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City advances 90 Washington Street redevelopment plan; public hearing set for Nov. 6
Summary
Planning staff previewed changes to the 90 Washington Street demonstration project plan and a development program focused on dense mixed‑use redevelopment and recovering funds expended on site acquisition.
City planning staff presented an update to the redevelopment approach for 90 Washington Street and announced a Land Use Committee public hearing on Nov. 6.
Ben Demers, senior planner for economic development, told the council the Somerville Redevelopment Authority acquired the triangular, roughly four‑acre site in 2019 with a stated objective at the time of site assembly for a public safety complex plus complementary private development. After a court judgment and roughly $39 million of city/SRA payments tied to the property taking, the administration proposes limited edits to the demonstration project plan and memorandum of agreement: remove the public safety complex as an explicit requirement and make explicit the priority of recouping funds through private redevelopment.
Demers previewed a proposed set of development objectives and a program of uses staff intends to include in an RFP for private development: substantial new housing (including affordability options), ground‑floor retail (grocery, dining, pharmacy), civic and nonprofit space, parks and green space, no surface parking, and strong diversity, equity and inclusion goals for developer teams and contracting. He said staff will seek a rezoning tied to the eventual redevelopment proposal but recommended postponing any rezoning vote until a finalist developer response defines the proposed project form.
The Somerville Redevelopment Authority and the project’s civic advisory committee have been engaged in the process and will continue that outreach. Demers said the SRA will retain standard protections such as a right of reverter to ensure a selected development advances in a timely fashion; staff also proposed more flexibility to extend the ground‑breaking window to allow for thorough negotiations that maximize sale value.
Councilors asked clarifying questions and expressed support for a careful, public process. Councilor McLaughlin said she will use the Nov. 6 public hearing to collect additional questions from neighbors and the civic advisory committee before any future council votes on development objectives or zoning changes.
What’s next: The council referred the matter to the Land Use Committee and scheduled a public hearing for Nov. 6. Staff said any proposed rezoning will return to the council for formal review and vote.
