Image courtesy of Elkus Manfredi Architects
Developers of the Cambridge Point project in the Alewife Quadrangle neighborhood laid out the phasing of the 4.6 million square-foot project and received preliminary approval from the Cambridge Planning Board.
Denver, Colorado-based Healthpeak is seeking approval of a planned unit development including nearly 2,100 housing units and commercial space off Concord Avenue near the Belmont town line.
The project would begin with a 400-unit residential building at the foot of a new bicycle and pedestrian bridge connecting to the MBTA’s Alewife station, Elkus Manfredi Architects CEO David Manfredi said in a presentation to the Planning Board last week.
The project was designed to reflect the goals of the city’s Envision Cambridge planning study, Manfredi said.
“[The Quadrangle] doesn’t look much like the Cambridge that we all know, and that’s because it has been developed in an ad-hoc manner over many years,” Manfredi said.
The project represents a wholesale reinvention of the neighborhood, portions of which were developed with apartment complexes and lab buildings in recent years, but still includes large parking lots and underutilized industrial properties.
The redevelopment will include an “intentional pedestrian-scaled layout of connected streets” and new parks along with a diverse mix of real estate types and resilient infrastructure, Manfredi said.
The development proposal divides the district into three subdistricts, with tallest building heights along the MBTA tracks that run along the northern side of the site. A new “Main Street” will be built in a north-south corridor parallel to Fawcett Street.
Healthpeak owns 42 acres in the Quadrangle neighborhood, and the company acquired the site with plans for a large life science component.
The development proposal has evolved after the city of Cambridge temporarily declared a moratorium on lab construction and life science leasing declined. Currently, the project would include a 60-40 commercial-to-residential ratio.
Healthpeak has partnered with Houston-based developer Hines on the multifamily development component.
Attorney James Rafferty of Cambridge-based Adams & Rafferty said last week’s vote is a preliminary step enabling officials to request additional information from developers. Still to come: “many more months of engagement with city staff and community members” to determine the final design, Rafferty said.
