Assembly Square Infill and Small Developments | Somerville

chumbolly said:
This is kind of amazing. Perhaps a little Disney, but they definitely seem to be getting this right, if not perfect. This substantially exceeds my expectations. The undoubtedly faux stone facade on the building with the ivy motif is actually convincing, and blows the Seaport Precast (TM) out of the water. My only concern is the retail focus on outlets--maybe over time this will become more of an organic neighborhood with grocery stores and spas and similar to serve residents. In terms of being isolated, that's definitely a concern, but I'm confident that Somerville, and the state, are of the mindset that these are problems to fixed. All you really need is one pedestrian and bike friendly corridor under the 93 linking to the Winter Hill area, and one going South towards Union and North Point to substantially improve the interconnectedness.
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I agree on the outlet issue. TOD and transit access are nice, and facing the river first is definitely a plus (though the fact that the Orange Line cuts the project off from the Mystic is unfortunate). However, until the nature of the shops is resolved this is still basically Legacy Place with a T stop.

Architecturally, this is definitely a cut above most lifestyle centers, and Partners will bring a ton of daytime residents and the potential for a lot of good things. In my mind, though, "Disney" means a fake idealized version of something isolated so as to make it a controlled environment. This is Disney. The shops only sell high-end food and clothes and jewelry and handbags I couldn't afford even if I wasn't a guy (who is uninterested in those things). The streets and windows will be kept spotless by a private landowner. There's no school not located across two highways, so kids will be contained in the Lego store.

Also, those pictures might look good in the rain, but they're also only showing 4 completed blocks and are up-close views down the streets between them. Again, Partners might help with this ensuring that the rest of the development gets built, but 4 blocks surrounded by empty lots and parking is not a "main street", it's a mall.

This is not, however, by any means unfixable. Start putting in a hardware store, a NON-WHOLE-FOODS grocery store, a couple full-service banks... all things that can be done by established chains but show a real commitment to residential multi-use. Then we can start talking about connections to Somerville to really make this urban.
 
datadyne007 said:
Boston's a pro at that!
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As much as they're annoyingly ubiquitous, they're also something everyone needs within walking distance of their home. Same with CVS/Walgreens, which should have been on my list.
 
Equilibria said:
until the nature of the shops is resolved this is still basically Legacy Place with a T stop.
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Legacy Place doesn't have a large residential component does it? Besides that, Legacy Place is great, if this ends up being a more urban iteration of LP for the medium term I will be pleased.
 
BussesAin'tTrains said:
Legacy Place doesn't have a large residential component does it? Besides that, Legacy Place is great, if this ends up being a more urban iteration of LP for the medium term I will be pleased.
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I don't believe there is any residential component to Legacy Place in Dedham.
 
There is a rather large condo complex directly adjacent to it. It isn't tied into the retail development but I think it may(?) have been developed around the same time (Archstone legacy place).
 
This is nothing like Legacy Place. Legacy Place itself has no residential or office, nor does it have a "street block" structure. It is mainly all perimeter buildings around giant parking lots. You can't even compare them.

A much better comparison would be Station Landing and Assembly Row blows Station Landing out of water in the architecture, streetscape, and planning.

Let's compare them:

LEGACY PLACE:
ScreenShot2014-04-01at180321_zpsfb8c5bcb.png


STATION LANDING:
ScreenShot2014-04-01at180423_zps53a12a96.png


ASSEMBLY SQUARE/ROW:
ScreenShot2014-04-01at180736_zps8dbe5efe.png
 
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BussesAin'tTrains said:
Legacy Place doesn't have a large residential component does it? Besides that, Legacy Place is great, if this ends up being a more urban iteration of LP for the medium term I will be pleased.
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I'll grant you the residential distinction, but I'm not willing to say this isn't like Legacy Place just because the form is different. A better comparison might be what those Natick Mall apartments were trying to achieve, or other developments in other cities where the lifestyle center concept is more mature - I'm personally familiar with The Domain in Austin, which this is pretty close to. Westwood Station has elements of that. My comparison to Legacy Place is illustrated beautifully by the site plan datadyne posted: look at those stores. Sephora is not a main street store, nor is Victoria's Secret or H&M Express. Those same stores make up the retail component of Assembly Row.

It's not a perfect comparison, I grant that, but I also think that to embrace this project completely as an urban achievement is to miss what it actually is - a new urbanist utopian town cut off from the world, with its riverfront park, its transit stop, stores that only sell high-end baubles and a residential population of childless yuppie couples and empty-nesters. It's the New York of Friends or HIMYM realized in four blocks.

With that said, no, I don't hate it. It achieves a lot more than a lot of other developments, and the architectural concepts here are positive steps that it's critical to copy all across the city. Don't tell me, though, that this itself is a city just because it's got some apartments. It's Legacy Place but with the parking on the outside and 5,000 residents who won't shop there because the stores don't sell anything they need (until you cross a parking lot).

