Assembly Square Infill and Small Developments | Somerville

Re: Big Box Marts in urban settings, BJs is going in as an anchor retail tenant in the Tremont Crossing development across from BPD HQ.

My issue with keeping the Big Box Marts is their proximity to the T. It's not really that much of a buffer from I-93 and Rt 38. Absolutely redevelop on top of the lots, but I think rising rents and changing demographics might eventually push these retailers out of here anyway.

I was actually not too far from that example in Arlington (was farther out just another 10 min walk for TransportationCamp DC) earlier this year. That whole corridor is a great example of what our poly-centric urban development along T stops should look like. What works there and what we don't have here right now with the Big Box Marts is walkable blocks. The long continuous storefronts will eventually detract from the walkability of the area as development grows farther from the T stop. I think it'll also be an obstacle to further redevelopment of the parcels on the other side of Middlesex Ave along its backside. Keep the structure, but I think it would be better to restore it while adding pedestrian permeability - maybe turning it into an indoor mall/marketplace. Better yet, if the Big Box Marts do continue to find success and are able to afford the rents, you can still add mid-block passageways lined with more retail by taking some space from the Big Box Mart stalls.
 
tysmith95 said:
Does anyone know of any examples of big box stores surrounded by garages and mixed use developments. I'm not sure the big box tenants want to be surrounded by other things.
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Best Buy in the Cambridgeside Galleria.
 
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Remember we still got parcels 5b, 7, 8, 9 plus phase 2 in the partners building before federal reality will get to the parking lots of their big boxes.

I know this is far fetched but it would be very cool if federal reality could build a 30 story tower on one of the remaining parcels
 
I dont know what the faa max is here but Im sure its ginormous. You could probably throw up the talkest building in America here if someone wanted to, would make no sense to do so though.
 
Im not expecting another Hancock but something like the pierce could be feasible.
 
Height limit is just over 450 - it's not actually that far off the centerline for runway 15/33.
 
30 stories isn't too far fetched, especially if it were on parcels 7 or 8 and considering the height of the developments coming in adjacent parcel 9 by an independent developer (can't remember the name of that project but I know it's up thread somewhere).

That puts you far enough from East Somerville that you still have a step-down in height on the adjacent parcels. Putting it close to the T and with minimal parking considering the mammoth amounts we already have in the pipeline would make sense.

Who would be a good anchor tenant for such a tower?
 
tysmith95 said:
Does anyone know of any examples of big box stores surrounded by garages and mixed use developments. I'm not sure the big box tenants want to be surrounded by other things.
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Also target on Boylston.

Its a bit of a trend. Disposable income lives downtown these days.
 
DigitalSciGuy said:
30 stories isn't too far fetched, especially if it were on parcels 7 or 8 and considering the height of the developments coming in adjacent parcel 9 by an independent developer (can't remember the name of that project but I know it's up thread somewhere).

That puts you far enough from East Somerville that you still have a step-down in height on the adjacent parcels. Putting it close to the T and with minimal parking considering the mammoth amounts we already have in the pipeline would make sense.

Who would be a good anchor tenant for such a tower?
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DigitalSciGuy -- if you remember the story that was linked a few months back about difficulty signing up tenants in 200 Clarendon and other towers

Ofice tenants don't want to pay these days for the top of a building -- the extra height is not the turn-on that it was back in the era of eponymous signature building towers [e.g. Bank of Boston, Pru, Hancock]

These days the views are sold as residences --- So now you must ask where would you find enough high-medium high rollers willing to pay a downtown or South Boston Seaport price for a condo a top a tower in Somerville?
 
...somebody please put rutherford ave out of its misery...
 
I contend that you could still do 20-30 as mixed use - hotel, condo/rental, office similar to the original Millennium Tower proposal.

Also, the scab of Rutherford Ave has been scratched back open by BTD a few weeks ago. They're now considering an underpass option (one direction only) as if the only way to address congestion problems is by simply reconfiguring lanes — that somehow an influx of new developments (which they had already been banking on with the new street grid for Sullivan) suddenly requires a change in approach from the original design. I'll be following up with the city and MassDOT on bus lane plans through here since there's a proposed inbound bus lane for the North Washington Street Bridge.
 
DigitalSciGuy said:
I contend that you could still do 20-30 as mixed use - hotel, condo/rental, office similar to the original Millennium Tower proposal.

Also, the scab of Rutherford Ave has been scratched back open by BTD a few weeks ago. They're now considering an underpass option (one direction only) as if the only way to address congestion problems is by simply reconfiguring lanes — that somehow an influx of new developments (which they had already been banking on with the new street grid for Sullivan) suddenly requires a change in approach from the original design. I'll be following up with the city and MassDOT on bus lane plans through here since there's a proposed inbound bus lane for the North Washington Street Bridge.
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Link to 6/30 presentation
 
Something for you detectives to mine: A new posting today on the Somerville's Planning Board site shows submissions to be discussed at the 9/8 board meeting for a new park and two small buildings (roughly two-story versions of the Riverbar/JP Licks building) between the parcels 7 and 8. It would be called Assembly Line Park. Link here for the closest to renders I could find: http://www.somervillema.gov/sites/d...sembly Line Park Architectural - Compiled.pdf
Full list of currently public documents here: http://www.somervillema.gov/departments/planning-board/reports-and-decisions

Or you can search for PB 2006-59-MA on this page: http://www.somervillema.gov/departments/planning-board/reports-and-decisions

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kjdonovan said:
Something for you detectives to mine: A new posting today on the Somerville's Planning Board site shows submissions to be discussed at the 9/8 board meeting for a new park and two small buildings (roughly two-story versions of the Riverbar/JP Licks building) between the parcels 7 and 8. It would be called Assembly Line Park. Link here for the closest to renders I could find: http://www.somervillema.gov/sites/d...sembly Line Park Architectural - Compiled.pdf
Full list of currently public documents here: http://www.somervillema.gov/departments/planning-board/reports-and-decisions

Or you can search for PB 2006-59-MA on this page: http://www.somervillema.gov/departments/planning-board/reports-and-decisions
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Interesting. It looks like those buildings have been planned all along - you can see a version of them in the old master plan image you posted - but I'd never noticed or heard anything about them before.

BTW, here's an updated Master Plan (pdf) from kjdonovan's documents link.
 
JumboBuc said:
Interesting. It looks like those buildings have been planned all along - you can see a version of them in the old master plan image you posted - but I'd never noticed or heard anything about them before.
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Yes, the park was always in the plans but pretty fuzzy on what it would end up looking like. I've always assumed this would be the eventual home of the Slumbrew beer garden. What's interesting is to see that they are moving ahead on this area before finalizing the plans for the parcels on either side of it—essentially creating an umbilical cord between Partners and the completed Row parcels while they figure out financing for parcels 7 and 8.
 
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