High hopes come with high-rise construction

Non-profits in Somerville are hopeful luxury apartments in Assemble Square Row will propel the City forward.

Somerville is a fast growing city and for the past few years Mayor Joseph Curtatone's administration has been attempting to develop the City. The city is credited with the opening of a Stop & Shop, additional bicycle lanes on major roads, and, now, Assembly Row.

"The only way we will begin to get the scale we need to meet the demand is from large projects like this one," said Mark Alston-Follansbee, the executive director of the Somerville Homeless Coalition.

Construction in Assembly Row is going strong. So far, the most visible difference is the open-air mall with stores like Sports Authority, T.J. Maxx, and Bed Bath & Beyond.

Nestled between the Mystic River and the open-air mall, is a clearing of trees, new roads and a rotary marking the beginning of construction for the high-rise apartments.

The area has come a long way, and it hasn't been an easy road to development. Assembly Row sparked heated debates among landowners, developers, and city officials less than a decade ago.

It was a deserted-single-floor mall six years ago, rumored to be a hiding spot for the City's criminals.

In its heyday, Assembly Square Mall was home to Jordan Marsh and locally owned boutiques, but it had no centralized food court.

According to developers, there will be 2,100 residential units, space for a 200-room hotel and 500,000 square feet of retail space. Selvin Chambers III, executive director of the Elizabeth Peabody House said, "Anytime a community makes an investment in improving housing or the quality of living, there is a cost added to that. It will attract new residents to the City of Somerville, but unfortunately, it could also require some existing residents to leave due to an increase in rent costs."

According to Boston Rental Exchange, Inc. current renters pay about $1,200 for a one-bedroom apartment in Somerville. There have been no reports on what will be the cost of the riverfront real estate and how rent could be impacted. However, developers are required to include in Assembly Row what Alston-Follansbee calls "affordable" housing.

The Elizabeth Peabody House is less than a mile away from the area, located on Broadway. Its mission is to, "provide a broad array of educational, social and recreational services to address the essential and changing needs of families in the City of Somerville and surrounding communities." Families can register children for day care, pre-school, theatre programs, and summer camps.

Representatives of the Elizabeth Peabody House were at Riverfest on Sept. 17 hoping to attract some new members by providing information to attendees of the event. Chambers said, "Our agency is less than a quarter mile away from the development. Potentially, the development of Assembly Row will attract new families to access the services of The Elizabeth Peabody House and other human services agencies."

Attracting new members to community activity is not the only gain Somerville could see from Assembly Row. Both Alston-Follansbee and Chambers say the developments mean jobs. "I am excited about the fact that Assembly Row is under development," said Chambers, "it will also provide new and needed housing. This will help stimulate the economy."

Developers are working to add a new stop on the Orange line between Wellington and Sullivan Stations. The new stop will be appropriately named Assembly Road. Somerville expects construction to be complete in 2013.