Affordable housing, public spaces are priorities for yearslong development of Central Square lots
In studying the future of city-owned lots and properties in and around Central Square, four have uses already set as affordable housing and open space, while 10 – five buildings and five empty lots – need more discussion.
Gilman Square residents want ‘momentum’ back as Somerville councilors bring in staff to update
Residents of Somerville’s Gilman Square have wanted to see development at the area’s Homans site for nearly a decade. A rally on Wednesday and City Council hearing are intended to get city staff to reprioritize the project.
In clash over urgently needed power capacity, Cambridge sides with Eversource over MIT
The city filed testimony by public works commissioner Kathy Watkins saying Cambridge supports the utility’s routes for underground cables on city streets that run through the Massachusetts Institute of Technology campus.
Eversource power is near its operational limits, witnesses say in argument around MIT routes
“If you’re sensing panic, it’s that we’re kind of out of options on the distribution side,” an Eversource executive warned regulators with say over a project.
Somerville triple-decker construction could rise under MBTA law but limit order for affordability
More than 60 percent of Somerville land would be put under MBTA Communities zoning that cuts affordable-housing construction requirements in half.
MIT files late objection to plan by Eversource, seeking to reroute cables for new substation
The huge Eversource project to build an underground electric substation in Cambridge and add more than 8 miles of underground cables is facing unexpected conflict because of last-minute opposition from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to cable routes through its campus.
Somerville wary of state authority on green roofs and other news around development and zoning
Despite the Somerville Planning Board being in favor of green roofs as a concept, the state’s authority over the building code led the board to caution against passing a city law about the environmental measure; an Alewife apartment complex has sold for $182 million; and there’s more doings in development and zoning.
The Foundry, reaching a year open to the public, finds its footing by embracing everyone
It’s been only one year since the Cambridge Foundry opened its doors. From the time the city held the first public forums on it 10 years ago on reusing the vacant 1890 building, to the structure’s transformation has been like a giant brick-red pin cushion for hopes and dreams.
Park pavilion may decrease open space at Volpe, earning pause as 16 stories of offices win an okay
Issues about open space continue to hold back the 14-acre Volpe project in Cambridge’s Kendall Square, where neighbors once expected a 7.5-acre central park.
Somerville releases initial Union Square redesign, with next steps following ‘before the end of 2024’
Initial plans for a “Union Square Plaza and Streetscape Redesign” project were released Wednesday after around five years of public engagement.
