The developer Copper Mill posted four new options Tuesday for its apartment and retail project in Somerville’s Davis Square, originally presented as 502-unit, 26-story tower that found significant opposition in the community even among housing advocates.
People objected online and at community meetings to the height and design, which even Andrew Flynn, head of Copper Mill, agreed in March “looks like it belongs in The Seaport or Kendall Square,” whereas “the biggest compliment someone could give us six months from now is ‘That building looks like it belongs in Davis Square.’”
The posting of the new options, for a building at varying heights, were signaled at a Monday meeting of the Davis Square Neighborhood Council held in the square’s Crystal Ballroom.
There Flynn also talked then about a revamped website and the activation of a project office on Elm Street where the curious could come in to talk with Copper Mill staff and learn about the proposal. Staff will post on Thursday the first two weeks’ schedule when they will be in the office, in the former Caramel patisserie at 235 Elm St.
One 26-story design features a two- to three-story podium and a tower set back from Elm Street. Copper Mill says this version offers more public uses.
A second design that aligns with Somerville design guidelines has a more compact tower form and is one story shorter – for 25 total – on a four-story podium.
A third design has massing that steps down toward Grove Street, reading as three stepping forms that goes as high as 24 stories, atop a three-story podium.
The fourth design of two interlocking forms is also 24 stories at its highest point and has massing stepping down toward Grove Street on a three-story podium.
Residents giving comment at meetings have asked for designs as low as six stories but sometimes at 10 or 12, and all the designs presented Tuesday are within 24 and 26 stories at their highest point. Flynn has described the challenges of getting the project to “pencil out,” starting with parcels for the proposal that have been priced at around $43 million by the real estate company Myer Dana and Sons.
“The density and the height is the only way that anything will be built on this site,” Flynn said.
Putting up apartments at Elm and Grove streets would mean as much as two years of construction that would close businesses from Dragon Pizza to The Burren, though that popular Irish pub and music hall has a deal with Copper Mill to return after completion with a long-term lease. The current project would include around 126 affordable homes among its 500 total.
The options can be viewed here.
About The Author
