| 
Medford is considering the sale of two municipal parking lots to developers for multifamily housing as it seeks to revitalize the downtown’s 29-acre City Hall Mall area near I-93. Photo by Steve Adams | Banker & Tradesman Staff
Revitalization strategies for Medford Square sat in binders over the past decade while business districts in Somerville and Malden Center picked up momentum.
Now this inner suburb of 58,000 is looking at 2 acres of asphalt as the foundation for a downtown makeover, as officials consider the sale of municipal parking lots to private developers for multifamily projects.
“This is a real opportunity to move Medford Square forward,” resident Doug Carr, a principal at Cube 3 Architects, said at a recent community presentation. “For the last 30 years, we’ve been sitting on a gold mine that’s right in front of our eyes.”
Surface parking lots cover large portions of the eastern end of Medford Square near the Interstate 93 overpass. Commercial buildings’ rear loading docks face the Mystic River, which is separated from the downtown by heavily traveled Clippership Drive.
Previous land-use studies have pointed out the roughly 55-acre downtown’s confusing, one-way traffic patterns and unwelcoming environment for pedestrians and bicyclists, while identifying the municipal lots behind City Hall as an opportunity to infuse some 24/7 vitality.
In the latest study completed in March, consultants Gamble Assoc. of Cambridge and Newton-based Abramson & Assoc. provided the city with four options for developing the 2-acre parking lots with a buildout ranging from 132 to 196 housing units. The upper limit is based upon buildings up to 5 and a half stories. Developers would be required to build up to 202 parking spaces to replace the surface parking.
Mayor Stephanie Burke said she will ask the city council to declare the parking lots as surplus property and issue a request for proposals.
Consultants recommended redeveloping two Medford Square parking lots, shown here as sites A and B, into multifamily housing complexes with up to 196 units. Image courtesy of the city of Medford.
“All of the studies showed that the west side of the square is really in fabulous shape with a lot of activity, and the east side is really the dead end,” Burke said. “We really need to focus down here near City Hall.”
The project is similar to one nearing completion in downtown Malden. Jefferson Apartment Group is redeveloping portions of the former city hall property into a 325-unit apartment complex opening this summer across from the MBTA’s Malden Center station.
An Unchecked Box: Transit Links
Unlike thriving Davis Square and up-and-coming Malden Center, Medford Square lacks MBTA subway service, and its existing public transit – anchored by bus service to Sullivan Square and Wellington Circle – could be subject to proposed service cuts.
Nonetheless, the municipal parking lots would be attractive to developers who can gain approval for a substantial project, said Sandi Silk, a senior vice president with Jefferson Apartment Group. Minimum parking requirements make multifamily projects harder to finance in areas further from rail stations.
“We typically look for projects with 150 units or more in a place like that where there isn’t transit,” Silk said. “Construction is expensive and there are certain costs like site development and investigations that are the same no matter the size of the project.”
Two other developers already are pursuing large-scale multifamily development projects in Medford.
Identify New Prospects with Targeted Marketing Lists
Property owners are a prime target market for insurance, banks, real estate, home improvement, investment, and most retail and home service businesses. With information on more than 130 million households – encompassing 94% of the U.S. population – we invite you to learn more about how The Warren Group’s Targeted Marketing Lists can generate more quality business leads to develop your business.
The Hanover Cos. of Houston has broken ground on a 350-unit apartment complex at 61 Locust St., redeveloping a former Shaw’s supermarket property after acquiring the parcel last fall for $25.7 million.
And Combined Cos. of Malden last month submitted plans to the city for a 544-unit multifamily project at 278-326 Mystic Ave., involving redevelopment of an office property that it owns and maintenance shop owned by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation.
The proposal, which requires variances for use and height, is moving forward as Medford officials prepare to review an MAPC study of potential rezoning of the Mystic Avenue corridor for multifamily and mixed-use projects.
A New Source of Nightlife
Burke, who took office in 2016, has made ratcheting up the often–sleepy downtown’s nightlife a priority.
Steve Adams
The first step was signing a new management arrangement for the city-owned Chevalier Theatre with Bill Blumenreich Presents, which also manages Boston’s Wilbur Theatre. Under the new management, the Chevalier has attracted headliners including Amy Schumer and Aziz Ansari, and visitors to the 1,800-capacity venue have helped the downtown’s increasingly diverse restaurant scene.
However, Medford still prohibits standalone barrooms and up until several years ago, had banned full liquor licenses at restaurants with fewer than 99 seats.
Burke said she is drawing up new proposed regulations that would allow taprooms, as local craft brewer Medford Brewing Co. crowdfunds for a brewery and beer hall in its namesake city to replace its contract production arrangement. The changes would relax requirements for full food service at licensed establishments, possibly allowing food trucks as an alternative, Burke said.
