Private developers could submit proposals early next year to buy nearly 4 city-owned acres in East Somerville and the Inner Belt to build housing and other uses, according to plans shared by a senior planner at a joint Land Use and Redevelopment Authority meeting Thursday.
Somerville once expected to put up a police and fire public safety building at 90 Washington St. on Cobble Hill, but the updated process shared by economic development planner Ben Demers is for a future housing and mixed-use development. Proposed language gives developers three years to apply for permits where original language required they break ground in that time. There were no public objections from attendees or participants.
The city seeks to recoup tens of millions of dollars it spent on the failed civic project at the intersection of East Somerville, Inner Belt and Brickbottom and across the street from an MBTA green line station. The city’s redevelopment authority took the former strip mall parcel by eminent domain in 2019 with an $8.8 million payment to the former landowners; after Cobble Hill LLC sued the city for undervaluation, the city announced in January that it paid an additional $30 million.
The unexpected expense incurred from a state supreme court case ruling in October 2024 “impacts the city’s ability to offer key services and pursue vital capital projects,” Demers said, compelling the city to sell the land to preserve “the city’s overall financial health” while trying to fit priorities organized by a civic advisory committee and the public.
Those priorities include new housing, commercial space such as first-floor retail, civic space for nonprofits or community groups and green space, ideally next to the neighboring Cobble Hill Apartments. Based on community engagement in 2022 and 2023, the primary use should be housing, and the city could allow high-rise buildings of up to 80 feet on the side closest to the East Somerville green line station, per zoning specifications.
The authority is working on the details about zoning implementation, Demers said, but the city wants to keep the vision for a “transformative development opportunity” informed by priorities set by a civic advisory committee and the community. Separate from that, by providing “flexibility” in a future negotiation process between the redevelopment authority and prospective developers, the city will “get better valuation,” Demers said.
Under the public safety plan for the land, the authority intended to use the 4 acres as a “demonstration project,” according to state legal review documents. An example of a demonstration project is The Foundry in East Cambridge, “an adaptive reuse project and a self-sustaining center for creativity and collaboration” created in a public-private partnership with Cambridge’s redevelopment authority, according to its website. Section 46 of Massachusetts law allows communities to build a demonstration project to avoid a full, longer urban renewal process for areas considered blighted.
Multistep process ahead
Demers explained the process to get a request for proposals out early next year – gauging developer interest in the project – and steps for accepting the RFP afterward.
The Land Use Committee hosts one more public meeting this fall and the City Council and Redevelopment Authority need to approve the updated demonstration project plan, memorandum of agreement and development objectives and program of uses. Once approved, those items can be included in the public request for proposal.
After proposals are submitted, the 90 Washington Civic Advisory Committee recommends two proposals for council review, and the council votes to send one or both to the authority, which selects a development partner and negotiates an agreement. With an agreement in place, the council needs to approve it. It is unknown if the mayor needs to sign off during this process.
“The city is working with a range of stakeholders and fitting into and adjusting to everyone’s timelines is part of that process,” city spokesperson Denise Taylor said in an email, referring to the council, authority and 90 Washington Civic Advisory Committee. “The intent to sell is on track, and we look forward to public discussions on development goals and zoning at upcoming council meetings.”
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