Image courtesy of Elkus Manfredi Architects.
It’s “goodbye, struggling big-box retailers” and “hello, residential units, offices and labs” at the Cambridgeside mall after the Cambridge City Council voted 6-3 Monday night to approve zoning for New England Development’s proposed reboot of the mall.
The renovations would replace a garage and three big-box retail spaces on the mall’s exterior with 575,000 square feet of new housing in four buildings: an 95-foot building on the former site of a Sears store on First Street, a 145-foot building on the site of a garage next door, a 155-foot building on the site of the Best Buy store next to that and a 155-foot building on the Macy’s site on the corner of Land Boulevard and Charles Street. Developers told city leaders that the redevelopment will help turn First Street into a more pedestrian-friendly corridor and improve pedestrian access to the mall.
According to the PUD text, 30 percent of the new square footage will be set aside for housing. Of the housing units, 30 percent will be set aside as affordable units and a further 35 percent for renters or buyers making between 70 and 120 percent of the area median income, currently $79,300 for a one-person household and $113,300 for a four-person household. The housing component of the project was increased by 50,000 square feet following opposition from community groups that caused the development team to pull their original proposal earlier this year and resubmit.
In exchange for the ability to expand the mall, New England Development is planning to pay for rehabilitation of a state-owned boathouse next to the Museum of Science, plus around $2 million to various community funds including a $1.5 million payment to a scholarship fund for area teens. The development will also result in new bicycle infrastructure built on First Street, along with an expanded sidewalk. The Cambridge Day also reports the development team will pay $9 million to a neighborhood community center.
The project must still go through a design review process before the city planning board.
