A redevelopment proposal for a vacant site in Somerville could cost an apartment complex some of the trees and green space that provide shade and shield its tenants from noise along heavily traveled Washington Street.
“This is the quality of life,” said Anne Ryan, 86, who has lived at Cobble Hill Apartments for nearly 20 years, as she pointed to the trees and berm separating the complex from the busy road.
Now Ryan and other Cobble Hill tenants are pushing city officials to preserve more of the green space as they negotiate the project’s future.
The city seized the 4-acre site at 90 Washington St., formerly known as the Cobble Hill Plaza shopping center, through eminent domain in 2019 to build a public safety building. A legal dispute over the property’s valuation was resolved in 2024 and left the city facing roughly $30 million in additional costs to acquire the property.
The redevelopment plans shifted from a public safety building to housing, in part to recoup public funds spent during acquisition. In July the Somerville Redevelopment Authority selected Wood Partners to make plans for the site.
Wood Partners’ proposal calls for rental housing in multiple buildings of up to seven stories, with 20% of homes designated “affordable.” It also includes “15,000 square feet of neighborhood retail, 6,000 square feet of civic space and publicly accessible open space,” a Wood Partners spokesperson said in a statement to Cambridge Day.
Yet plans presented to residents at an Oct. 1 meeting show a proposed roadway that would cut through neighboring Cobble Hill Apartments, an affordable, project-based Section 8 complex that houses about 300 older adults, people with disabilities and other income-eligible tenants across four buildings.
The roadway is intended to provide emergency and trash-vehicle access to the western side of the apartment complex, including a secondary route for fire vehicles, said Ben Demers, a senior planner with the city.
The redevelopment plan would also remove trees and the berm and relocate 37 parking spaces on the property.
Aesthetics and environment take precedence
Residents say the proposed changes threaten more than the appearance of their neighborhood. The trees provide shade, they say, while the berm helps buffer traffic noise from Washington Street in an increasingly developed city.
Charlotte Shepard, 72, a Cobble Hill resident of over 20 years, said the green space distinguishes the complex from the busy road and surrounding development.
“If we lose that, we lose everything,” Shepard said. “We lose the actual beauty of this whole complex.”
She recalled watching snow and ice settle on the trees during a recent storm. “I thought I was in heaven,” Shepard said.
In an Aug. 31 letter to the City Council, property manager Kevin Wiggins outlined potential environmental complications associated with disturbing the berm. Previous environmental investigations had identified potential “contaminated historic fill” beneath portions of the berm, the letter said. The material was not considered an “imminent or substantial hazard,” but excavation could require additional testing, controls and disposal measures.
“Paying attention to the environment precedes the housing crisis,” Ryan said. “Because if you don’t have an environment, you don’t have housing.”
Other concerns
Construction disruptions, parking issues and the loss of shade have come into question as well. Anli Bokrot, 76, a resident of eight years, said she worries the dust from construction could harm the health of older residents.
Chad Maranaldi, 54, who has lived there for 10 years, said the need for emergency access is understandable, but he questioned whether the rest of the property needs to be developed at the expense of the green space.
“All they needed was where the strip mall was,” he said. “So to me, this land over here was unnecessary.”
Not all residents believe there is much room to change the proposal. Bill Mahaney, 81, who has lived at Cobble Hill for more than two decades and served on the project’s civic advisory committee, said he believes the project is “99 percent set in stone.”
“[SRA has] the power now and control over the project together with the 11 city councilors,” Mahaney said.
Still, Cobble Hill management is urging its tenants to push back. Miles Byrne, development director for Corcoran Jennison Management, which operates Cobble Hill, said he has been echoing concerns he has heard from residents to city officials.
“This is a financial decision,” Byrne said of the proposal. “But if you waive financial decisions from cities that plan to be around here for a few 100 years, it shouldn’t be a financial decision. It should be about quality of life.”
City officials weigh housing needs
Demers, the senior city planner, said officials are trying to “balance the benefits” of preserving greenery and landscape while addressing the need for “dense new housing” next to the Sullivan Square MTBA station.
City Councilor Matthew McLaughlin, who represents the neighborhood, said he supports housing, retail space and a senior center at the site but wants the plan to preserve more green space and trees.
“I think this project checks a lot of boxes,” McLaughlin said, “but it’s not checking the green space, and that’s what I’m working on right now.”
The city, Wood Partners and SRA are negotiating a land disposition agreement that would require City Council approval. McLaughlin said a council vote is expected by the end of the year. If the agreement is approved by then, Demers said construction could begin around mid-2028.
“For me, the seniors at Cobble Hill are my top priority,” McLaughlin said, “because they’re the people who have to live with it the most.”
This story is part of a partnership between Cambridge Day and the Boston University Department of Journalism’s Newsroom Initiative.
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