North River Leerink presented a high-rise proposal for the city-owned parcel at 90 Washington St. near the MBTA’s East Somerville station. Image courtesy of Handel Architects

It’s back to the design drawing board for at least one of the proposed redevelopers of a key parcel of land in Somervile’s Inner Belt neighborhood.

After negative community reviews of its initial plan to transform 90 Washington St. into a mixed-used development, Wood Partners is dropping its design for the site and instead focusing on a new architectural style that could reduce the amount of parking while boosting the number of residential units, according to the firm’s top executive.

“We’re giving it a fresh look, top to bottom,” said Jim Lambert, managing director and partner at Wood Partners. “We’re re-examining the entire site plan.”

Lambert made it clear that negative public feedback, at least from some quarters, forced the firm to rethink its plan for the city-owned 4-acre parcel.

‘It Didn’t Seem They Liked It’

Known as a “Texas doughnut” in land-use circles, the design includes residential units wrapped around a central, above-grade parking garage.

“It just did not seem they liked it,” Lambert said of reactions to his firm’s original design that called for 324 apartment units, ground-floor retail and about 600 above-ground parking spaces within a pre-fabricated garage at the center of the complex.

It’s unclear whether North River Leerink, the other redevelopment bidder for the site, is making revisions to its own original design plan. Company officials declined to comment.

But based on the recent comments from a community advisory committee, a pro-housing activist group and members of the Somerville City Council, it seems North River’s original mixed-use design – which originally called for three to four buildings ranging in size from 6 to 14 stories, nearly 600 rental units, ground-floor retail and underground parking for hundreds of vehicles – is the clear design favorite for the site.

Handel Architects designed the multi-building plan for North River; PCA designed the 7-story complex for Wood Partners.

Wood Partners’ designs for a suburban-style apartment complex and 600 spaces in an above-grade garage got poor reviews from a civic advisory committee in Somerville. The firm has built similar projects in Framingham, Marlborough and Worcester. Image courtesy of PCA

No Strangers to Somerville Development

Both North River and Wood Partners have previously developed projects in Somerville: the former an office complex and the latter the Alta Revolution apartments in Assembly Square.

But the selection of a developer is unlikely to be based on designs and development experience alone. Financing is another important consideration. Specifically, how much upfront money the city can get from a developer for the 90 Washington St. site.

Somerville leaders desperately want to recoup tens of millions of dollars the city lost due to its botched eminent domain seizure of the site in 2019.

Paying nearly $9 million for the land via eminent domain, the city initially planned to build a new public-safety complex on the former shopping plaza site.

But that plan was abandoned after a Superior Court jury in 2023 determined that the city underpaid for the site and awarded its previous owner an additional $30 million, plus interest, for 90 Washington St., now a parking lot for the city and neighbors.

Somerville officials are mum about the financial details of Wood Partners and North River’s competing offers, legally keeping that information out of public domain for now.

But according to published reports, Wood Partners, while proposing a design plan that many view as unacceptable, put together an attractive financial offer that’s apparently keeping it in the competitive game to redevelop 90 Washington St.

Matt McLaughlin, a city councilor whose Ward 1 district includes the parcel, declined to comment on financial details of the redevelopment proposals.

But he indicated, without naming names, that he does have a design preference.

“I want to see taller buildings that include more housing in exchange for more open space,” he said. “Greater height, ground-floor stores, more housing and more open space. There was only one proposal that fits those needs.”

And that one proposal, based on those needs, would appear to be North River’s plan.

Somerville City Councilor Matt McLaughlin said he wants to see “greater height, ground-floor stores and more housing” in proposals for 90 Washington St. Pictured is a rendering of North River Leerink’s design for the 4-acre property. Image courtesy of Handel Architects

YIMBY Group Blasts ‘Awful’ Parking Garage

At a recent public hearing, other city councilors expressed similar sentiments in favor of North River’s design plan.

But councilors did express concerns about aspects of North River’s proposal, such as where affordable rental units would be located within the complex, whether open spaces would be publicly accessible and if extensive underground parking is even possible at the site, according to minutes of the hearing.

At the same hearing, a representative from the Somerville Redevelopment Authority said members of the 90 Washington Street Civic Advisory Committee (CAC) also had a “strong preference” for the North River proposal, though they expressed disappointment that the firm had recently cut the number of its planned rental units to 426 (86 of them affordable).

As for the Wood Partners design, the CAC expressed concerns about its lower density, the high parking-to-housing ratio and lack of open space, the SRA official said at the hearing.

Meanwhile, Somerville YIMBY, a pro-housing group, has made clear its preference for the North River plan, in favor of the taller buildings, additional housing units and larger open-space footprint.

Somerville YIMBY blasted the Wood Partners proposal, saying that its design ran counter to the transit-oriented intent of the redevelopment project, noting the East Somerville station on the MBTA Green Line Extension sits just adjacent to the site.

“Our small city has a lot of needs, but parking for hundreds of new cars is not one of them, especially for a site served by the Green Line, multiple bus routes and two major protected bike lanes,” Somerville YIMBY recently wrote to city officials. “Wood Partners’ proposal to have a ‘Texas Donut’ style building of housing wrapped around 600 parking spots would be an awful use of space.”

In an interview, Joshua Michel, a city resident and member of Somerville YIMBY’s steering committee, said the fact that Wood Partners and North River are likely changing their original design plans shows that public input is making a difference.

“It indicates they have heard from the community and are responding to the community,” he said.

New Design Due This Season

Not everyone is down on the original Wood Partners design.

In its review of the two proposals, HR&A, the city’s development consultant, rated the Wood Partners proposal superior to the North River blueprint on non-financial grounds, though it said the Wood Partners plan needs “further iteration” related to density and civic spaces.

Wood Partners’ Lambert said his firm has used variations of the same design for projects in Framingham, Marlborough and Worcester.

But he said his firm heard complaints about its original 90 Washington St. design loud and clear – and won’t pursue it.

Among other things, Wood Partners is looking to address parking concerns expressed by critics. The firm is also eyeing additional rental units, he noted.

But Lambert emphasized that the project needs to economically work as well.

The plan is for both developers to turn in new “best and final” design plans later this spring.

“We’re confident we’ll come up with a winning design,” said Lambert. “We’re very excited about the project.”