Assembly Square Infill and Small Developments | Somerville

Welcome to the neighborhood davem!

In other news, AVA residents received a notice in the mail today to notify us of future construction work in the area. Phase 2 will kick off as early as summer 15 (21 story residential high rise; 100 unit condo and 200 room hotel)

I thought at first the residential portion was to be rentals, but I guess not.
 
^ Nice! They may have changed the original rental plans to get in on the hyper competitive condo market.
 
from Sullivan Sq why the Sq itself is still a sea of parking lots and not transit related development is be on me?
 
Was just with a bunch of people for the first time in Assembly. Every single person commented about how dissappointing it was and that it was just an urban knock-off of Mashpee Commons. Not good if that is the general perception of the area. I tried to remind them that this was just phase one of many and they were not having any of it. Couldn't think of a single reason why they might return.
 
meddlepal said:
Was just with a bunch of people for the first time in Assembly. Every single person commented about how dissappointing it was and that it was just an urban knock-off of Mashpee Commons. Not good if that is the general perception of the area. I tried to remind them that this was just phase one of many and they were not having any of it. Couldn't think of a single reason why they might return.
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My reason for returning is that AMC theater. It's superior in many ways to the AMC Boston Common. I think a Hooters would go a long way to raise the appeal of Assembly, though.
 
meddlepal said:
Was just with a bunch of people for the first time in Assembly. Every single person commented about how dissappointing it was and that it was just an urban knock-off of Mashpee Commons. Not good if that is the general perception of the area. I tried to remind them that this was just phase one of many and they were not having any of it. Couldn't think of a single reason why they might return.
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There is a bell curve of how people adopt new things. Clearly they are waiting until it becomes a popular place while people who are moving there now are "early adopters".
 
meddlepal said:
Every single person commented about how dissappointing it was
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I live a ten minute walk away and it IS disappointing if you're coming in expecting a full blown city-in-a-box. The amount of attention it gets goes to show how much desire there is for new walkable, urban spaces—and how weak the local competition is (Ink Block, Northpoint, Station Landing—Seaport just maybe is an exception).

It's still just four buildings on a landfill, surrounded by parking lots, train tracks, and a highway.

In a far off, wonderful, future when it is fully developed, it may have a feel of Disney's CityLand to it: A self-contained city-esque playground for DINKs and suburbanites. That sounds like I'm opposed to it, but in fact we NEED more fun places for people to spend their money in Boston. I hear Somerville locals complain about how the city is wasting money at Assembly on "useless stores." Ahem, ma'am but notice that your property tax bill is cut in half if you own your property. Guess who's paying for the other half.

The fact that we have thousands of people coming by this place every weekend is testament to its success, regardless of whether it meets expectations or not. My guess is you haven't brought your friends over to Station's Landing for a night on the town. :)
 
The T could certainly bring in some much needed revenue by leasing the Sullivan Square land for TOD. And it would bring in new riders too.
 
The area also feels very distinctly like a mall with all the parking and the roving mall cops in their jeeps. The AMC is the only reason I return (and maybe the hope that it'll stop feeling like a mall).

What's most off-putting for me is how artificially authentic the whole thing feels; it sits in this weird uncanny valley of architecture of a manufactured downtown. Having visited Disney's Celebration, FL too often during a 5 year stint in Kissimmee, this feels like a New England twist on that, but I think since I had the expectation of Celebration being a Disney property, it didn't feel uncomfortable in the way this does. Maybe Assembly will feel less artificial with Phase 2, but I'm skeptical.

As far as Sullivan Sq, from what I understand, that whole area has been studied for rezoning and is at some point planned for street reconfiguration and redevelopment in conjunction with BTD's plans for Rutherford Ave, which seem to have stalled. The Rutherford Ave reconfig and associated street grid developments at Sullivan is what'll hopefully tie Assembly back to Sullivan Square and the rest of civilisation. Barring any sudden awakenings from this transportation infrastructure somnambulism, we won't be getting any walkability to Assembly under I-93 or grounding/trenching of I-93 this side of 2050.
 
My understanding is that both apartment buildings are leasing quicker than comparable/nearby buildings. So some segment of the population enjoys/prefers A.S. as place to live.

Isn't this the point of a city? Provide different neighborhoods with different feel/culture, housing stock and night life and let market forces (supply/demand) play out? I prefer the South End and Back Bay to Cambridge or North End. That's my preference though many would disagree. This is what makes a city/metro region diverse and dynamic... different T stops/neighborhoods having different experiences.
 
As a resident of A.S I agree with many of the concerns and critiques. I would also repeat that everyone who lives there knows it is a work in progress.

The difference between Assembly and some generic neighborhood in Florida or elsewhere is the fact that there is a direct public transit line that connects you to the rest of the city. While people live, drink, eat, etc..in the area, most are still spending a chunk of their time elsewhere throughout Boston/Cambridge. It ends up being a best of both worlds experience, because you get to live in new construction with easy parking and still are within a few T stops of downtown Boston.

Also whenever you want a little more grit and non chain type restaurants, you can easily walk or drive down to East Somerville and take advantage of what Broadway has to offer as well. Plus there are some good places to hang in AS as well, I dig the beer garden, River Bar, Paul, Fuji and Ernesto's. Even a place like Tony C's serves its purpose if you want to watch a game.
 
Cobean said:
As a resident of A.S I agree with many of the concerns and critiques. I would also repeat that everyone who lives there knows it is a work in progress.

The difference between Assembly and some generic neighborhood in Florida or elsewhere is the fact that there is a direct public transit line that connects you to the rest of the city. While people live, drink, eat, etc..in the area, most are still spending a chunk of their time elsewhere throughout Boston/Cambridge. It ends up being a best of both worlds experience, because you get to live in new construction with easy parking and still are within a few T stops of downtown Boston.

