Brickyard at Assembly | 120-132 Middlesex Avenue | Somerville

Equilibria

Equilibria

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18 floors, 596,000SF, so presumably something like 300'.



Site is currently a little office building and this interesting church I've never noticed before.

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LEED Platinum + underground parking.

... is this the first development in the neighborhood with underground parking?
 
City of Somerville was a little pokey in publishing this, given that it's dated November...


Massing diagrams are slightly compromised by using the old design for XMBLY (which wasn't current in October either) and not including Block 8 or Puma. The effect of "Edge" and "Brickyard" is going to be pretty transformative, though. the Marketplace will feel pretty dwarfed and closed in.

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Is this the current site of the 99 and parking lot? This would totally transform that area along 28
 
Yup, I see it now. The 1-story rectangular building next to it is the 99 and hotel is between this building and i-93
 
dshoost88 said:
😂😂😂
I love how the Charlestown & Assembly 99 Restaurants are staying preserved while disproportionately larger (and market-appropriate) developments move next door!
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I think that might be a little premature...
 
dshoost88 said:
😂😂😂
I love how the Charlestown & Assembly 99 Restaurants are staying preserved while disproportionately larger (and market-appropriate) developments move next door!
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I grew up in Concord, MA, all hoidy-toidy and stuff...the 99 Restaurant in W. Concord was just always great. I don't know why more people don't realize that for a burger and a tall beer there are few better "chains". They used to do a blooming onion...👍
 
Honest question: what's the deal with 99 Restaurants around here? Why are their parking lots always so packed? I've always assumed they were like every other casual sit-down restaurant, as in overpriced mediocre freezer food fare, but there has to be something more to them......?
 
kz1000ps said:
Honest question: what's the deal with 99 Restaurants around here? Why are their parking lots always so packed? I've always assumed they were like every other casual sit-down restaurant, as in overpriced mediocre freezer food fare, but there has to be something more to them......?
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Family friendly sports bar. Food is good, beers are cheap, service is fast, TVs visible from all seats, kids get crayons, and depending on how the Sox do a meal can be an inexpensive outing for a family.
 
kz1000ps said:
Honest question: what's the deal with 99 Restaurants around here? Why are their parking lots always so packed? I've always assumed they were like every other casual sit-down restaurant, as in overpriced mediocre freezer food fare, but there has to be something more to them......?
Click to expand...
I scratch my head about it the same way but I have heard about some of the food they source and I was very surprised at the high quality it was. They're no Ostra or No. 9 park but they use at least some surprisingly good ingredients.
 
Suffolk 83 said:
I scratch my head about it the same way but I have heard about some of the food they source and I was very surprised at the high quality it was. They're no Ostra or No. 9 park but they use at least some surprisingly good ingredients.
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Part of the success of the 99 Restaurants is that they have a legitimate origin as the 99 Pub on State Street from the 1950's. They were not created as a fast casual money machine by Wall Street investment bankers.
 
Equilibria said:
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That thing is going to tower over the courthouse. It's not a bad looking building, and city services are always good to have near a transit corridor, but already looks a bit out of place. The giant lawn feels like it should be at the center of town, not wedged between a Staples loading dock and an 8-lane highway. From quick research, it was only built in 1967 and has already required some renovations due to poor maintenance. District Courthouses are not friendly places.
www.thesomervilletimes.com

Somerville District court clock tower comes down

www.thesomervilletimes.com www.thesomervilletimes.com
 
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Is there a better location in the Assembly area that they could land swap to?
 
Vagabond said:
That thing is going to tower over the courthouse. It's not a bad looking building, and city services are always good to have near a transit corridor, but already looks a bit out of place. The giant lawn feels like it should be at the center of town, not wedged between a Staples loading dock and an 8-lane highway. From quick research, it was only built in 1967 and has already required some renovations due to poor maintenance. District Courthouses are not friendly places.
www.thesomervilletimes.com

Somerville District court clock tower comes down

www.thesomervilletimes.com www.thesomervilletimes.com
Click to expand...

That district court building (note: not municipal - but named for the city that its supposed to serve - and functionally part of the Commonwealth's "county" AG districts) has always felt like the 1960s trying to keep its mark on the landscape.

I suppose it's better than the Cambridge district court, up the street in Meffa by Wegmans.
 
Equilibria said:
City of Somerville was a little pokey in publishing this, given that it's dated November...


Massing diagrams are slightly compromised by using the old design for XMBLY (which wasn't current in October either) and not including Block 8 or Puma. The effect of "Edge" and "Brickyard" is going to be pretty transformative, though. the Marketplace will feel pretty dwarfed and closed in.

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Given the development pressure, it feels like the home depot big box lot is ripe for further development/redevelopment. That Home Depot is so busy, but it's wild that they haven't been able to find a tenant for the Circuit City.
 
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