Winter Hill Plan Implementation

Summer 2025 was several significant updates for the 299 Broadway project, which is one of the largest in Winter Hill and will introduce 319 units of housing to the neighborhood along with two new parks, retail space, and a community room. Updates from this summer include:

• The Somerville City Council approved the Urban Center Housing Tax Increment Financing (UCH-TIF) agreement for the project, which will provide tax subsidy to make the project viable.
• The Somerville City Council also approved public access easements and maintenance agreements for parks and pathways on the site, to ensure these are open to everyone and maintained to City standards. One of the parks along Sewall Street will also end up in City ownership.
• The development team took significant steps to secure financing for the project.

The project team anticipates beginning site work in October or November 2025. Stay tuned for updates regarding construction and demolition work, as well as a groundbreaking celebration.

The Somerville Community Land Trust (SCLT) has acquired 14 Sewall Street in Winter Hill to develop into 3-5 affordable homeownership units. These units will provide an important path to homeownership in the neighborhood and are located directly adjacent to the larger 299 Broadway mixed-use development. SCLT hosted a celebration in August 2025 to celebrate the acquisition and meet neighbors.

The acquisition was made possible through a $1,000,000 MBTA Communities Catalyst Fund grant received by the City of Somerville from the State’s Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities (HLC). The City was eligible to apply due to compliance with the MBTA Communities Act. Funds from the grant will also be used to support other project costs incurred by SCLT.

Source: Iaritza Menjivar for Somerville Community Land Trust.

The Winter Hill Urban Renewal Plan Civic Advisory Committee (CAC) is currently recruiting for new members. The WHURP’s purpose is to create a space for community feedback about implementation of the Winter Hill Urban Renewal Plan, which focuses primarily on the Star Market site at 299 Broadway that is currently being redeveloped. This feedback is shared with both City staff and the board of the Somerville Redevelopment Authority, which oversees implementation of urban renewal in Somerville. The CAC has positions reserved for various community stakeholders, and meets monthly or every couple of months.

If you are interested in applying to join the CAC, please fill out one of the following surveys by May 31st:

• English: https://voice.somervillema.gov/embeds/projects/4007/survey-tools/20168
• Spanish: https://voice.somervillema.gov/embeds/projects/4007/survey-tools/21460
• Portuguese: https://voice.somervillema.gov/embeds/projects/4007/survey-tools/21462
• Haitian Creole: https://voice.somervillema.gov/embeds/projects/4007/survey-tools/21531
• Nepali: https://voice.somervillema.gov/embeds/projects/4007/survey-tools/21485
• Simplified Chinese: https://voice.somervillema.gov/embeds/projects/4007/survey-tools/21535
• Traditional Chinese: https://voice.somervillema.gov/embeds/projects/4007/survey-tools/21534

Check out the 299 Broadway Project Website! The page will continue to be updated with relevant project materials and meeting or hearing dates. The page also has a 'Stay Informed' feature for those who wish to engage further with the project.

Applicants for 299 Broadway recently submitted their complete Comprehensive Permit (40B) application, and are currently scheduled to begin the public hearing process with the Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) at the December 14, 2022, ZBA meeting, beginning at 6:00 p.m. The meeting will be virtual, and the link and agenda are both posted online. The application for 299 Broadway can be reviewed on the Planning and Zoning Reports and Decisions webpage. The public hearing/ZBA process will occur over multiple meetings, and following the complete application review and public hearing process, the ZBA will issue a decision whether to approve the application. Additional meetings will be posted to the City Website.

After over a year of community conversations, the proposal for redeveloping 299 Broadway is proceeding to permitting. The project will now transition from conversations with the Winter Hill Civic Advisory Committee to the Zoning Board of Appeals, which will serve as the permit granting authority reviewing the details of the project. Along the way, several other boards and commissions will be reviewing the project and providing feedback to the development team.

Winter Hill Civic Advisory wraps up its advisory role for the time being.

The Winter Hill Civic Advisory Committee (Winter Hill CAC) has been meeting for the past several months with the team proposing redevelopment at 299 Broadway. The Winter Hill CAC is tasked with gathering community perspectives and synthesizing feedback regarding the direction of redevelopment within the Winter Hill Urban Renewal Plan area, like the proposal at 299 Broadway. Their findings are summarized in a formal memo. The Civic Advisory Committee will be on hiatus during the permitting stage of this project with the expectation that they will resume their role as advisors on this site and others in the urban renewal plan area in Spring 2023.

