Somerville Infill and Small Developments

Student-housing builder buys Davis Square building that houses The Burren

Big changes could be coming to the heart of Somerville’s Davis Square. Student-housing developer Scape has acquired a string of storefronts on Elm Street that are home to several longstanding neighborhood institutions.

The British firm, which builds privately run dorms, last month paid nearly $10 million for buildings that house Irish pub The Burren, McKinnon’s Market, the Sligo Pub, and several restaurants, according to a long-term lease filed in Middlesex County earlier this month.

https://www.bostonglobe.com/busines...-properties/QlCdY8CmgfIpipl6QXA3YP/story.html
Click to expand...

This would be a pretty big blow to Davis. I'm all for adding housing to the neighborhood, especially on some of the underutilized parcels around the square, but the loss of these businesses would kill a lot of the neighborhoods character. If the article is accurate, it's at least everything from the Burren to Martsa on Elm. Not sure if the building where Dragon Pizza is located would also be part of it. I realize the architectural contributions of these one story low-rises is insignificant, but it's still urban and the businesses there will be tough to replace.
 
if the sligo goes then i'll never set foot in davis square again. bad enough to lose disc diggers and johnny d's and for sacco's to become hepster pizza playland, but this is the final straw.
 
Lrfox said:
This would be a pretty big blow to Davis. I'm all for adding housing to the neighborhood, especially on some of the underutilized parcels around the square, but the loss of these businesses would kill a lot of the neighborhoods character. If the article is accurate, it's at least everything from the Burren to Martsa on Elm. Not sure if the building where Dragon Pizza is located would also be part of it. I realize the architectural contributions of these one story low-rises is insignificant, but it's still urban and the businesses there will be tough to replace.
Click to expand...
Ooof, The Burren, Mckinnens, and Sligo after Johnny D's closed for development...
Close those business's down and you're never replacing them with anything near as good.
While we're at it, why not tear down Somerville theatre, imagine how much housing you could put there, and maybe a cafe Nero on the ground floor...
 
chrisbrat said:
if the sligo goes then i'll never set foot in davis square again. bad enough to lose disc diggers and johnny d's and for sacco's to become hepster pizza playland, but this is the final straw.
Click to expand...
crap, yea, forgot about old Sacco's :(
 
chrisbrat said:
if the sligo goes then i'll never set foot in davis square again. bad enough to lose disc diggers and johnny d's and for sacco's to become hepster pizza playland, but this is the final straw.
Click to expand...

I'm all for highest and best use, but this doesn't sit well with me at all. Closing the Burren (along with Machine in Fenway, another Scape project) would be a deep, deep loss to the area's music and nightlife scene.
 
Lrfox said:
Not sure if the building where Dragon Pizza is located would also be part of it.
Click to expand...

Dragon Pizza has a different facade from Martsa, but from the overhead view, it looks like it is part of the same building.

I wonder if they just intend to build on top somehow? If they are truly planning to do many future projects in the area, and want to maintain a good relationship with locals, including gov't (esp. after already upsetting some people in the Fenway area with their first proposal), it would seem really naive to just walk into a neighborhood and propose to blow away almost an entire block of their well-liked businesses. It's not like this is blight. From a business strategy point of view, it would seem like shooting themselves in the foot for future projects.

Sligo and McKinnon's are two of the last older establishments there, and to some degree the Burren too, although that was one of first places of the "new" Davis that rose in the 90's after the T station opened. I remember the Burren's opening shortly after moving there in the mid-90's, and then the Joshua Tree across the street not long after, and then it just steamrolled. Then the legendary, post-last-call Dolly's closed a few years later, which I lived near.
 
Lrfox said:
This would be a pretty big blow to Davis. I'm all for adding housing to the neighborhood, especially on some of the underutilized parcels around the square, but the loss of these businesses would kill a lot of the neighborhoods character. If the article is accurate, it's at least everything from the Burren to Martsa on Elm. Not sure if the building where Dragon Pizza is located would also be part of it. I realize the architectural contributions of these one story low-rises is insignificant, but it's still urban and the businesses there will be tough to replace.
Click to expand...

I doubt this stands much chance of happening, because I doubt a single person in Somerville will even be neutral on it. They'd need City approval, and I don't see how they'll get it.

These guys are from London, and they don't know what they've gotten themselves in to.
 
Student housing directly in Davis Square makes literally 0 sense at all. Tufts isn't THAT close. Lesley/Harvard aren't THAT close. I have no idea what the end-game is here.
 
Equilibria said:
These guys are from London, and they don't know what they've gotten themselves in to.
Click to expand...

They better watch it or they'll end up spending millions and not getting anything built to show for it. I'm starting to wonder if they have anyone who knows Boston advising them? Cause buying up a block of local businesses in one of the city's most beloved neighborhoods to put up a student warehouse is NOT a winning strategy.
 
They're probably going to jack up the rent so they can say "theyre leaving on their own accord!"
 
DZH22 said:
Student housing directly in Davis Square makes literally 0 sense at all. Tufts isn't THAT close. Lesley/Harvard aren't THAT close. I have no idea what the end-game is here.
Click to expand...

Scape is looking for optimal locations in Greater Boston for student housing. Fenway (where the other Scape development is) and the Red Line are both extremely high markets for student populations, there are a ton students living in multifamily homes (specifically 3+BR), and housing availability and affordability have been the top local political topic recently. This services Tufts + Harvard + MIT + Lesley, especially short-term grad student populations with a little extra cash who don't want to live in the unrenovated, no-AC, no W/D duplexes that requires an absurd Broker fee to rent. Not sure about Somerville code, but I'm guessing a dorm probably won't require much/any parking either.

