Image courtesy of city of Somerville
Proposed expansion plans for the Somernova R&D campus in Somerville will be revised by developer Rafi Properties after another round of public comments.
The developer withdrew a rezoning plan intended to clear the way for a 1.6 million-square-foot expansion of its 7.4-acre campus near Union Square
The rezoning petition had been scheduled for review on Feb. 14 by the Somerville City Council and Planning Board. Rafi Properties will submit a new proposal this spring following additional public comment, the Cambridge Day reported.
The “climate and equity innovation overlay district” would have rezoned 23 properties on Somerville Avenue, Tyler Street, Park Street, Dane Street and Properzi Way including the Somernova campus for higher density, including 1.1 million square feet of R&D space and 333,000 square feet of office space.
At neighborhood meetings last fall, residents objected to the proposed building heights up to 245 feet, plans for 1,252 parking spaces and loss of arts and cultural space. The site is currently zoned as a fabrication district, part of Somerville’s strategy to protect its arts community from displacement.
The existing Somernova campus on Properzi Way occupies a group of industrial buildings occupied by startups, makerspaces and Aeronaut Brewing.
The expansion would accelerate Greater Boston’s role in the clean energy sector while stemming the departure of growing companies to locations outside of Somerville, according to Rafi Properties’ petition.
Potential development associated with the rezoning would generate up to $388 million in property taxes over 15 years, compared to the current $15.4 million, Rafi Properties stated in its submission.
The developer also offered to build a 25,000-square-foot community center which it would donate to the city of Somerville and contribute $5.5 million to a community impact fund.
Somernova includes the Greentown Labs clean energy accelerator, where a startup that’s developing a decarbonized concrete product recently signed 23,000-square-foot expansion tripling its research space. Co-founded in 2020 by MIT professor Yet-Ming Chiang and electrochemist Leah Ellis, Sublime Systems replaces the high-temperature production process for cement with an electrochemical process and operates a 250-ton-per-year pilot plant at Greentown Labs.
