Photo courtesy of Google Maps
Greystar’s second Somerville project would include nearly 1.6 million square feet of hotel, office and lab space steps from its nearly-completed 74M tower.
The developer proposes a redevelopment of the 3.3-acre site at 20-23 Cummings St., which contains La Quinta hotel and a former 99 Restaurant.
Greystar proposes three buildings, including 1.4 million square feet in a pair of 20-story office-lab buildings, a new 200-room hotel, 12,900 square feet of ground-floor retail and restaurant space and a daycare center.
“Recognizing the unique opportunity to enhance the Assembly Square neighborhood through the transformation of the development site, the project will be designed with cutting edge labs, inviting civic spaces, accessible retail and much-needed hospitality space,” the developer wrote in a notification form submitted to the Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act office.
The project would start with demolition of the La Quinta hotel and construction of one lab building, followed by demolition of the restaurant for a second lab building. The timing of the hotel project is subject to market conditions, but could take place in the second or a third phase, the filing states.
The project would include 738 underground parking spaces and retain 29,000 square feet as public open space.
Greystar’s first Massachusetts life science project, the 465,000-square-foot 74M tower at 74 Middlesex Ave., is scheduled for completion in spring 2024 and has not announced any tenant leases.
Somerville’s Union Square and Assembly Square submarkets have attracted a series of major lab developments in recent years, and rising vacancies during the recent life science industry pullback.
The near north suburban lab market, comprising 3 million square feet, has a 77 percent availability rate, according to CBRE data.
The first phase of BioMed Realty’s nearby Assembly Innovation Park, a 495,000-square-foot lab tower, is scheduled for completion in 2024.
Commercial developers continue to covet sites in the Assembly Square area despite the continuing slump in life science leasing.
In September, Boston Pinnacle Properties submitted plans for a 10-story lab tower at 45 Mystic Ave.
And following a crowdfunding campaign, Boston-based Cabot, Cabot & Forbes in August acquired the Home Depot-anchored property at 65-75 Mystic Ave. for a future redevelopment.
A schematic plan of the development included in Greystar’s environmental filing shows the two lab buildings fringed with open space on one side. Image courtesy of Greystar
