With construction of an adjacent life science building on hold and the shared driveway and parking that came with it, a proposed Marriott-brand hotel is shrinking, developers said Aug. 18.
Revised plans for what’s known as the Somerbridge hotel at 1 McGrath Highway – because it straddles the line between Somerville in the Inner Belt area and East Cambridge – have 25 percent fewer rooms, attorney Adam Dash said at a neighborhood meeting. The new design has 145 rooms, down from 199.
Somerbridge Hotel LLC received approval with conditions from Somerville in May 2023 and a special permit from Cambridge in July 2023 to put up a six-story hotel with a restaurant, bar and fitness center.
Separately, at 15 McGrath, Leggat McCall Properties and DLJ Real Estate Capital Partners were building the foundation for a 262,000-square-foot lab and office space, with above- and belowground parking, dubbed a “new center for innovation.”
Approved plans from 2023 included the shared driveway and parking with the 15 McGrath life space project that allowed hotel designers to build closer to the property line.
That life science project is “a hole and is on pause,” Dash said.
Leggat McCall announced in July 2024 a stop in work at 15 McGrath “due to the dramatic slowdown in regional lab demand,” with the stop lasting “until market conditions improve.”
The hole in the ground is filled with water from rain and runoff, as seen from the Somerville Community Path above.
With the 15 McGrath project no longer included, the hotel building will shift 6 feet to the right, closer to the Cambridge line. The development group is reducing square footage and room count while creating more parking space on the opposite of the lot, project architect Jason Diorio said. There are 33 on-site parking spaces in the plan.
AC Hotels was expected to be a second brand on the hotel; now Moxy, owned by Marriott International, will be the sole branding. The next closest Moxy Hotel is in downtown Boston in the Theater District.
Community Path connector
Somerville placed a condition in a 2023 zoning board decision that “the applicant or their successor shall coordinate with the cities of Somerville and Cambridge to design and construct the ramp connection to the Community Path.”
Many neighbors and advocates in attendance wanted assurance that the plan wouldn’t lose that access from McGrath Highway meant to connect Somerville’s Ward 2 and East Cambridge residents to Somerville’s bike path.
Developers are “sticking” to the Community Path commitment, Dash said.
“We’re providing more than 10 percent of our development site toward making the path possible, and we’re certainly committed to seeing this connection completed,” hotel principal Christine Thomas said. “With the upheaval of 15 McGrath not moving forward, it’s premature to discuss how the financing pieces will come together. But we’re resourceful people all around, and I’m sure that we’ll come up with a solution that makes it a reality.”
Since the space for the ramp will be used as a staging area during construction, it will be at least 18 months to two years before designs and financing for the bike path connector are needed, Thomas said.
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