The Somerville Redevelopment Authority issues a resolution in favor of proceeding to permitting

The Somerville Redevelopment Authority has official jurisdiction over the Winter Hill Urban Renewal Plan and projects occurring within the urban renewal plan area. Agreeing with the Winter Hill CAC, the Somerville Redevelopment Authority has endorsed the project's advancement to the permitting process.

A little about this permitting process

The 299 Broadway proposal will be seeking a Comprehensive Permit through the State’s “40B” permitting process. This is a slightly different process than the typical zoning approval for a new project, designed by the State of Massachusetts to encourage higher levels of affordable housing. The proposal at 299 Broadway will follow Somerville’s zoning code in most respects, but is planning to seek a few waivers that are integral to the project’s success.” A 40B project can seek waivers to the zoning code, similar to variances, at the same time that the project as a whole is reviewed, which is why the state designates the Zoning Board of Appeals as the permit granting authority for 40B projects rather than the Planning Board. If you would like to read about the nuances of the 40B process, please review this 40B primer from the Planning, Preservation, and Zoning Division.

Public Feedback in the first step of the 40B permitting process

The first step of a 40B process is for a project to receive eligibility status from the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD). The development team from Mark Development and Beacon Communities is currently on this step and there is an opportunity to provide public comments directly to DHCD while they consider if this proposal is eligible to go through the 40B permitting pathway. The City of Somerville and members of the public have until Sat. October 8th, to submit comments to DHCD regarding the eligibility of this project. The Project Eligibility application can be viewed here, and the letter from DHCD to Mayor Ballantyne opening the public comment period can be viewed here.

Comments on the PEL application can be directed to DHCD at the following address and/or email address:

Rebecca Frawley Wachtel, Director

Low Income Housing Tax Credit Program

DHCD

100 Cambridge Street, 3^rd Floor

Boston, MA 02114

Email: Rebecca.frawley@mass.gov

What happens after that?

Following the 30-day public comment period, DHCD will determine whether to issue a Project Eligibility Letter for the proposed development at 299 Broadway. The application will also be posted on the OSPCD’s Reports and Decisions web page. Once an eligibility letter has been issued, Mark Development and Beacon Communities can submit a Comprehensive Permit (40B) application to the Somerville Zoning Board of Appeals, who will hold a public hearing to review the application.

Additional notice will be sent digitally to the community and by mail to those in the immediate vicinity of 299 Broadway announcing the public hearing at the Zoning Board of Appeals. All members of the public are encouraged to participate and follow the discussions occurring at the Zoning Board of Appeals.

Questions?

If you have questions on any of this please contact Rachel Nadkarni, rnadkarni@somervillema.gov and Emily Hutchings, ehutchings@somervillema.gov.

Thank you for following this work! We have a few updates to share.

What kind of activities and businesses are you excited to see in the future Temple Square when the Star Market is redeveloped?

The City of Somerville and the Winter Hill Civic Advisory Committee would like to hear about what would make Winter Hill’s business district more complete for you. Are there types of businesses, community center activities, and general outcomes that you would like to see in the future?

• Retail businesses (grocery, bank, clothing store, etc.)

• Service businesses (salon, tax advisor, fitness studio, dentist, etc.)

• Places to get together (restaurant, café, dance class, meeting space, etc.)

• Activities and Outcomes that are important to you (places that promote immigrant cultures, places that pay employees well, places that are toddler friendly, a space to hang out with friends, keeping existing businesses strong, etc.)

Share your ideas in our online survey! | Comparta sus ideas en nuestra encuesta digital | Pataje lide w nan sondaj sa a sou entènèt nou an! | Compartilhe suas idéias em nossa pesquisa!

Over the next couple months, we will also be out and about in the neighborhood with additional ways to answer the survey on paper and talk with our engagement team. The results of this survey will be reviewed by the Winter Hill Civic Advisory Committee (CAC) and the results will be shared with the team at Mark Development.

Upcoming Meeting with the Mark Development Team on Tuesday April 12th

Please join the 299 Broadway development team, the City of Somerville, Ward 4 Councilor Jesse Clingan, and Councilor at Large Jake Wilson for a virtual neighborhood meeting to discuss a proposed modification to the internal program of the 299 Broadway development.

WHEN Tuesday, April 12, 2022

TIME 6:00 – 7:30 PM

Meeting Link: https://tinyurl.com/broadwaynewmeeting

In this community meeting, the development team will present a modification to their internal program elements for the proposed redevelopment of 299 Broadway and 15 Temple Street, Somerville, MA (the Old Star Market site) as a mixed-use project. There will be an opportunity to discuss the ideas and the implications for the permitting process and timeline. Feedback received will be used in the planning process.

