Image courtesy of city of Somerville
Somerville is seeking housing development proposals for a former shopping center property, including projects that could include high-rise buildings on the 4-acre site.
City officials issued a request for proposals for 90 Washington St., which previously contained the Cobble Hill Plaza strip mall just east of Union Square. The project seeks to recoup “a meaningful share” of the $35 million that a court ruled it owed the previous owners for a land taking.
The designs should target densities allowed under Somerville’s mid-rise or high-rise zoning districts, according to the RFP, as one of the three primary objectives of the development. Proposals also will be reviewed for financial return and mixed-use programming offering housing for a range of incomes.
The process is being overseen by the Somerville Redevelopment Authority and city of Somerville, which are seeking to select a developer this summer and sell the property outright by late 2027.
The property is located on the edge of an emerging development cluster in the Inner Belt and Brickbottom neighborhoods, which have improved public transit access since the opening of the MBTA Green Line Extension in 2022. One developer, North River Leerink, has had success attracting tenants to a speculative life science project at 100 Chestnut St.
The 90 Washington St. project will be subject to Somerville’s inclusionary development ordinance, which requires a 20 percent share of units restricted to households with maximum incomes ranging from 50 to 110 percent of area median income.
The site also will require an environmental cleanup for contaminated fill at the developer’s expense, although the city will assist in applications for funding to offset the cost.
Somerville acquired the property in 2019 under eminent domain for a potential new public safety complex.
The former owners sued the city, arguing that it underpaid based upon an appraisal for a 340-unit apartment complex as the highest and best use of the property. The Massachusetts Appeals Court ruled in favor of the developers that a life science project was more relevant in current market conditions, and ordered the city to pay $35.3 million to former owners in damages and interest.
After the ruling, former Somerville Mayor Katjana Ballantyne announced the city would sell the property to a developer.
Responses are due April 10.
