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Somerville officials will begin a review next week of a proposed 596,000-square-foot office-lab tower in Assembly Square after the project cleared a hurdle with a waiver of required civic space on-site.

Brickyard at Assembly LLC proposes to demolish a small office building and church at 120-132 Middlesex Ave. to make way for the 18-story tower, the neighborhood’s latest life science project. The Somerville Zoning Board of Appeals granted a hardship waiver, according to a decision filed last week.

In application materials, attorney Joseph Hanley of Boston-based McDermott, Quilty & Miller LLP said the developer would offer an in-lieu payment for the civic space requirement. 

“The city, the developers and residents felt that because of the proximity of the highway, it was less than ideal for civic space because of the air pollution,” said Ed Doherty, co-manager of the Brickyard at LLC.

The size of the in-lieu payment is in negotiation, Doherty said. A planning board hearing on the special permit will kick off on March 18.

The proposal joins a pair of other major life science projects moving forward in Assembly Square. BioMed Realty recently paid $163 million for the Xmbly development site which is approved for 1.3 million square feet of office, lab and retail space.

And Boston Global Investors, in partnership with Dutch developer EDGE, last year proposed nearly 500,000 square feet of office and lab space at 74 Middlesex Ave.