Davis Square Hotel - update

[pbockelman.livejournal.com]

Somerville Patch has a good summary of the proposals for a hotel in Davis Square (where the farmer's market is now) here: http://somerville.patch.com/articles/davis-square-hotel-what-developers-have-proposed.

Also, you can go to the City's website to see much of the submitted material here: http://www.somervillema.gov/departments/ospcd/economic-development/davis-square-hotel-project

Other information can be found at an independent website created by a neighbor: http://herberthotel.net/

Comments

[maelithil.livejournal.com]

Does anyone know anything about the proposed change in Day Street's viability. I heard, which may be a rumor, that they're floating the possibility of making it a two way street. Which, wtf.

[ron_newman]

Whom did you hear this from? I don't see how it could be easily done without removing parking from one side.

[maelithil.livejournal.com]

A friend who lives in the neighborhood. She said they were planning on removing one side of parking. I have no idea if this is true or not, which is why I'm fishing for more info. :)

[courtney o'keefe (from livejournal.com)]

Seems that Davis Square Partners (Gate Residential and KSS Realty) can't get enough of Somerville! They are finalizing Maxwells Green and have bid on both the Powderhouse Community School and the Herbert Hotel opportunity.

[ron_newman]

Is there a similar page on the city website for the Powderhouse Community School bidding process? Where can I find out more about KSS's (and other) proposals for that site?

[courtney o'keefe (from livejournal.com)]

Hi Ron,

Yes, there is a similar page, however, the proposals have not been posted yet.

http://www.somervillema.gov/departments/ospcd/planning-and-zoning/teele-square (http://www.somervillema.gov/departments/ospcd/planning-and-zoning/teele-square)

I'm sorry, I'm using the link feature, but it's not making the URL an actual link.

[ron_newman]

I don't know what "the link feature" is, but just typing a URL in a comment should turn it into a link.

http://www.somervillema.gov/departments/ospcd/planning-and-zoning/teele-square

This page is from 2010, which I guess is a previous attempt to develop the property?

[courtney o'keefe (from livejournal.com)]

Ron,

The link does have the recent request for a proposal on it (right hand side), so I'm assuming this is where the bids and current information will live.

[mzrowan.livejournal.com]

Given the bad feeling around the construction of Maxwells Green (am I remembering that right?), I wonder if Gate/KSS already have a black mark against them. Also, I don't think putting in 5000+ square feet of restaurant space is actually a good idea. There are so many restaurants there already, and adding more will just increase the traffic to the hotel.

The Fandetti/P-W proposal seems too small to me. So overall, I like the Saracen and Sage/Park-Lodge proposals best.

[ron_newman]

Is there a bad feeling about Maxwell's Green? Seems like it turned out pretty well.

To benefit the local business community, I'd also prefer that the hotel not contain its own restaurant, and instead directs its guests to the many nearby choices in the square.

At least one of the proposals is for a 6-story building, which is two floors higher than current zoning allows.

[mzrowan.livejournal.com]

I might be misremembering -- didn't a development in that area come under fire for not using enough local/union workers?

[ron_newman]

You may be right -- I did not pay close attention to that issue.

A lot of folks from the UNITE HERE hotel workers' union attended last week's community meeting. They want the city to ensure that whatever hotel developer is selected will employ a unionized workforce.

The Saracen proposal is for a 6-story, 60-foot high building. The current Davis Square central business district zoning allows only a 4-story, 50-foot buildling. The other three proposals appear to conform to that height limit.

[courtney o'keefe (from livejournal.com)]

Gate Residential and KSS Realty were picketed by Unions when demolition and initial construction began. I believe, they did use Bent Electric which is both local and Union (Local 103, IBEW). I don't know if other Union labor was used.

[somerfriend.livejournal.com]

I was at at least one meeting that was supposed to be for the neighborhood to hear about changes to the development and to discuss our concerns, but was to some degree hijacked by the union people demanding to be awarded the work they felt they were entitled to, without having to compete in an open market bid situation.

[emannths.livejournal.com]

IMHO, of course...I know everyone interprets "local business" differently, but I'd think a restaurant is about as local-business as one can get. It uses local employes, pays local taxes and fees, serves the local community. Sure, the owners/investors may not be local, but a) that's no assurance of the restaurant's quality and b) the community at large gains little even if the profits stay in the hands of a few locals.

If the restaurant is good enough to syphon off customers from existing restaurants, then it's probably a net benefit to the community regardless of its owners. Let's leave the choice to the potential customers rather than a pseudo-omniscient board.

[ron_newman]

If the hotel was proposed for currently private property, I would agree with you. But this proposal is for sale of a city-owned parking lot to a developer. Given that, some 'pseudo-omniscience' from the review committee may be appropriate.

[ron_newman]

Some folks from the apartment building at 38 Day Street attended last week's meeting and were not happy. They said the proposed hotel would block all natural light that now comes into windows on the north side of the building. I think some apartments have windows on that side only.