Here's the latest on Somernova, the big development set for Somerville's Union Square neighborhood

Real Estate

Last week, nearby residents voted to approve a Community Benefits Agreement for the project.

Over 2,200 Somerville residents cast their vote last Wednesday on a contract that outlined the community’s needs regarding a large development project in Union Square.

The Community Benefits Agreement for a project named Somernova received 71% “yes” votes, which were verified on Thursday. Though, many neighbors expressed mixed feelings around the development and the agreement.

“The process wasn’t always easy — but that’s exactly what makes this outcome so powerful,” Kristin Phelan, vice president of real estate development for project developer Rafi Properties, said in a statement. “Through honest dialogue, compromise, and real collaboration, we’ve created something truly meaningful together.”

What is Somernova?

The 7.4-acre plot sits between Dane Street and Park Street and houses many community staples, such as Aeronaut Brewing Company, the Bouldering Project rock climbing gym, and The Dojo youth community center.

In 2023, Rafi Properties initially wanted the project to solely house climate technology start-ups and local businesses. It originally proposed 2.1 million square feet and buildings 18 to 23 stories tall, both of which exceed Somerville’s zoning standards.

Two years later, after dozens of meetings with the Union Square Neighborhood Council, Rafi Properties scaled down Somernova’s size to 1.4 million square feet and 9 to 11 story-tall buildings that now include artist studios, music venues, community spaces, and housing.

“We’ve had many disagreements with the developer, but the developer has generally been responsive to community needs and is willing to listen and share,” said Matthias Rudolf, co-chair of the neighborhood council. “That’s more than could be said for many of the other developers.”

Ami Bennitt, founding volunteer of the Art Stays Here coalition, said her organization got involved in negotiations because artist space Milk Row Studios would be heavily affected by the project. The coalition advocated for a change in zoning designation called a Fabrication district, which only makes up 2% of all property in Somerville.

“We made it very clear that arts are suffering, that displacement is an epidemic, and … they needed to bolster and make up for the arts that were going to be lost,” Bennitt said.

Since Rafi Properties’s proposal still surpasses the 1.2-square-foot and 4-story limits for Somerville zoning, it needs approval from the City Council before development begins.

The Union Square Neighborhood Council released its Community Benefits Agreement on May 21 and had a public meeting on May 28. With the 200,000 square feet outside of regular zoning, the neighborhood council called to designate half of that space to arts and creative enterprise and to have a goal of 50% of the 150 housing units to be affordable.

It also outlined construction parameters, traffic abatement, green space integration, and project monitoring. Rudolf said the development’s project labor agreement, which will have every construction worker under union contracts, is “unheard of in Somerville.”

Additionally, Rafi Properties committed to donating $1.25 million to housing, job training, and small business development.

“The number of things that it addresses and the amount of money put behind it is, in my opinion, heroic,” Bennitt said.

Over 100 people attended the May 28 meeting, with dozens asking questions or sharing comments with the council. Community members had concerns ranging from the size of the development to the traffic disruptions from construction, which is expected to take 10 years.

David Booth, a software architect who attended the meeting, has lived in Porter Square for the past 25 years and shops at the Market Basket that borders the development. He said a project of this size should be near transit centers, otherwise it would cause “horrendous traffic problems.”

“The CBA does have some nice sweeteners in it, and those are good, but they don’t take away from the central problem that this is the wrong place for that kind of high-density development,” he said.

Chris Dwan, an IT consultant who lives off Park Street, said he does not look forward to the noise but believes it is a “net good for the city.”

“We have people who want to invest in us,” he said. “It seems to me to be a good deal for the community and the city, and it’s a big, messy development next to my house, so I have mixed feelings.”

Voting on the benefits

Hundreds of people who live between Spring Hill and Grand Junction voted on the agreement last Wednesday at St. Anthony’s School. As volunteers were stopping passersby to encourage them to vote, a different camp were having conversations to persuade them toward a “no” vote.

Paolo DiFabio lives in the same Prospect Hill home he grew up in and is raising the fourth generation of Somerville residents in his family. He said Somernova looked “interesting and promising” when he first heard about it a year ago, but he did not hear about it again until the announcement of the CBA.

DiFabio said there were some outstanding issues with the agreement — such as a lack of traffic studies and the proposed height — and that the two-week period between its announcement and the vote was too short for neighbors to understand it. Voting no could lead to renegotiation of the contract.

“I don’t want to tell people that I disrespect their work, because I don’t,” DiFabio said. “In fact, I’m voting no more because I do respect their work, and I want to get an even better deal for the city.”

Somerville is one of the more expensive places in Greater Boston to rent a one-bedroom apartment, with a median price of $2,817 per month. Kevin Foster, a barista living in Union Square, said there is not enough proposed affordable housing for the number of people who work close by, and that the development will raise nearby housing and building rents.

“This is a robust neighborhood. It’s a fun neighborhood. People are going to want to live here,” said Foster, who was formerly on the neighborhood council when Rafi Properties first proposed Somernova. “It’s going to affect all the housing in this area, and it’s going to totally displace the housing market for renters.”

For David Morrow, a software developer who voted yes on the CBA, he said he wished there was more housing but that some is better than none.

“[The neighborhood council] spent two years negotiating this, and if you vote it down, then it’s basically saying that all the community benefits are useless,” he said. “I think they’ve done a great job negotiating it.”

The CBA met the required two-thirds majority vote for it to pass. It will go into effect once the City Council votes to approve Rafi Properties zoning request.

“I’m glad it passed,” Rudolf said. “I think it shows that the hard work that we put in and the coalitions that we’ve built are successful, and if you have community organizations that are empowered by the city and do the kind of work that we do … that they can be a real boon to the community.”