Somerville Infill and Small Developments

chrisbrat said:
the davis station opened in december of '84. that's quite the delayed effect if you're saying the redline station explains the square's relative gentrification and "hipness" quotient in the 1990s.
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Not if you consider how long it takes for developers to "discover" a neighborhood, buy lots, design projects, pull permits, find financing, construct, and open. 10 years is about right for that.
 
chrisbrat said:
the davis station opened in december of '84. that's quite the delayed effect if you're saying the redline station explains the square's relative gentrification and "hipness" quotient in the 1990s.
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I said it "may have been bigger", not that it explained it as the end-all. The T station helped start the momentum.

Regardless of T station, there is definitely a delayed effect on neighborhoods that evolve naturally. People move-in earlier (in the 80's, in this case), but retail and entertainment follow later, which is when people notice changes in a neighborhood more. First you need the people to move, then you start getting the institutions created by them. The same happened in the South End, when people started moving in the 80's, but the restaurants, etc, started to take-off on a larger scale in the 90's. These were neighborhoods that evolved naturally over time by those who moved-in. They weren't engineered by developers with both housing and retail/entertainment being built at the same time over a short period of time.
 
Equilibria said:
Not if you consider how long it takes for developers to "discover" a neighborhood, buy lots, design projects, pull permits, find financing, construct, and open. 10 years is about right for that.
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Davis Square is a great example of gentrification without development. Developers don't gentrify a neighborhood, residents do.

The neighborhood has completely changed, but there has been shockingly little new construction in that area since the 90s. The new projects that do come to mind (e.g., the CVS/BSC, the brand new Johnny D's) are really the exceptions that prove the rule, while the vast majority of the commercial and housing stock around Davis are the exact same buildings that were there pre-Red Line. Practically all of the change has taken place inside existing buildings, which have been renovated, condo converted, and sold for millions. This hasn't been the work of "developers," per se, as much as individual families and flippers cashing in.

If a moratorium was proposed on all new development in Davis in, say the 1980s, the neighborhood today would look little different from what it is now. Such a moratorium would have done absolutely nothing to stop gentrification.
 
JumboBuc said:
Davis Square is a great example of gentrification without development. Developers don't gentrify a neighborhood, residents do.

The neighborhood has completely changed, but there has been shockingly little new construction in that area since the 90s. The new projects that do come to mind (e.g., the CVS/BSC, the brand new Johnny D's) are really the exceptions that prove the rule, while the vast majority of the commercial and housing stock around Davis are the exact same buildings that were there pre-Red Line. Practically all of the change has taken place inside existing buildings, which have been renovated, condo converted, and sold for millions. This hasn't been the work of "developers," per se, as much as individual families and flippers cashing in.

If a moratorium was proposed on all new development in Davis in, say the 1980s, the neighborhood today would look little different from what it is now. Such a moratorium would have done absolutely nothing to stop gentrification.
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Looks like we almost said the same thing at the same time, although I think you said it better than me...
 
JumboBuc said:
Davis Square is a great example of gentrification without development. Developers don't gentrify a neighborhood, residents do.

The neighborhood has completely changed, but there has been shockingly little new construction in that area since the 90s. The new projects that do come to mind (e.g., the CVS/BSC, the brand new Johnny D's) are really the exceptions that prove the rule, while the vast majority of the commercial and housing stock around Davis are the exact same buildings that were there pre-Red Line. Practically all of the change has taken place inside existing buildings, which have been renovated, condo converted, and sold for millions. This hasn't been the work of "developers," per se, as much as individual families and flippers cashing in.

If a moratorium was proposed on all new development in Davis in, say the 1980s, the neighborhood today would look little different from what it is now. Such a moratorium would have done absolutely nothing to stop gentrification.
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Not at all true if your definition of the "Catchment" of Davis extends to Mass Ave in Cambridge. There has probably been several hundred new units constructed within an easy walk to/from Davis in the past couple of decades -- sure its not Alewife level of development but then its not sitting on two major automobile routes either
 
stick n move said:
“Somerville life sciences building underway in Boynton Yards project”
https://boston.curbed.com/2019/7/30/20732151/somerville-life-sciences-building-boynton-yards

Boynton_Yards.0.jpg
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Thanks for posting something about architecture and development on this thread!
 
Somerville Development Q&A September 11

NAIOP is hosting a breakfast with the Mayor and the big developers of the major somerville projects.

Intro: Mayor Joseph Curtatone
Moderator: Molly Heath, Managing Director, JLL

Panel:
Rob Dickey, EVP, Leggat McCall Properties (Boynton Yards)
Greg Karczewski, President US2 (Union Square)
Patrick McMahon, SVP, Federal Realty Investment Trust (Assembly Row)
Jordan Warshaw, President, The Noannet Group (Cambria Hotel)

https://web.naiopma.org/events/TheSomerville Surge-597/details
 
Vagabond said:
Somerville Development Q&A September 11

NAIOP is hosting a breakfast with the Mayor and the big developers of the major somerville projects.

Intro: Mayor Joseph Curtatone
Moderator: Molly Heath, Managing Director, JLL

Panel:
Rob Dickey, EVP, Leggat McCall Properties (Boynton Yards)
Greg Karczewski, President US2 (Union Square)
Patrick McMahon, SVP, Federal Realty Investment Trust (Assembly Row)
Jordan Warshaw, President, The Noannet Group (Cambria Hotel)

https://web.naiopma.org/events/TheSomerville Surge-597/details
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This one will be interesting. Guessing there will be a lot of attention due to the news out of both anchor squares.
 
Equilibria said:
It does. I just wish we could look forward to a more attractive setting on McGrath before about 2030.
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6k a month to rent an apartment on McGrath highway with the world and his wife doing U turns outside your window because Washington st. bridge is closed. That's a whole lotta money!
 
Ruairi said:
6k a month to rent an apartment on McGrath highway with the world and his wife doing U turns outside your window because Washington st. bridge is closed. That's a whole lotta money!
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Not to mention that if you own a car, the outlet is right at the top of the McGrath/Washington offramp. Hope you have some spare driver's side doors...
 
Ruairi said:
6k a month to rent an apartment on McGrath highway with the world and his wife doing U turns outside your window because Washington st. bridge is closed. That's a whole lotta money!
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I would say they'll have a hard time renting those big, expensive 2br units... but they probably won't... it seems the nouveaux riche of Boston don't mind spending big bucks for relative shit...

That said, $2100 for a 1br is right in the average for the neighborhood.
 
Equilibria said:
On the event more generally - everyone talked up bike/ped, parking maximums (the guy from FRIT looked forward to when they could propose buildings at Assembly with no parking at all), and community support for urban-style development.
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It's nice to know that FRIT would prefer no parking with their future buildings. Does anyone know why Assembly has such horrible bike infrastructure? Huge roadways with on street bike lanes with new construction really isn't a thing anymore. Were the street layouts just planned 10+ years ago? Also, the only BlueBikes station is on MBTA property. Why can't FRIT find some space for at least two more stations?
 
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