Gateway Innovation Center | 200 McGrath Highway | Somerville

www.bostonglobe.com

The Green Line is coming to Somerville. Big changes are coming too. - The Boston Globe

Construction is underway on 1.3 million square feet of lab and residential property along the long-delayed extension to Somerville.
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Real estate firm Spaulding & Slye Investments is quietly shopping around a triangle of land where Somerville Avenue meets McGrath Highway — sandwiched between a glass company and a dumpster operator — that could hold two towers, industry sources say. They’re marketing it as the Gateway Innovation Center. (Spaulding & Slye declined to comment.)
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"Real estate firm Spaulding & Slye Investments is quietly shopping around a triangle of land where Somerville Avenue meets McGrath Highway — sandwiched between a glass company and a dumpster operator — that could hold two towers, industry sources say. They’re marketing it as the Gateway Innovation Center. (Spaulding & Slye declined to comment.)"
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This closed today.

120, 160, 200, and 216 McGrath Highway. Spaulding & Slye assembled the 4 parcels for $45 million and turned around and sold them for $200 million.

"As described in the Environmental Notification Form (ENF), the project consists of the construction of approximately 1,554,000 square feet (sf) of mixed uses in three buildings.

The development program includes:

• Building A: a 23-story, 763,000-sf building at the center of the site with 368,000 sf of office/research and development (R&D) space, 388,250 sf of lab space, 6,500 sf of retail uses and four levels of below-grade parking with 556 vehicle parking spaces; EEA# 16289 ENF Certificate December 14, 2020 2

• Building B: an 18-story, 591,000-sf building at the eastern end of the site with 221,250 sf of office/R&D space, 368,000 sf of lab space, 1,750 sf of retail uses and four levels of below-grade parking with 444 vehicle parking spaces; and,

• Building C: a 21-story, 200,000-sf building at the western end of the site with a 330- room hotel and 1,750 sf of retails uses."

 
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JohnAKeith said:
This closed today. Sorry if this is already a thread.

20, 120, and 160 McGrath Highway. Spaulding & Slye assembled the 4 parcels for $45 million and turned around and sold them for $200 million, today.

"As described in the Environmental Notification Form (ENF), the project consists of the construction of approximately 1,554,000 square feet (sf) of mixed uses in three buildings.

The development program includes:

• Building A: a 23-story, 763,000-sf building at the center of the site with 368,000 sf of office/research and development (R&D) space, 388,250 sf of lab space, 6,500 sf of retail uses and four levels of below-grade parking with 556 vehicle parking spaces; EEA# 16289 ENF Certificate December 14, 2020 2

• Building B: an 18-story, 591,000-sf building at the eastern end of the site with 221,250 sf of office/R&D space, 368,000 sf of lab space, 1,750 sf of retail uses and four levels of below-grade parking with 444 vehicle parking spaces; and,

• Building C: a 21-story, 200,000-sf building at the western end of the site with a 330- room hotel and 1,750 sf of retails uses."

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The walkability to the East Somerville station should ideally come about with all of this development, especially for that massive 23 story office/lab building.
 
JohnAKeith said:
This closed today.

120, 160, 200, and 216 McGrath Highway. Spaulding & Slye assembled the 4 parcels for $45 million and turned around and sold them for $200 million.

"As described in the Environmental Notification Form (ENF), the project consists of the construction of approximately 1,554,000 square feet (sf) of mixed uses in three buildings.

The development program includes:

• Building A: a 23-story, 763,000-sf building at the center of the site with 368,000 sf of office/research and development (R&D) space, 388,250 sf of lab space, 6,500 sf of retail uses and four levels of below-grade parking with 556 vehicle parking spaces; EEA# 16289 ENF Certificate December 14, 2020 2

• Building B: an 18-story, 591,000-sf building at the eastern end of the site with 221,250 sf of office/R&D space, 368,000 sf of lab space, 1,750 sf of retail uses and four levels of below-grade parking with 444 vehicle parking spaces; and,

• Building C: a 21-story, 200,000-sf building at the western end of the site with a 330- room hotel and 1,750 sf of retails uses."

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i'm struggling with the idea of adding 1,000 vehicles to this corner of Somerville. Office r'n'd and lab have a place here but Somerville's gotta make the full transition to transit-oriented development and not just density with parking - that's a formula to lead to continued vehicle dependence.
 
In a grounded McGrath world, this property will just face a 4-way intersection without any flyover, right?
1655479282260.png


For reference, the 2013 proposed option that matches the reduced width best:
1655479687697.png
 
Updates from the neighborhood meeting on the 24th:

* Footprint reduced:
1661527584681.png

Parcel C is proposed to be "future Milk Square development" (potentially a plaza or park); no more hotel. Of course, "future Milk Square" seems to be dependent on the grounding of McGrath and the rerouting of Medford Street:

1661527693577.png


* Height reduced, but still quite tall:
1661527547672.png


* Summary of proposed changes:

1661527879740.png


588 spaces is still a ridiculous amount IMO given the proximity to two(!) GLX stations, and the amount of traffic already present during rush hour on Medford Street/McGrath.
 
So this will just be a wall, then. How is that in the community's interest, exactly?

Also, this isn't this developer's problem, but Poplar Street should show an extension into the Target parcel - they do have a pink line doing that in the inset.
 
Yeah, even with the parking reduction, the stumpy massings closer together make it feel like one would more likely drive to the buildings than to walk to them.
 
I just noticed the part where they say that the MBTA pedestrian connection will be built "by others". Like, I get that you need the Target site to be developed with the path for yours to mean anything, but it should still be you building it on your property when the time comes...

Also interesting that their massing render gives 50 Prospect the original "fortune teller" angled crown, as compared to the uneven tubes they built.
 
Couldn't you connect it to East Somerville Station not via target?
 
Equilibria said:
Recommended approval from City of Somerville: https://s3.amazonaws.com/somervillema.gov.if-us-east-1/s3fs-public/2023-02/McGrath 200 Staff Memo.pdf

Interesting part of this memo is the detailed discussion of street grids with Grounding McGrath. They request a change to expand the width of the internal alleyway so that it can become an extension of Medford or Poplar streets down the line.
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It is insane to me that Somerville endorses the amount of proposed parking with barely a second thought, especially given how "transit oriented" the City purports to be. As I wrote above, Medford Street, lower McGrath, and Somerville Ave. are already bumper-to-bumper during rush hour at the future Milk Square intersection:

1676381731830.png


There is no way that this choke point could accommodate an influx of an additional 588 cars exactly when it is busiest. While this mitigation is a step in the right direction,

1676381522498.png

it does nothing to solve the root problem, namely the amount of traffic entering the site in the first place.
 
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