Winter Hill Plan Implementation

At their September 16, 2020 meeting, the Somerville Redevelopment Authority voted to approve the Winter Hill Urban Renewal Plan. The Plan will now need to be approved by the Planning Board, City Council, and State. The SomerVoice project page will be updated as soon as dates for these meetings become available.

After over a year of public meetings, community conversations, and online engagement, the draft of the Winter Hill Urban Renewal Plan has been released. Thank you to everyone who has participated in the conversation for your help in shaping this document.

Project Area

The proposed Project Area is a 2.8-acre site that includes two vacant lots on Sewall, the vacant Star Market, the Winter Hill Liquors building, the Elegancia Salon building, and the pharmacy. The Plan proposes the following for each of the Disposition Parcels in the Project Area:

• D1: The SRA would convey this property to the City to create a new green, open space.
• D2: The SRA would convey this property to a mission-driven affordable housing developer to create an affordable housing project that matches the character of Sewall St.
• D3: This parcel would have a robust community process to explore possible concepts on the site, to identify which developers may be good partners for redeveloping the site, and to recommend to the SRA which project to ultimately move forward with. The Neighborhood Plan calls for a mixed-use development with commercial on the ground floor, residential on upper floors (including 20% affordable units), and a publicly accessible pedestrian route connecting Broadway and Sewall.

Two residential households and four businesses would be displaced as a result of the proposed Plan, but would be entitled to relocation benefits as mandated by the State. (If a private developer redeveloped these buildings, no such relocation benefits would be required.) We don’t anticipate any displacement happening before 2024, and it would likely be later depending on how long the community process takes and potential phasing of redevelopment construction. The City has retained a relocation benefits expert to provide information and answer questions from these parties.

We talked about a variety of different sites that could be included in the Urban Renewal Plan, but many community members expressed that the vacant Star Market should be the biggest priority. We can still amend the plan to include new sites in the future if needed, the plan would just need to be approved by the SRA, Planning Board, City Council, and State again. Staff believe that the corner buildings are an important part of the plan despite being in sound condition because, without them, the development may not be feasible due to the shape of the parcel.

Objectives

The objectives of the Plan are to:

• Improve Winter Hill’s identity as a neighborhood-oriented main street commercial district.
• Create green and open gathering spaces to support community life and the environment.
• Ensure a pedestrian- and bike-friendly experience.
• Minimize displacement by building additional affordable housing.
• Pursue redevelopment that produces equitable outcomes in the neighborhood.
• Redevelop vacant and underutilized properties into uses that better meet community needs.

Community Process for Redevelopment

As discussed in a previous SRA Meeting, this draft plan includes a detailed process for the selection of a developer for the D3 site that prioritizes community engagement and involvement. A Citizen Advisory Committee would help us ensure inclusive and extensive community conversation about the future of the site and will assist the SRA in identifying a developer and concept for the site. This process of deciding what the community wants from D3 would happen after the Urban Renewal Plan is officially adopted.

Process for Approval

To be official, the Urban Renewal Plan needs to be approved by the SRA, the City Council, the Planning Board, and the State. See the project page for updates on where in the process the plan is currently.

Tips for Sharing Your Feedback

Right now, the SRA and other bodies will be considering whether to approve the Urban Renewal Plan and if there are any necessary edits that should be made to the Plan. Focusing your feedback on these two questions will be most helpful.

If you are sharing written feedback, please include LDrago@SomervilleMA.gov to ensure your feedback is compiled and preserved appropriately.

If you are providing verbal feedback during a public comment period of a meeting, please remember that comments are limited to two minutes. Having a good idea of the two or three points you want people to remember is a great strategy for making the most of your time. Of course, you can provide written feedback to further elaborate on your points too.

We will be updating the project page on how to best share your input as the Plan progresses through the approval process. Don’t forget to sign up for our email list for updates as well.

The conversation about an urban renewal plan in Winter Hill started because of the vacant Star Market site in the neighborhood. As we collect feedback about this, City staff would also like input on what other sites the community may be interested in focusing on as part of an urban renewal plan. In this post, we highlight some of the possible sites that could be included in a Winter Hill Urban Renewal Plan and what was imagined for these sites in the Neighborhood Plan. Download this PDF to see all of the renderings and images for each property.

Star Market Site

Although we refer to the Star Market site as such, this site also includes the Walgreens, Winter Hill Liquor Store and Brazilian Times building, and the Elegancia Barber Shop.

The Neighborhood Plan calls for a five-story development on the whole site that allows for 200 new housing units with 28,000 square feet of retail and a half acre of publicly accessible open space. Recently, a private developer was interested in this site but was not ultimately able to make the deal. The developer, after conversations with the community, imagined a 6-story project with 310 housing units, 25,000 square feet of retail, and 1 acre of publicly accessible open space.

