Assembly Square Infill and Small Developments | Somerville

Is that Soccer field built behind the developments yet? That looks awesome.

The only building I do not like is the partners in this development but that being sad Assembly Row was brilliant development right off the Orange Line.

Assembly Row ==VERY SMART DEVELOPMENT: For Everybody.
 
TheRifleman said:
Is that Soccer field built behind the developments yet? That looks awesome.

The only building I do not like is the partners in this development but that being sad Assembly Row was brilliant development right off the Orange Line.

Assembly Row ==VERY SMART DEVELOPMENT: For Everybody.
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Riff -- whether you like it or not -- none of this happens without the Partners Building

That complex brings in 4,000 relatively well paid people to shop and dine and all and include live in what before was fairly low value territory

Much like the Department Stores used to anchor a new shopping mall -- today its an anchor company that provides the core for one of these kinds of developments

GE will have much the same impact on the area around Gillette -- 800 GE people + a bunch of the members of their quite large keiretsu who will want local outposts -- so you can think about 1,200 to 1,500 well paid and in some case very very well paid employees who will want to shop and dine and perhaps live right next to where they work
 
Couple thoughts on this:
1. It looks like the plan will be to complete the "row" to Partners rather than fill out the remainder of Block 5. Both Blocks 5 and 7 now have gaps on the Grand Union sides (the parking garage sides) that it makes sense to "get to later." Much better to create a steady outdoor mall of construction between Partners and the River—and connect the new T stop to a building. The Grand Union sides of 5 and 7 would then be completed after everything fronting Assembly Row.

2. In the master plan of outdoor space in these docs, I don't see any sidewalk space for Assembly Line Park's Building A. Maybe it will be open air? The street around this new park looks like it will be open for parking so it is not a pedestrian only way.

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kjdonovan said:
2. In the master plan of outdoor space in these docs, I don't see any sidewalk space for Assembly Line Park's Building A. Maybe it will be open air? The street around this new park looks like it will be open for parking so it is not a pedestrian only way.

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I'd be happy if they gave the road here the same woonerf-style treatment as at the other end of Assembly Row around the JP Licks / River Bar building. They could do this on the Block 8 side at least and only lose about 9 parking spaces.
 
Why does it need a "Partners" as you put it. I don't remember Assembly Row being unable to start without Partners. I don't get what the connection you are trying to make is.
 
citylover94 said:
Why does it need a "Partners" as you put it. I don't remember Assembly Row being unable to start without Partners. I don't get what the connection you are trying to make is.
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Citylover -- Assembly Row -- is enhanced as a self-contained entity with great growth potential in its future because unless something really dramatic happens there will always be 4,000 +/- a few people working in the Partners Complex

If you were today given the Suffolk Downs site with no constraints -- you would still have trouble making it successful. Ask the folks in South Weymouth or Westwood Station -- its not easy to make a community out of nothing.

Just - Ask yourself with all the other possible places available -- why would you chose the Suffolk site as a place to settle?
 
tysmith95 said:
The orange line is what made Assembly what it is, not partner's.
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TySmith -- No -- you can try to believe that if you want -- but what assured it success was Partners -- as long as that block of a building is guaranteed to be filled with 4,000 relatively well paid employees there will always be people in the shops and the eating places

Oak Grove is only a few minutes further along on the Orange Line and I don't see that area developing anywhere near as fast as Assembly Square

just a lot of cars parking where ever they can
https://goo.gl/maps/JbwRQZiiRTk
 
No it isn't Partners move was not what caused the success that Assembly Square is and it never could have become Westwood for a huge number of reasons one being that Somerville is not the South Coast suburbs. Another reason being that it has the Orange line which gives it access to thousands of people each day who use that to get around.

Partners move wasn't even finalized until after Assembly Row was being built so it is actually just as easy to argue Partners moved to Assembly Row because it was a success (not saying that is more accurate just that it is as easy to argue that).

