Image courtesy of CBT Architects
A 25-story tower containing 502 apartments would help reverse the decline of Somerville’ Davis Square, developer Copper Mill states in its initial development application for the $260 million project.
The Boston-based developer will pursue approval under Chapter 40B, Massachusetts’ affordable housing zoning law, by including 126 income-restricted units.
The 320,000 square-foot tower would include 13,000 square feet of retail space, including a replacement location for The Burren, an Irish pub and storied live music venue, which occupies one of the existing storefronts on Elm Street.
“The arrival of 500-plus new residents and 13,000 square feet of revitalized retail space on this site alone can generate significant progress towards the next revitalization of Davis Square,” Copper Mill CEO Andrew Flynn wrote in a cover letter accompanying a project eligibility application to MassHousing.
Copper Mill estimates market-rate studios, which would comprise 207 of the building’s units, would rent for $3,500. The 69 income-restricted studios would be available at $1,472.
Copper Mill currently ground-leases the site from Newton-based Myer Dana & Sons, but has an option to purchase it outright for $42 million, according to the application.
Following the pandemic, Davis Square has seen rising retail vacancies and a growing homeless population. The neighborhood’s challenges became an issue in last fall’s mayoral campaign, in which former mayor Katjana Ballantyne finished third in a September preliminary election.
The application is a preliminary step that, if approved, would enable Copper Mill to pursue approval of the project through the Somerville Zoning Board of Appeals.
Community Group Criticizes Project
Copper Mill frames the project as a chance to add population and vitality while increasing the housing stock. Flynn compared the proposed building height within a neighborhood context to such projects as Prospect Union Square, a 25-story, 450-unit apartment tower that opened in 2023, and Market Central in Cambridge.
The Davis Square project would include 126 apartments reserved for households earning a maximum 80 percent of area median income, including 69 studios, 38 1-bedroom units, six 2-bedroom units and 13 3-bedroom units.
In the works since 2024, the proposal has set off a community-wide debate over density, urban planning and housing policy.
Davis Square Village, a community group, criticized the developer for filing the state application during the holidays, and said the city should complete its approval of the Davis Square Commercial Area Plan study first.
Other online commenters have argued that the site’s location nearly on top of the MBTA’s Red Line station is ideal for high-density housing. No on-site parking is proposed.
In a social media video, newly-elected Mayor Jake Wilson noted that Copper Mill has asked the city to support a “friendly 40B” approval, giving city officials a say over designs, the unit mix and other community benefits.
“I want to be clear: my support will depend upon your support,” Wilson said.
Chapter 40B enables the approval of projects that wouldn’t otherwise be permitted under local zoning. If a 40B project is rejected by the local Zoning Board of Appeals, developers can take the case to the state Housing Appeals Committee, which often overrules local denials.
Somerville is subject to Chapter 40B because, like most Massachusetts communities, it has not hit the law’s target for 10 percent of the city’s homes to be made up of subsidized affordable housing.
The city has 3,228 subsidized units, or 8.9 percent, according to the state Department of Housing and Livable Communities.
Image courtesy of CBT Architects