Whitcomb Place

This site includes the vacant Walgreens, CareWell Urgent Care, and Winter Hill Bank. The Neighborhood Plan envisions a new development that would connect Broadway to Heath Street for pedestrians and incorporate .4 acres of open space. The new buildings could be four stories with 130 housing units and 8,700 square feet of retail. The idea would be to contemplate the four-story buildings adjacent to the property while still preserving the character of Heath Street.

Brewery Block

The Brewery Block includes the Winter Hill Brewery Block, Citizens Bank, the Post Office, and some surrounding properties. The idea is not to do a major redevelopment on the site, but rather to focus on fixing the street network. Many different property owners are involved in this site. The Neighborhood Plan calls for a reconfiguration of the area to allow for better circulation of people and cars, additional open space, and maybe the building of a house or two. The Plan also imagines preserving the post office building, Winter Hill Brewery, and the residential building while redeveloping the single-story commercial building and the Citizens Bank property. The redevelopment efforts could be four or five stories with about 80 units of housing and .2 acres of open space, as well as current ground-floor retail.

Foss Parking

Another opportunity site identified in the Neighborhood Plan is to transform the City-owned parking alongside Foss Park into additional open space that can complement the park. The Neighborhood Plan imagines how incorporating the pavement into Foss Park could provide more space for assets in the park and a more environmentally-friendly and beautiful walk along Broadway. There is space for some small businesses that could provide concessions for the park and an opportunity to increase the gathering green space.

What happens to the property owners and tenants of a property that ends up in an urban renewal plan?

Inclusion in an urban renewal plan makes it possible for the Somerville Redevelopment Authority to take a property, but that doesn't necessarily happen right away. When a property is taken, the property owner is paid a fair market value, which is determined by a specific legally prescribed process.

Any tenants--businesses or residents--who would be displaced through a taking receive financial and site search assistance to relocate. Businesses who do not wish to be relocated can be bought out.

How can you get involved?

We are seeking input from the community about whether we should pursue an urban renewal plan at all, and whether any sites besides Star Market should be included in such a plan. Visit the SomerVoice project page for up-to-date information about how to share your input.

We had about forty-five people brave the terrible winter weather and join us at the Healey School on December 17th at 7pm for a discussion about the Star Market site, including Ward 4 Councilor Jesse Clingan, Ward 4 Councilor Mark Niedergang, Ward 4 School Committee Member Andre Green, and Representative Christine Barber. Staff initially planned on an open-house style meeting, but attendees decided a presentation would be more effective in the moment. Following are the topics we covered.

First, City staff reviewed urban renewal as a method for taking the vacant, blighted Star Market site and redeveloping the property (the history of this conversation is covered here).

Some of the key takeaways (full handout can be downloaded here):

• An urban renewal plan is a tool that can help us implement the Winter Hill Neighborhood Plan. It gives the Somerville Redevelopment Authority the power to take blighted property and turn it into something that better fits community needs.
• Urban renewal plans are not just about taking property: an urban renewal plan can also encourage property owners to improve their properties and identify other strategies for implementing the Winter Hill Neighborhood Plan.
• Any business or household displaced through the taking of property through an urban renewal plan must have their relocation expenses paid for. Any property owner whose property is taken receives a legally-defined fair market value for that property.
• An urban renewal plan must be approved by the Somerville Redevelopment Authority, the Somerville Planning Board, the Somerville City Council, and the State’s Department of Housing and Community Development.

The Star Market site in Broadway has been vacant since 2007. That this large, centrally-located site has been blighted for so long has been a frustration to the surrounding community. In June 2019, we held a community meeting to explore whether the community would be interested in the City taking aggressive action on the site. Specifically, did residents want the City to use eminent domain to take the property? As you can see from the meeting notes, the overwhelming majority of participants wanted the City to consider taking the property.

At this meeting, staff presented two similar paths to take the property--a demonstration project or urban renewal. The demonstration project received the most votes as the preferred path, we think because it would be a quicker process and only focus on the Star Market site. Unfortunately, subsequent conversations with City legal counsel suggest that pursuing a demonstration project plan on this particular site may stall the project. Therefore, the remaining options are to wait for private development on the site or to pursue an urban renewal plan.

As a result, City staff is seeking feedback on two key questions. First, is an urban renewal plan the right path forward for the Star Market site? Second, if we do pursue an urban renewal plan, what should it look like?

We want to hear from you! We will be gathering feedback about these two questions throughout January. Here is how to get involved in the conversation:

Attend the community meeting. We will have an open house style meeting with stations for these different questions. Talk to staff and your neighbors about what you think is the right path forward.

Tuesday, December 17th from 6:00-7:30pm

Healey School (5 Meacham St, Somerville, MA).

Use the SomerVoice website. We will be posting more information and opportunities to share your feedback to this page after December 17th meeting.

Join us for office hours. City staff will be working in the neighborhood and available to answer questions or chat about this project. Check the SomerVoice page, as we will update it with new sessions as they are scheduled.

Stay in touch. You can follow this project by creating a SomerVoice account, or you can sign up for the email list here.