I love the Davis vibe, and so do students. Wouldn't be surprised if they buy a big parcel in Porter too. There's no shortage of available students. You can't pretend this isn't a great investment for them.

That all said, I finish up my Guinness and leave the Burren right about 8PM once the students show up.
 
Last edited:
Vagabond said:
Scape is looking for optimal locations in Greater Boston for student housing. Fenway and the Red Line are both underserved markets for student populations. There are a ton students living in multifamily homes (specifically 3+BR), and housing availability and affordability have been the top topic. This services Tufts + Harvard + MIT + Lesley, especially short-term grad student populations with a little extra cash who don't want to live in the unrenovated, no-AC, no W/D duplexes that requires an absurd Broker fee to rent. Not sure about Somerville code, but I'm guessing a dorm probably won't require much/any parking either.

I love the Davis vibe, and so do students. Wouldn't be surprised if they buy a big parcel in Porter too. There's no shortage of available students. You can't pretend this isn't a great investment for them.

That all said, I finish up my Guinness and leave the Burren right about 8PM once the students show up.
Click to expand...

I don't question the investment. It's a good one and they've done some of their homework. And as much as I'd like to believe that fierce opposition could stop this one, I'm not sure that's the case. My personal gripe is the loss of the businesses occupying the buildings, not the loss of the buildings themselves. Like most of Davis, this stretch manages to be an excellent urban space without being an architectural wonder. You can't oppose this on the grounds that it would be replacing something historic or significant.

And because the tenants are the reason for opposing this, it wouldn't be hard for SCAPE to push them out by raising rents to a point where continuing to do business isn't sustainable.

I'm not sure what the residents and the city can legally do. I'd embrace a similar project on any of the open lots on Grove St., the lots by Flatbread/Sacco, a full replacement of Rite Aid, a teardown of Dominos, etc. But losing the current businesses between The Burren and Dragon would be a really tough pill to swallow.

I'll obviously wait to see the plans before hurtling myself off the cliff/going full Ned Flaherty; but if they involve pushing the current tenants out/leveling these storefronts I'll be attending my first development meetings as a project opponent. That's a weird position to be in.
 
Joe Curtatone has put out an official statement regarding the project:

https://twitter.com/JoeCurtatone/status/1156587981064609795

EA0Gok3WwAQFPd7.jpg:large
 
Texasian said:
In the Curbed article about the Scape/Davis Square sitch, they mention that they didn't outright buy the land and instead acquired a 99 year ground lease? Is this a common practice in the Boston area? I'm curious why they'd do that as opposed to just buying the land outright?
Click to expand...

This a frequent practice if a governmental entity [e.g. Massport, City of Sommerville, etc.], or a not for profit / charitable entity such as Tufts, Arch Diocese of Boston, MFA, etc., owns the actual title to the land and doesn't want to sell it -- but has no current need for the land and so lets a developer do the building and pay for the use of the land.

The most prominent example recently was the "Sale" of Faneuil Hall / Quincy Market to a retail-type developer who is revamping things and can then lease the revamped spaces to tenants until the City of Boston wants the land and buildings back

I'm guessing in Davis that the T is the owner of the land in question -- the T most likely acquired it from a railroad or otherwise when they needed it during construction of the Davis T Station and the extension on to Alewife. Although, since its close to Tufts campus that's another possible owner.
 
Lrfox said:
I don't question the investment. It's a good one and they've done some of their homework. And as much as I'd like to believe that fierce opposition could stop this one, I'm not sure that's the case. My personal gripe is the loss of the businesses occupying the buildings, not the loss of the buildings themselves. Like most of Davis, this stretch manages to be an excellent urban space without being an architectural wonder. You can't oppose this on the grounds that it would be replacing something historic or significant.

And because the tenants are the reason for opposing this, it wouldn't be hard for SCAPE to push them out by raising rents to a point where continuing to do business isn't sustainable.

I'm not sure what the residents and the city can legally do. I'd embrace a similar project on any of the open lots on Grove St., the lots by Flatbread/Sacco, a full replacement of Rite Aid, a teardown of Dominos, etc. But losing the current businesses between The Burren and Dragon would be a really tough pill to swallow.

I'll obviously wait to see the plans before hurtling myself off the cliff/going full Ned Flaherty; but if they involve pushing the current tenants out/leveling these storefronts I'll be attending my first development meetings as a project opponent. That's a weird position to be in.
Click to expand...

The freak-out over the "lost businesses" was premature. There was never any indication that the ground-floor occupants would be forced out except for a (reasonable) fear that this would happen. As soon as this announced so many people were acting as though Burren, Sligo, McKinnon's, etc. were already gone.

This is a good opportunity to talk about policy, like cheap municipal loans to small businesses to allow them to survive temporary closure due to redevelopment.
 
George_Apley said:
The freak-out over the "lost businesses" was premature. There was never any indication that the ground-floor occupants would be forced out except for a (reasonable) fear that this would happen. As soon as this announced so many people were acting as though Burren, Sligo, McKinnon's, etc. were already gone.

This is a good opportunity to talk about policy, like cheap municipal loans to small businesses to allow them to survive temporary closure due to redevelopment.
Click to expand...

I don't know. I think it's a pretty reasonable reaction. I'm still pretty skeptical about how SCAPE proposes to build here and keep the businesses from leaving. If they stand any change of having local support, they HAVE to say that. Sligo is saying that they believe they'll be directly affected, talking about "enjoying the time they have left." So I think the response was and is warranted.

I agree though, it is a good opportunity to talk about policy and how to support small businesses through development, construction, etc. I wonder what the city is doing for the businesses over in Ball Square with Broadway shut down? I've walked through a few times and I know they're hurting.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top