Overwhelming public support was heard for a seven-story, all-affordable 50-apartment building at 297 Medford St., Winter Hill, during a Thursday meeting of Somerville’s Land Use Committee and Planning Board. Public comment is being taken through March 31.
The development proposed by the nonprofit Just A Start and affordable housing manager Somerville Community Land Trust is on the Somerville Community Bike Path, just down the hill from the Central Library and High School complex, and two-tenths of a mile from the Gilman Square MBTA station. The rental units would be offered to folks whose household income is 30 percent, 60 percent and 80 percent of area median income.
This project is “a perfect example of how to increase density with access to the T,” resident Ann Tate said during a public comment period. Tate helped lead the state’s Transit Oriented Development Initiative in 2003.
Other comments were similarly positive. Kira Tipton, 17, praised it because the price of living in Somerville was “so daunting – like my only option is to leave where I have been for my entire life.”
David, a neighbor to the property, Tatarakis approved of the project even though it would cast his home in shadow. “I am okay with that because I believe that 50 units of housing are more important,” Tatarakis said. “This would be a chance for the city to finally start making some progress to development in Gilman Square.”
The project aligns with the city’s SomerVision 2040, a comprehensive planning document adopted in 2021, according to submissions to the city by Just A Start’s director of real estate, Noah Sawyer. The property owners asked that it be rezoned to a Mid-Rise 4 category, allowing all-affordable residences of up to seven stories under a Affordable Housing Overlay District, from its current Mid-Rise 3, which allows up to four stories.
It may help that across the street is the Burton F. Faulkner Towers, 130 units of low-income senior housing that rises a dozen stories.
The project scope includes neighboring parcels at the former A+ Auto Body, 295 Medford St., and 93 Walnut St. The automotive business closed after a roof collapse in June 2022, and owners John Fragione and Agostino Feola agreed to sell the now-cleared land.
The trust acquires properties and land like a regular developer but owns only the land, establishing 99-year ground leases that allow housing to be sold or rented at affordable rates.
Just A Start has Cambridge roots in owner assistance and parcel development dating back to 1975.
The agenda item is open for the public until 7 p.m. March 31. Community members can send comments to publiccomments@somervillema.gov or planning@somervillema.gov.
This post was updated March 26, 2025, to remove a reference to Just A Start purchases.
A stronger
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Nice to see support for affordable housing.
Need a lot more projects like this
This is a good spot for a mid-rise building because it has no immediate neighbors to the north. Tatarakis’s place won’t see much shadow since it’s a good 100 feet from the property, with the Green Line, Commuter Rail, and Community Path in between.