Assembly Square Infill and Small Developments | Somerville

Lot's of parking to fill. Will be a nice enclave when complete.
Hope the massing of the commercial buildings becomes a little varied with real designs.

Do those penthouses reflect the max height potential for this site?
 
I also think it's the city's way of hedging their bets. Commercial would work here with or without the rest of the development, with or without the T stop. Residential requires people to want to live there and put down roots. That requires so much more. It will come but will take longer to be deemed a success (by which I mean take some time for developers to want to build more housing).

It's not like there is no more room for growth. Assembly Sq has plenty of growth potential once Phase 1 takes off.
 
SeamusMcFly said:
Lot's of parking to fill. Will be a nice enclave when complete.
Hope the massing of the commercial buildings becomes a little varied with real designs.

Do those penthouses reflect the max height potential for this site?
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According to the source document those commercial buildings will look vastly different. Those are just placeholders, but it gives an idea of what the general shape will be (no high rises along the river, with commercial near the T stop)
 
I really hope they don't have the Seaport-style uniformity of height and envelope-filling massing.
 
AmericanKryptonite said:
According to the source document those commercial buildings will look vastly different. Those are just placeholders, but it gives an idea of what the general shape will be (no high rises along the river, with commercial near the T stop)
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I hope you're right. I looked at those renders and said "Helloooooo East Berlin".
 
Some coverage:

New MBTA Station The Capstone Of Somerville’s Assembly Square Development

SOMERVILLE, Mass. — The MBTA’s first new rapid transit station in 26 years, at Somerville’s Assembly Square, is set to open before the end of the summer, a T spokesman said Friday. One of six new stations slated for Somerville in the next decade, the city is trying to take advantage of that development opportunity in a way that doesn’t sacrifice the community’s economic diversity.

The $29.2 million Orange Line station, a 10-minute ride from downtown Boston, lies between Wellington Circle and Sullivan Square. It’s predicted to serve 5,000 passengers on typical weekday by 2030.
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The Assembly Station Construction Site Is Eerie at Night

The MBTA is expected to open Assembly Station in Somerville very soon. Located on the Orange Line between Wellington and Sullivan Square T stops, this $30 million station has been under construction since 2011, and will serve visitors and residents of the 66.5 acre mixed-use development along the Mystic River: Assembly Row.

Back in June BostInno reported that the station's headhouses had been completed, and officials were optimistic that trains would be making scheduled station stops by the end of this summer.
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I have a feeling they want to open the station on Saturday, the first day of the fall schedule and in time for Labor Day weekend, but don't want to commit as the station is not usable yet. Just a hunch.
 
Partners reached an agreement with the City of Somerville for payments in lieu of taxes. They'll pay the city $1.1 million per year when the first phase of their development opens by 2017 and then $1.5 million when the second phase opens at date TBD. The retail ground floor portion of the Partners development should pay the city another $0.7 million per year in property taxes.

http://www.bostonglobe.com/business...illion-year/QRMaPM21gqypRVe8EDnlhO/story.html
 
bigeman312 said:
I have a feeling they want to open the station on Saturday, the first day of the fall schedule and in time for Labor Day weekend, but don't want to commit as the station is not usable yet. Just a hunch.
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Bingo. They want to avoid having to walk back the open date like they were forced to a couple times with Yawkey. Elevators and access points have to pass a final inspection by state/city before they're cleared to open, and even the most minor of glitches can trip that up like it did with Yawkey. They're doing the prudent thing keeping it close-to-vest until they know for sure.
 
Last night at the Assembly MBTA station, at 10pm the they were working hard (maybe 20 workers?). They're clearly on a final push.

Meanwhile, the rest of Assembly Row is looking good too, with many locations "getting close" (like Legal seafood)

The use of densely-packed good-looking trees and landscaping really makes it look more inviting than your typical new development. I also think the variation in architecture is very successful. Yes it all looks a little new and fake, but it also looks interesting and inviting.
 
I'm quoting a reasonable transit pitch I made in April (I know that's a cheesy move, but whatever):

bigeman312 said:
This is a proposal for when Assembly Station opens.

They may do this anyways, but I propose for the MBTA to alter the 90 and 92 bus routes.

Cut the 90 bus back to Sullivan, as the Sullivan to Wellington stretch would be less useful:

90 Bus Route Map

Cut the 92 bus back to Sullivan as the Sullivan to Assembly stretch (which is used on midday and early afternoon rush runs only) would be less useful:

92 Bus Route Map

This would allow for shorter headways by cutting the 90 trip time down from 27 to 15 minutes, and the 92 trip time from 25 minutes to 15 minutes.