Tombstoner said:
You would wish a Shaws on these poor unsuspecting people?? Did Assembly Square abuse you as a child?
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Yes I would. Shaws is a grocery store. Whole Foods is a specialty organic food purveyor which has fooled people into thinking they're healthier because they pay more for food. It has its place alongside regular grocery stores, no doubt, but you now see a sort of reverse food desert in many towns where Whole Foods is all that's available. It's funny you'd complain about Shaws, since the most frequent complaint about them is price and Whole Foods is more expensive.

Not that I love Shaws. Let's go Market Basket. Even a Roche Bros.
 
The photos struck me as a little bit Vegas or Hollywood backlot, but it's far better than the derelict industrial area that was there before.

The biggest impediment to really knitting the new Assembly Square area with the rest of Somerville is the big box retail lining Mystic/Middlesex Ave and its associated parking. If those were redeveloped with blocks that progressed toward Rt 28, it could stitch together with the residential area that was cutoff by I-93.

The sheer number of exits on I-93 between the Zakim and Medford Square (City Sq, Sullivan Sq, 28, 38, Mystic Valley Parkway, Medford Sq) bother me. There's got to be a way to consolidate them.
 
Equilibria said:
I'll grant you the residential distinction, but I'm not willing to say this isn't like Legacy Place just because the form is different. A better comparison might be what those Natick Mall apartments were trying to achieve, or other developments in other cities where the lifestyle center concept is more mature - I'm personally familiar with The Domain in Austin, which this is pretty close to. Westwood Station has elements of that. My comparison to Legacy Place is illustrated beautifully by the site plan datadyne posted: look at those stores. Sephora is not a main street store, nor is Victoria's Secret or H&M Express. Those same stores make up the retail component of Assembly Row.
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As someone who frequents Legacy Place often, I would have to agree with Equilibria. Assembly Square takes what Legacy Place started and just multiplies it. Legacy Place could easily remove the middle parking spaces and add additional housing with parking below. It has direct commuter rail access, and Citizens Bank has a fair amount of office space leased within the complex.

The concept of Assembly Square is practicality -- the creation of a self-sufficient community. I think this development would feel more natural if 90% the units were condos as opposed to apartments.
 
Do we know how many 1, 2, and 3 bedrooms will be here. And what the rents will be, I imagine a rip off?
 
I don't think it will "hurt" the functioning of the development but the isolation bothers me. We have this great new urban neighborhood going up in a central location (in Somerville of all places!) and here we are calling it a "self sustaining town". Seems like a waste.

I walked there the other day from East Somerville and while the distance isn't great it was a pretty soul sucking experience, even in the nice sunny weather - the sun makes the open spaces and asphalt feel more oppressive. Both 28 and the parking lots are major issues. Walking over to the Ten Hills neighborhood (and it's pathway adjacent to the Mystic) isn't much better. Again, not much distance but standing on an pedestrian island waiting for a walk signal so you can begin the long trek across the way is just about the most stress inducing, unpleasant way to spend two minutes I can think of.

I'll be curious to see how the later phases play out, if/when they get built. From the renderings I think there will be some height going in the lots closer to the T stop. I think I saw it was zoned up to 250 feet in a couple spots.

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By the time I got there I was too depressed to take many more pictures but there looks to be foot traffic already;

WB80SKJ.jpg


The underpasses are the least of the problems, and one that some have ideas about addressing;

http://www.somervillebydesign.com/es-pinup-1/

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Some slight concrete repair will do that overpass good. Other than that, the bridge deck is surprisingly still holding strong after all these years.


Oh, we're talking about what is going UNDER the overpass? Ah! Gotcha!
 
GW2500 said:
Do we know how many 1, 2, and 3 bedrooms will be here. And what the rents will be, I imagine a rip off?
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Don't know totals, but for S's and G's, I decided to look at pricing and of course they are what I consider ricockulous. I think they all listed a $1,000 deposit (not sure if this is on top of first/last, no idea.) Then about $2,200-2,600 range for Studios and they continued up from there.

1 - Bedroom from $2,280
2 - Bedrooms from $2,795
3 - Bedrooms from $4,375
Studio from $2,185
Apt w/Den from $2,655
- See more at: http://www.avalonatassemblyrow.com/#ApartmentsPricing

Decided to go look again instead of being lazy.
 
SeamusMcFly said:
Don't know totals, but for S's and G's, I decided to look at pricing and of course they are what I consider ricockulous. I think they all listed a $1,000 deposit (not sure if this is on top of first/last, no idea.) Then about $2,200-2,600 range for Studios and they continued up from there.

1 - Bedroom from $2,280
2 - Bedrooms from $2,795
3 - Bedrooms from $4,375
Studio from $2,185
Apt w/Den from $2,655
- See more at: http://www.avalonatassemblyrow.com/#ApartmentsPricing

Decided to go look again instead of being lazy.
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At these prices, it is no wonder that they are making all the stores outlets!
 
The 2 bedroom prices seems ok. I mean nice places in West Somerville are like 3k, so 2,800 for brand new construction isn't that crazy. particularly because the selling point is 2 stops to north station.
 
Station Landing seems to be "successful" enough so this will probably do okay as it will have more of a critical mass of residents. However a few decorated sheds hardly guarantee a vibrant neighborhood.
 
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