The Burren Pub is one of three ground-floor tenants whose leases expire by the end of 2025 at a Davis Square property owned by developer Copper Mill. Photo by Steve Adams | Banker & Tradesman Staff
As a developer prepares to submit a 500-unit apartment tower proposal in Davis Square, a new coalition of Somerville merchants and residents is mobilizing to have a bigger say over the neighborhood’s direction.
And both say they have solutions to fix what ails the neighborhood.
Concerns about rising storefront vacancies, a growing homeless population and stalled redevelopment projects had already prompted residents and merchants to band together before Boston-based developer Copper Mill’s proposal surfaced, said Elaine Almquist, temporary president of the year-old Davis Square Neighborhood Council.
“The business owners felt very disconnected about getting news from the city about changes that would impact their business,” Almquist said. “They and residents felt the desire to be more organized, because of the lack of two-way communication.”
Andrew Flynn, CEO of Copper Mill, met last week with business owners to discuss the latest plans for the housing tower at the corner of Elm and Grove streets.
Flynn confirmed that all of the leases for retail tenants, including The Burren pub, are scheduled to expire by the end of the year. But the leases could be extended on a short-term basis depending upon the development’s permitting timeline, Flynn said.
“Certainly we have worked with tenants to keep them in place as long as possible, and in terms of extending tenants until construction starts, those discussions are happening,” Flynn said.
The Burren’s owner, Tommy McCarthy, could not be reached for comment. But 24 Hour Music, which books acts for the pub’s popular Backroom concert series, mobilized last week with an email campaign urging patrons to attend a Feb. 12 community meeting at which Copper Mill will provide an update.
A rendering shows the Elm Street side of a massing concept for Copper Mill Development’s proposed Davis Square residential tower, left. Image courtesy of CBT Architects
“If this building gets approved it will destroy the neighborhood charm of Davis Square, leaving us void of art, culture and most importantly, community,” 24 Hour Music’s Tom Bianchi wrote in the mass email.
The neighborhood council is seeking to be designated by the City Council as the official representative that negotiates community benefits with developers in Davis Square. The percentage of affordable units in the Copper Mill project and displacement of commercial tenants could be negotiating points, Almquist said. The property also includes McKinnon’s Market and Dragon Pizza, along with a vacant former Korean restaurant space.
“We don’t want to see our local businesses displaced, and there are some beloved ones in those buildings,” she said.
Copper Mill’s Flynn said in an email the new resident population would benefit the neighborhood by generating “a positive-feedback-loop in which residents – as steady, consistent, sustained patrons of the retailers – would revitalize the retail ecosystem.”
Two Lab Projects ‘Took a Swing and Missed’
Flynn’s Copper Mill acquired the Elm Street property’s lease from his former employer, student housing specialist Scape, which had proposed a lab project allowed under the neighborhood’s zoning bylaws.
Charlotte, North Carolina-based Asana Partners also received approval in 2023 for lab space across the street, by expanding atop a block of retail storefronts. But the life science boom failed to expand into Davis Square before the life science market downturn in 2022.
“They both took a swing and they missed, and they are trying to play catch up,” said Jack Connolly Sr., a former Somerville alderman and owner of a retail-and-apartment building on College Avenue.
Now, vacant storefronts line portions of the Davis Square Plaza, a retail block where Asana Partners had planned to build a 120,000-square-foot life science development.
The project has been stalled by the Greater Boston lab space glut. In the meantime, most of Asana Partners’ retail tenants have relocated out Davis Square Plaza, a courtyard between the two building blocks.
In 2019, the Somerville City Council enacted an ordinance requiring landlords to notify the city of vacant ground-floor commercial space and pay a registration fee set by the council each year.
Asana Partners’ 7th Spoke lab development in Davis Square has been stalled during the life science downturn, while ground floor vacancies have risen in the existing storefronts. Image courtesy of Perkins + Will
In an email, Somerville Senior Economic Development Planner Ted Fields said he was not aware of any penalties being assessed upon Asana Partners for vacancies in Davis Square. Currently, Asana is offering short-term leases of less than 12 months on the vacant spaces in 260 Elm St. for entrepreneurs who don’t require long-term locations, according to Fields. One tenant, Wild Child Chocolate, moved into the former Sugidama restaurant space.
Asana Partners did not return requests for comment.
Report: New Vacancy Penalties Needed
The city’s existing strategy to discourage retail vacancies is inadequate, according to the findings of a long-awaited study.
The Somerville Anti-Displacement Task Force recommended higher fees and fines for vacant storefronts, noting that “there is a perception among the City’s business community that the ordinance may not prove to be effective as written.” Asana Partners’ 240 Elm St. is not registered with the database, Inspectional Services Deputy Director A. Matthew Zaino said in an email.
Steve Adams
“People have been asking a lot of questions about the different projects that have been stalled,” Almquist said.
The Davis Square Neighborhood Council formed in early 2024 amid growing concern about lack of responsiveness from city hall to neighborhood issues, Almquist said. A proposal to close Elm Street to cars alarmed some merchants, and concerns about homeless and drug use spiked during the summer months.
Connolly, the former councilor, counts 15 vacant storefronts in the neighborhood. The recent arrival of Korean grocer H-Mart to the former B-Fresh grocery space has been a welcome addition, Connolly said. And Republic Fitness is slated to occupy the long-vacant former Rite-Aid building on Highland Avenue in March.
Even if The Burren and other tenants are allowed to sign leases in the future Copper Mill building, as developers have promised, the disruption to the neighborhood could be irreversible, Connolly said.
“It would be a huge loss to Davis even if they had to move for a short period of time, and a construction project would take years,” he said.
