With summer in the air, signs of growth and change abound in the City of Somerville. A host of new life science and office buildings recently celebrated topping off construction. Whether you come from nearby Kendall Square, downtown Boston, or embark the MBTA at the recently opened Pawtucket/Central Falls Station in Rhode Island, by taking advantage of seasonally temperate weather and walking or biking around, you can experience the block-by-block contrast between prior industrial uses and new hubs of science and technology innovation that feature outstanding enhancements to the local community and shared spaces.
BioMed Realty’s Assembly Innovation Park will comprise of three LEED Gold lab and office buildings, as well as a one-acre public park. Phase 1 entails a 495,000-square-foot building spanning 12 floors. The development connects to I-93 and is a comfortable walk to the MBTA Orange Line and bus routes.
A block north of Assembly Innovation Park, Greystar’s 74 Middlesex development features a 465,000-square-foot, 15-story purpose-built lab office building. This building, which is designed to achieve LEED Platinum certification, is slated to begin tenant fit-out this summer.
At Boynton Yards, 101 South Street is already complete and in use, with ground-floor resident Portico Brewing, a pleasant indoor-outdoor watering hole. The adjacent 808 Windsor is to be the second of four planned life-science buildings and is slated to be completed in 2024. Developed by DLJ Real Estate Capital Partners and Leggat McCall Properties LLC, it will offer research labs across 360,000 square feet that are to span 11 floors. 808 Windsor will also include active outdoor civic space, a food hall, and a place for activities, recreation, and entertainment. The new Green Line Rail Extension (GLX) provides convenient transit connections.
Mere blocks away, CV Properties is also transforming industrial and auto-focused uses to new life science development with Boynton Gateway. Additionally, 100 Chestnut topped off in late 2022, will be opening this summer.
The North River Leerink developed building is located beside the new East Somerville Green Line T Station, and a community path, widened sidewalks, and a new park provide great potential to connect outdoors with the iconic Brickbottom neighborhood and its long-thriving arts scene.
VHB supported permitting and design of these projects, leveraging the 2019 City Zoning Ordinance which heightened the community’s development profile while enhancing access to transit, multimodal roadway networks, pedestrian streetscapes, and community parks and spaces. Assembly Innovation Park received master plan entitlements under the frozen zoning prior to August 2019, which presented a challenge, requiring balance between updated city initiatives and the project’s commitments.
“Transformative projects like this showcase broad collective action from developers, public input and governance, and designers like the VHB Land Development team,” said Brian Fairbanks, VHB Principal, who led site/civil engineering at Boynton Yards. “Looking around Somerville, I am humbled and appreciative of thoughtful investment, directed toward advancing the local community as a notable destination for the global life sciences community. With many nearby parcels suitable for redevelopment, these projects really set the stage for much more to come.”
If you have questions about our involvement in these developments or would like to discuss how VHB can help move your project forward, please contact Brian Fairbanks, Dale Horsman, or Joe Cappellino.
