An eight-story, 99-room Hilton hotel for Teele Square returned to Somerville’s approval process Wednesday to fill a vacant lot known as “The Pit.” Developers faced questions about how they justified the project’s size, but also a new, easier standard for permitting under state law as they return to a continued hearing Nov. 5.
Complicating the conversation with the Zoning Board of Appeals was the absence of Binoj Pradhan, the owner of the lot at 1154 Broadway, which has been empty since a fire that struck Oct. 29, 2011 – nearly 15 years ago.
Attorney Adam Dash said the owners had to deal with a five-alarm fire that was at that moment consuming their other property in the square – a three-story building with businesses and apartments across the street at 1147 Broadway (also referred to as 1135 Broadway).
“We are about to have another vacancy in Teele Square after the tragedy tonight,” resident Matthew West told board members during a public comment period. “I implore you to consider this project deeply, and that we need development [and] vibrancy in this community. The Pit has been there for 14 years.”
There were other voices eager to see The Pit filled, as well as voices of caution and opposition – some of them capturing the quandary that is described by developers as shaping the project while called by others a reason to question its basis and kill it as Pradhan tries to revive it after a year’s slumber.
Another resident, Kristin Peszka, warned board members they may be missing dozens of voices. “There are a lot of abutters who may not be able to attend this meeting tonight since their homes may be on fire and people may be displaced,” she said. Written comments will be accepted by the board through Oct. 29.
Higher costs mean a bigger project
The hotel, its ground-floor and rooftop restaurants and 35-car underground valet parking were all described by Dash as needed for the project at Broadway and Clarendon Avenue, including a change on part of the one-way Clarendon to two-way traffic so cars can get in and out of the garage. Ten variances are needed, he said, because the city’s zoning ordinance “does not allow enough building to realistically develop the site and replace The Pit.”
Strict enforcement of zoning requires a much smaller four-story structure; a six-story hotel was granted for the site in 2018, with an extension in 2020 that has expired.
At the time, that project would have paid for remediation of the contaminated Pit site and been financially viable, Dash said, but not now.
“The approved six-story hotel was large enough to cover costs needed to redevelop the site. That is no longer the case due to inflation and changes in the energy and zoning requirements. The hotel project must now be larger to be viable as property. A viable hotel must be large enough to pay for the likely environmental cleanup and meet the various operational requirements for a hotel use,” Dash said. “This is why The Pit has been there for so long. Something has to give for The Pit to be redeveloped.”
A chicken-and-egg problem
The extent of the contamination in The Pit is unknown, Dash said, because it hasn’t been tested since 2015 – and that was by a potential buyer of the land who backed out without sharing the findings.
Pradhan won’t test and incur liability “until he knows he has a project that could pay for whatever happens as a result of that testing,” Dash said. “A bit of a chicken-and-egg problem here, where if everybody is saying that he has to do the testing to get a variance, he’s not going to do that.”
The proposed building has other impacts that demand their own variances: Gas is preferred for a restaurant “to be successful,” said another a member of the development team, architect Will Chalfant of Khalsa Design, but the energy code for a high-rise building triggers a need for renewables on site, which would require the rooftop to be covered in solar panels, which would preclude having a “green roof” covered in plants. Underground parking, meanwhile, prevents more than a couple of trees from being planted, because any soil over the garage would be too shallow. All this means that the building needs permission to fail its green score, the team said.
The proposal of a project with 10 variance requests to allow a design that would cover unknown costs of remediation was greeted with consternation by residents and some board members.
Some residents had other breaking points – such as remembering that Clarendon had two-way traffic once, and it was a problem – or suggestions, such as putting solar panels on the side of building so a green roof could go in. “Developers keep sort of sliding out from under green roof requirements,” resident Melissa McWhinney said.
Easier standard by state law
Many concerns were not relevant to a board decision, Dash said, especially since July 31. That’s when state law changed the standard on strict enforcement of municipal zoning to “practical difficulty” from the higher standard of “hardship.”
“The question is whether what we’ve described here shows a practical difficulty for developing this site … That’s what we’re talking about tonight. Not design, not traffic backups, not two-way streets,” Dash said. “And I believe we surely do. If this wasn’t difficult to develop, it would have been developed years ago. I can tell you, other uses were explored.”
The board’s vice chair, Anne Brockelman, assured the attendees and development team: “We all want success. Something needs to happen in this Pit.” Continuing the meeting to November allowed time for a staff report to come in and for the board to understand how the changes in law affected what variances were valid.
“It’s a great project, and I really want to see it move forward … there is a strong desire for the lot to be put to a productive use and contribute to the wonderful vibrancy of Teele Square,” said Emily Hardt, the city councilor whose Ward 7 covers the area. “Eight stories is not unreasonable for this lot, but I hope the development team and the ZBA and the city staff can work together to make sure it’s executed in the most appropriate way.”