Also whenever you want a little more grit and non chain type restaurants, you can easily walk or drive down to East Somerville and take advantage of what Broadway has to offer as well. Plus there are some good places to hang in AS as well, I dig the beer garden, River Bar, Paul, Fuji and Ernesto's. Even a place like Tony C's serves its purpose if you want to watch a game.
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This.

With our budget we could have gotten a dump in the north or south end, stayed in Brighton, or moved to assembly.

My needs: coffee, good bar, place for a quick bite, transit access.

Right now I'm a quarter mile from my local bar, pizza shop, and coffee comes from McDonalds. To get downtown. I have to walk a quarter mile, then take the 86 to Harvard. Now I'm a literal block away from what I consider daily needs. Plus I get laundry in unit, central air, a massive fucking closet, and a 24 hour gym.

True, if I didn't live in assembly I'd probably never go there, except for the theater. The stores are suburban yuppie trash*. And I haven't figured out how I'm getting groceries yet. But the con's of living in a weird little Disney are vastly outweighed by all the pros.I'm probably still going to be spending most of my time in the back bay, but I like my little, creepy, neighborhood.

*one good thing about the stores, they attract really, really hot girls. A lot of them tourists. A lot who then go to the bars after shopping...
 
davem said:
This.

With our budget we could have gotten a dump in the north or south end, stayed in Brighton, or moved to assembly.

My needs: coffee, good bar, place for a quick bite, transit access.

Right now I'm a quarter mile from my local bar, pizza shop, and coffee comes from McDonalds. To get downtown. I have to walk a quarter mile, then take the 86 to Harvard. Now I'm a literal block away from what I consider daily needs. Plus I get laundry in unit, central air, a massive fucking closet, and a 24 hour gym.

True, if I didn't live in assembly I'd probably never go there, except for the theater. The stores are suburban yuppie trash*. And I haven't figured out how I'm getting groceries yet. But the con's of living in a weird little Disney are vastly outweighed by all the pros.I'm probably still going to be spending most of my time in the back bay, but I like my little, creepy, neighborhood.

*one good thing about the stores, they attract really, really hot girls. A lot of them tourists. A lot who then go to the bars after shopping...
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+ 1!!!

Go to Earl's on a Sunday afternoon, eye candy for days.
 
I'm surprised to hear so much negativity towards Assembly Row. Maybe it's just me but I like going there mainly for the outdoor drinking space on the water in River Bar and also having Slumbrew nearby, but I also think the amphitheater is an excellent space for festivals and events. The Lego giraffe is nifty touch too, kinda cheesy but adds a slight bit of character. It's true most of the other restaurants and retail are ho-hum suburban but sometimes there is a need for that.

Right now the main things hurting the area are imo;

- no good non-car access from Cambridge and the rest of Somerville, it's either a bus or an inconvenient out of the way subway trip. Not a problem though if your life revolves more around downtown/back bay.
- no grocery store
- no decent coffee shop, as far as I can tell. Starbucks is ok but doesn't really cut it as a place you want to hang out for a long time.
- security, as DigitalSciGuy noted. I had a run in with them for merely wearing a camera around my neck. He was nice but the fact that I was even confronted was disconcerting. I tweeted about this and got an email from their marketing director saying they'd "fix" the issue of these confrontations but just their highly visible presence is a real buzzkill for what should be a public space. They're seriously everywhere and it sucks.
 
pixelsand8 said:
- no grocery store
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Stop 'n Shop is probably a 5 to 10 minute walk from the T station. Granted, it's not a pleasant walk but it's not far. I'm surprised that more of an effort hasn't been made to spruce up the underpass but that's been covered here before
 
Arlington said:
Kmart and the other Assembly Mall stores go a long way to being the "convenience store" (and a lot of other categories of corner store), but I get that it feels wrong because it is on the wrong side of an ocean of parking (even though, objectively, they've got way more variety than most "interesting" little stores)

Still, it isn't going to take much in the way of more "real" people (resident or Partners' workers) before you get retail to serve them. We've talked Trader Joe's, for example (even so, a slot in the Mall may make more sense)
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People don't realize how massive Assembly Row is going to be by 2025.

  • Plans include grocery stores, pharmacies and a ton more business space (for tech/medical companies >1000000 sq. ft.).
  • They are adding a tower taller than PHS that includes condos (200'+ I believe), three new apartment buildings, and a hotel.
  • The city is considering eminent domain on the big box stores (Home Depot, Bed Bath and Beyond, TJ Maxx, KMart, old AMC, old Circuit City) which adds even more development to the numbers above, however the buildings are owned by the same developer so they may negotiate a tax deal to have them develop the rest.
  • The new casino is across the Mystic (less than 1000ft) and I've heard murmurings of a marina to shuttle people across.
  • The urban ring and driverless car tech (and even cheaper Uber/Lyft) will result in the community being even more connected to the rest of metro Boston.
  • Private Federal Realty security and police regularly patrol the area so it feels extremely safe at night.

Federal Realty stock market projections are pitching Assembly as one of the best real estate projects on the entire east coast. It's gonna be an awesome place to live.
 
The place is doing a good job being an attractive place to live and being a destination. Movie theater is good, but Lego Discovery Center is the real unique draw for visitors with kids. Grocery store, Partners offices, and more people living there will be good. I think sustained civic engagement from residents would be the next sign that this is becoming a real city neighborhood and not a theme park to one.
 
The staging area for Partners is so close to the tracks that every time they pick something up they have to stop the orange line until it's clear.
 
We see those towers from our Northpoint residence. They remind me of the construction superstructure around the land built Enterprise in JJ's Star Trek reboot...
 
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