Also Oak Grove is the end of the line in a town that is not as pro growth as Somerville is around the Assembly Square area so that is a weird comparison. Why would there be as much demand at a station that is further away from Boston in an area without as much demand for development in an area that doesn't already have land owned by a developer.
 
citylover94 said:
No it isn't Partners move was not what caused the success that Assembly Square is and it never could have become Westwood for a huge number of reasons one being that Somerville is not the South Coast suburbs. Another reason being that it has the Orange line which gives it access to thousands of people each day who use that to get around.

Partners move wasn't even finalized until after Assembly Row was being built so it is actually just as easy to argue Partners moved to Assembly Row because it was a success (not saying that is more accurate just that it is as easy to argue that).
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Citylover -- neither is Westwood a South Coast suburb -- -its further from the coastline than Somerville is

Westwood Station, "Whatever the original redevelopment of the South Weymouth Naval Air Station was called" and Devens are along with Assembly Square all redos of a previous level of development. Of the above the only one really to prosper is Assembly Sq.

Its closer to Boston on the Orange Line than Westwood Station is via the Commuter Rail and Assembly has a higher frequency. They both sit on major highways. However, you can not deny the role that having a reliable "Anchor Tenant" such as Partners has to the total development.

If you think of it in the Mall Context -- Burlington Mall does so much business in part because just across the parking lot is "the District" [nee New England Executive Park] and a few hundreds of feet further is Lahey Clinic -- if they were to suddenly vanish Burlington Mall would just be another Mall in Greater Boston

Unless you provide an "anchor tenant" -- in this context a guaranteed heap of well paid employees to spur the shops and food places -- why would Suffolk prosper as a community?
 
whighlander said:
TySmith -- No -- you can try to believe that if you want -- but what assured it success was Partners -- as long as that block of a building is guaranteed to be filled with 4,000 relatively well paid employees there will always be people in the shops and the eating places
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The Partners building just started being populated in June 2016, right? And Assembly's retail and restaurants have been bursting at the seems since at least 2015, right?

I know you are an EE, you shouldn't need a lesson in causality.
 
fattony said:
The Partners building just started being populated in June 2016, right? And Assembly's retail and restaurants have been bursting at the seems since at least 2015, right?

I know you are an EE, you shouldn't need a lesson in causality.
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Fattony -- kjDonovan posted # 1456 referencing the development plan map
kjdonovan said:
Couple thoughts on this:
1. It looks like the plan will be to complete the "row" to Partners rather than fill out the remainder of Block 5. Both Blocks 5 and 7 now have gaps on the Grand Union sides (the parking garage sides) that it makes sense to "get to later." Much better to create a steady outdoor mall of construction between Partners and the River—and connect the new T stop to a building. The Grand Union sides of 5 and 7 would then be completed after everything fronting Assembly Row.
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while my original contention [with emphasis bolded] was:
Citylover -- Assembly Row -- is enhanced as a self-contained entity with great growth potential in its future because unless something really dramatic happens there will always be 4,000 +/- a few people working in the Partners Complex
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One more argument before I go for the day --- You are the proprietor of a breakfast and lunch place

Would you rather have Partners 4000 next door or a bunch of apartments and condos mostly emptied out by Orange Line Commuters who are downtown during your business hours -- just asking?
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Whigh, you're argument here is ridiculous since Assembly was being market as the place that would have Ikea as the anchor tenant, and it was still built long after those hopes were dashed and no new anchor was sealed. The Assembly Mall and Orange Line had more to do with Assembly's Rows success than Partner's ever would have. Assembly Row broke ground in 2012.

Also, Oak Grove is not comparable as it is a more suburban setting, in a different city, nowhere near a traffic nexus, and the parking lots are held by a public agency and are not a former railyard and industrial area held by a private entity. There is also no Assembly Mall next door, again I say.

I wasn't talking about Suffolk, I was talking about Wonderland. An area with more traffic, more residents, and more commercial presence. The Blue Line is on one side and a possible Revere infill stop on the commuter rail side. This is also a North Shore bus nexus. This area doesn't necessary need an anchor tenant, nor is there any shortage of possibilities. If Ikea could have been an anchor, then nearly anyone could.

I don't understand why your brain constantly has to be in contrarian mode on every single thread.
 
I don't mind whigh. It's fun to have dissenting opinions on this board.
 
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