Assembly Rowe, by subway, bus, bike / foot (mentions even the Minuteman Bike Trail) and car -- I suppose that you might even be able to access it by boat

The only part which is a challenge so-far is access to the development from the part of Somerville immediately across Rt-28 and the I-93/ Rt-38 belt

Saying that the Assembly Row is cut off from that part of Somerville is Federal Realty's fault is like saying that FH/QM was cut off from the North End -- and of course it was by the old Green Monster -- because of the redeveopment by Ben Thompso and Jim Rouse

Somerville needs to work that problem with the next developer who builds closer to I-93 and Rt-28

 

[whighlander]

Re: Assembly Square Redevelopment

That would be a very bad idea, and Somerville would be foolish to ever allow it. We're pretty good at repurposing old industrial sites for new uses. For instance, part of the old Ames Envelope factory complex is now Artisan's Asylum.

Ron -- I've ben there

But -- you have to admit that most of the old Ames Envelope factory is currently under-utilized and will eventually be redeveloped. Unfortunately, when it is -- Artisan's Asyum is likely to have to re-purpose some other older un-used or under-used building.

The process is inevitable -- look at Cambridge near Kendall

First you have an empty industrial landscape -- then some buildings such as the Athenaeum Building get converted to KE places. These places need parking so some of the near-by buildings bite the dust to make parking lots -- see the lots on Linskey Way

Eventually -- the parking lots provide fertile sites for new buildings including garages -- Somerville is just a couple of decades behind Cambridge

 

[Nexis4jersey]

Re: Assembly Square Redevelopment

NJ -- More rail transit? -- it sits on the Orange Line -- 3 stops and you are at North Station

Let's see how it develops as it starts to be occupied by shops, restarurants and people -- if it becomes a destination as well as a place for local residents then all of these negatives will be wasted

You need to connect the rest of the Development to Somerville and other areas by Rail. Rail is the only thing that will work , you know it , I know it. Other Ideas for improving the Pedestrian follow and connectivity is when they eventually replace the Viaduct is to raise it and make it more open. Ive seen these types of developments get built here in NJ , they end up failures and isolated from the rest of the town or city like the unfinished Secaucus Development or Long Island City. Developers often think just because they have a train station , thats the end of it they don't need to connect into the surrounding neighborhood or city.... That often creates a break between the developments and puts strain on that train station instead of spreading services to another nearby station or bus stop.

 

[KentXie]

Re: Assembly Square Redevelopment

So it's Station Landing, Phase II. Except there's a river between it and Phase I.

Hooray for the northern Orange Line TOD archipelago. Note that living here carless will be almost impossible, though, given the smallness and isolation of the development. The transit link really only takes cars off the road that are commuting, not those performing other tasks (who that lives here is going to depend on taking the OL for everything not included in this little enclave?)

Hardly only the Orange Line. The current location has two bus routes running through them, route 90 & 92. When completed, I'm sure the frequency that these buses run through here would increase. Bus 90 goes through Cambridge and bus 92 goes through Charlestown and into Downtown. 92 also goes by Johnny Foodmaster so there's a supermarket connection as well.

 

[whighlander]

Re: Assembly Square Redevelopment

You need to connect the rest of the Development to Somerville and other areas by Rail. Rail is the only thing that will work , you know it , I know it. Other Ideas for improving the Pedestrian follow and connectivity is when they eventually replace the Viaduct is to raise it and make it more open. Ive seen these types of developments get built here in NJ , they end up failures and isolated from the rest of the town or city like the unfinished Secaucus Development or Long Island City. Developers often think just because they have a train station , thats the end of it they don't need to connect into the surrounding neighborhood or city.... That often creates a break between the developments and puts strain on that train station instead of spreading services to another nearby station or bus stop.

NJ -- there are plenty of opportunities for people, near-by who don't want to walk to take a bus -- but rail?

A dedicated rail connection from the outlet mall and higher density residential development into a lower density neighborhoods in Somerville makes no sense:

1) Assemby Row is designed to be a regional attractant -- not just a local shopping center -- drawing the majority of its outlet mall customers from throughout the inner metro-area -- and competitive with the Wrentham and Legacy Place malls

2) The people living in the Avalon Bay appartments aren't going to be interested in the typical residential Somerville streets -- nor for the most part in the local bars and pizza shops

3) instead of rail -- buses can provide a lot of local connectivity
a) either the T can re-route some of the existing routes, or create some new ones such as the #350 to Burlington Mall
b) Somerville can always run a series of dedicated Mall-jitney-type buses with capacity of 12 to 15 every half hour -- such as Waltham's local buses or the Lexpress

 

[choo]

Re: Assembly Square Redevelopment

Hopefully the unique retail component, as someone point out will make this a big and active draw. If the residential units do just as well, and I think they will given the pent up demand for T accessible housing, hopefully this development, while inward focused now, will form a mini-hub for new development. As it has been pointed out, there is an underdeveloped area of east somerville that will have improve transit access with the GLX and the woefully underdeveloped Sullivan sq. Hopefully, over time this development will spark new residential construction around sullivan and with east somerville developing good infill until it the neighborhood comes right up to assembly sq.

This development hopefully spurs a solid decade plus revitalization of this area.