This meeting will have live interpretation in Haitian Creole, Spanish, and Portuguese.

For questions, please contact:

Councilor Clingan at aldermanclingan@gmail.com (External link)or by phone at (617) 290-1904 or

Councilor Wilson at jwilson@somervillema.gov(External link) or by phone at (617) 468-8969

Flier in English, Haitian Creole, Spanish, and Portuguese

The Winter Hill Civic Advisory Committee has been formed

The Winter Hill Civic Advisory Committee (CAC) has now been formed. This group of diverse stakeholders has signed on to help expand community engagement for the redevelopment of the City-owned properties beyond the usual channels and assist with collecting and synthesizing feedback received from the broader Winter Hill community.

If you have an idea, question, or concern about the redevelopment at any stage in the process, you can always bring them to the Civic Advisory Committee's regular meetings, which are held virtually on the second Thursday of the month from 5:30-7:00 pm. Meetings are held on GoToWebinar and the registration information can be found under the "key dates" section of the Winter Hill Plan's webpage. The committee had a first introductory/organizational meeting on February 10th and an engagement scoping discussion on March 10th, materials from these meetings can be found under "Key Dates." The next meeting, Thursday April 14th, will be a site walk and observations will be summarized at the May meeting.

Forming a Civic Advisory Committee

The deadline to apply to the Civic Advisory Committee has been extended until Monday November 29^th at 11:59 pm. We have received many fantastic applications but have to date received no applications from Haitian Creole speakers. Anyone who wishes to be considered should apply, and we particularly encourage those who speak Haitian Creole at an intermediate or fluent level to apply to join the group. Please share this with your networks! Applications can be submitted here.

We expect the Civic Advisory Committee to begin meetings in January 2022.

Mark Development Application for 299 Broadway

Mark Development has submitted a zone change application to the Somerville City Council. A public hearing was held on the application on Monday November 8^th. Minutes and a recording of the meeting are now available and written comments are still being accepted by the City Council. Comments to the City Council can be submitted to cityclerk@somervillema.gov until Friday, November 26^th.

Join the Civic Advisory Committee – Apply today!

The next step in implementing the Winter Hill Urban Renewal Plan is to form a civic advisory committee to inform the project implementation from now through construction.

There are many steps in the redevelopment process and this committee will be a sounding board for the neighborhood through each phase. We are looking for a diverse group of Winter Hill residents, business representatives, and institutional leaders who are excited to gather ideas from the community and share updates with their neighbors.

If you love connecting people to what’s happening in Winter Hill and are excited about this transformation, we hope you’ll consider applying.

Scroll to the “Apply to CAC” tab or click here to learn more about the committee and to apply.

Applications are due November 1^st, 2021 at 11:59 p.m..

Fliers are available in English, Haitian Creole, Portuguese, and Spanish.

There are a few updates to share about the Winter Hill Urban Renewal Plan.

State Approval Earlier Than Expected

The Urban Renewal Plan has been approved by the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development. Their review went far faster than anticipated, just 30 days. This does not mean any immediate change but does mean that we can move forward. The next step is to convene a community advisory committee, and the organizational work to set that group up is ongoing. We are continuing to work toward the first meeting of the advisory committee in September.

Visit SomerVoice.SomervilleMA.gov and select the Winter Hill Plan Implementation project for details and to review the approved plan.

July 22nd Neighborhood Meeting on Star Market Development Proposal

There is a new development team looking at 299 Broadway, the former Star Market site. They convened a neighborhood meeting on Thursday, July 22nd to share their proposal. Meeting was held Thurs, July 22nd, 6:30 - 8:00 pm. This meeting was organized and prepared by Mark Development. This was not a City of Somerville led meeting, and is being shared for informational purposes only.

Link to Slides | Link to Video

POST MEETING UPDATE: Comments and questions for the Mark Development team can be emailed to dash[at]adamdashlaw.com. If you would like to share your comments with the City of Somerville, please include Rachel Nadkarni, rnadkarni[at]somervillema.gov as well.

What does all this mean?

While City staff continue to move toward implementing the urban renewal plan and engaging the Winter Hill community in that process, the goal has been to spur redevelopment of the site. The City has been and continues to be open to working with a development team that purchases the site if their plan is consistent with the urban renewal plan and supported within the community. Economic development staff will be on hand at the development team’s meeting to address questions about how the processes relate.