By assigning the same fleet to cover these routes:
  • The 90 would have:
    • 22-28 minute (currently 40-50 minute) morning headways
    • 39 minute (currently 70 minute) midday headways
    • 22-31 (currently 40-55 minute) minute afternoon/evening headways
  • The 92 would have:
    • 18-27 minute (currently 30-45 minute) midday headways
    • 6-12 minute (currently 10-20 minute) early afternoon rush headways
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Why are they not cutting the 90 and 92 back to Sullivan, now that Assembly is opening? It seems like a waste of resources to have a bus (as is the case with the 90 bus) stop across the street from an Orange Line station, drive a half mile between stops, stop twice in the same complex as the next Orange Line station, drive over a mile before the next stop, at the next Orange Line station.

Some Somerville residents, myself included, would lose a 1-seat ride to Assembly Square. That would be more than made up for with improved frequency to Sullivan.
 
bigeman312 said:
I'm quoting a reasonable transit pitch I made in April (I know that's a cheesy move, but whatever):



Why are they not cutting the 90 and 92 back to Sullivan, now that Assembly is opening? It seems like a waste of resources to have a bus (as is the case with the 90 bus) stop across the street from an Orange Line station, drive a half mile between stops, stop twice in the same complex as the next Orange Line station, drive over a mile before the next stop, at the next Orange Line station.

Some Somerville residents, myself included, would lose a 1-seat ride to Assembly Square. That would be more than made up for with improved frequency to Sullivan.
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There will be 5000 residents and 5000 employees (PHS + Retail) at Assembly in the next few years. If anything they need to add a new bus route. I live at Assembly and a lot of people work along the redline and it's a pain in the ass to get over there.
 
AmericanKryptonite said:
There will be 5000 residents and 5000 employees (PHS + Retail) at Assembly in the next few years. If anything they need to add a new bus route. I live at Assembly and a lot of people work along the redline and it's a pain in the ass to get over there.
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The 90 currently "connects" Assembly to the Orange and the Red Lines. Assembly doesn't need to connect to the Orange Line any more starting Tuesday, so:

Why not add a route that runs more directly - via Broadway - between Assembly and Davis. It is a waste to have the 90 play the game it plays, running via Highland from Davis to Sullivan with waste of an extension to Wellington via Assembly. A new bus route, Davis to Assembly via College Ave and Broadway would be a much more efficient use of resources, while shortening the 90 to Sullivan - Davis.
 
Assembly Row is working. You heard it here first.

If it can be busy and bustling on a Sunday night, you know it is working.

Admittedly, it is still a "drive-to" destination. with the first closest rows of parking in Assembly Square's surface lots filled with cars who obviously are walking across the street to Assembly Row (leaving a slightly-empty "middle" of the parking lot)

Once you're on the Assembly Row 2x2 block, you'll find folks strolling, the restaurant-bars busy (with their windows open to the streetlife) and JP Licks serving a steady stream of people, many of whom eat their ice cream in the "deck furniture" immediately outside.

The play structures for kids are imaginative, unusual, and always have at least 1 family on them (even up until 8:30pm anyway) and also twenty-somethings testing it out.

At 8pm, the stores and the Lego thing were closed and the AMC cinema was empty, but still a steady stream of folks were checking out the giant Duplo giraffe "street art" in front.

Yes, it is all a little antiseptic (the edges on the concrete curbs are still crisp and unchipped) but not much more antiseptic than "real" streetscapes you might see in, say, Palo Alto.
 
Took the Orange Line today for the first time in ages. Only negatives I see about Assembly Row is that the subway train slowed down reaching the station and that the station seems quite a distance from the buildings - you have to walk across a huge parking lot?

The train slowing down I assumed was b/c the tracks are even now just getting worn in.
 
The slowdown will probable persist until they finish they remaining work on the station (November or so).
 
JohnAKeith said:
Took the Orange Line today for the first time in ages. Only negatives I see about Assembly Row is that the subway train slowed down reaching the station and that the station seems quite a distance from the buildings - you have to walk across a huge parking lot?

The train slowing down I assumed was b/c the tracks are even now just getting worn in.
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The walk is because Assembly Row isn't finished yet. Those parking lots are getting developed.
 
JohnAKeith said:
Only negatives I see about Assembly Row is that the subway train slowed down reaching the station and that the station seems quite a distance from the buildings - you have to walk across a huge parking lot?
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They developed the 4 blocks (out of 6) that had the best access to the riverfront, and so, yes, for now you find yourself bored by two parking lots. The immediate station area is still a construction site, and it (and the inbound end) are awaiting the Partners Health offices on what was the Ikea site. I also assume there is a little bit of extra margin around the station for a future Urban Ring BRT right of way.
 
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I was looking through the forum and didn't see this posted. I got it from the skyscrapercity forum. I like it.
 
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