The Cambridge Street Hospitality Group plans to open a 4,000-square-foot multifunction hall called the First Street Market this summer in East Cambridge with a restaurant called Amba, weekly, year-round indoor farmers market, demonstration bar and community space that can be rented for events big and small. The news was announced in a Wednesday press release.
The redevelopment at 55 First St., the neglected space at the base of a municipal parking garage that once held the restaurant Indochine and a Veterans of Foreign Wars lodge, is an extension of a project nearby at the neighborhood’s 1970s courthouse building at 40 Thorndike, turning it into offices, residential and retail. That Leggat McCall Properties project is expected to come online in June.
Leggat McCall was in talks with the city in 2018 about a 30-year lease for parking spaces and a potential grocery store that would go in the garage’s 9,000 square feet of long-closed ground-floor area. The idea wasn’t greeted with universal approval, but some energy drained from the opposition as other developments moved forward. “We wanted a grocery store, and MIT opened one in Kendall,” said Chuck Hinds, president of the East Cambridge Planning Team. “There were bigger issues to deal with.”
The first floor has been empty for around 15 years since the VFW left, Hinds said.
The First Street Market development is being shaped by Will Gilson, the chef whose empire already includes Puritan & Co. and the attached Puritan Oyster Bar in Inman Square and the North Point trio of The Lexington, Geppetto and Cafe Beatrice; Ming-Tai Huh, the restaurateur and executive with the Square payments system; and businessperson Nicholas Vantzelfde.
“First Street Market will be the epicenter of commerce, events and community in the rapidly growing First Street neighborhood,” a publicist said. “First Street Market will become a destination for city events, weddings and private parties, regularly attracting new foot traffic.”
During daytime hours, the market space is designed to serve as a hub for local vendors with fresh, seasonal produce, bread, flowers and meat. In the months farming is less active, the stalls will feature a variety of goods from local craftspeople and artisans and host a holiday market. “Guests can enjoy cocktails while exploring the vendor stalls, creating a vibrant and engaging atmosphere,” the press release said.
The market space will also serve as a venue for private events, with the partners suggesting culinary classes for 12 to seated dinners for 120 or cocktail parties for up to 200. “The First Street Market welcomes neighborhood nonprofit fundraisers and holiday celebrations for office and life-sciences companies,” the press release said.
Jared Sadoian, of Eastern Standard and The Hawthorne, will be director of operations, and Rebecca Millette its director of marketing and events.
Gilson’s Amba café is expected to offer an array of offerings such as a centerpiece rotisserie chicken and pastries by chef Brian Mercury. A beverage program will feature La Colombe coffee as well as wines, beers and cocktails.
The 40 Thorndike project up the street has updated the Edward J. Sullivan Courthouse into 20 floors with 422,000 square feet of office space, 48 inclusionary housing units and 12,000 square feet of retail with more than 20,000 square feet of outdoor space.
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Sad article, poorly researched and author should know better. Controversy started many years prior and involved some important players now dead: Michael Hawley and Seth Teller, both MIT professors and staunch opponents of the project in support of the neighborhood. Leggatt McCall was expert in supplying longtime residents to speak on their behalf who then very quickly sold or closed up their properties. There was a court case filed and went up to the highest court in the state and Lawrence Tribe signed onto the request that the SJC hear the case. Had 40 Thorndike been owned by anyone other than the state, the case would have been decided very differently. While Chuck is now President of the ECPT he was at no time involved with any of the struggle. It definitely predates him. While the professionals at Puritan seemed to have won the city choice, does anyone recall any kind of open search?? Will the rotisserie chicken cost over $32 to go??? Will there even be enough room in the community space for seniors to meet? Will there be adequate parking for everyone once 40Thorndike is leased if it ever gets that far??