A committee of Somerville Board of Aldermen members, Davis Square residents and Somerville city government workers is considering four development proposals for a hotel in Davis Square after Aldermen approved the sale of city property for a hotel last fall.
The proposed hotel would be located at the intersection of Day and Herbert Streets, where a municipal parking lot currently stands. Though details of the developers' submissions vary, proposals feature hotels with 80 to 125 rooms.
"Bringing a hotel to Davis Square is considered a ... best use [of city property]," Somerville Mayor Joseph Curtatone told the Daily. "It brings great dynamic to the city and adds vitality to the square."
While hotel construction could benefit local businesses, city officials are concerned about how it could impact the community, according to Steven Azar, a senior planner of economic development for Somerville and the city chair for the Davis Square Hotel Technical Advisory Committee.
To ensure local voices are represented in the process, Curtatone created the Davis Square Hotel Technical Advisory Committee, a provision mandated in the Board of Aldermen's original vote for the hotel, Ward 6 Alderman Rebekah Gewirtz said.
Azar said several Somerville community members and two Board of Aldermen officials will help Curtatone select a preferred developer, but the mayor has final say.
Focused on citizen concerns about property development, Gewirtz, who serves on the advisory committee and whose region encompasses Davis Square, said resident approval is important as the project moves forward.
"The key thing for me is that this gets done right, that there's community engagement and involvement throughout the entire process and that there's a real voice and seat at the table for residents," Gewirtz told the Daily.
Concerns include reduced parking options in the already -crowded neighborhood and the future of the weekly Davis Square Farmers Market, which currently occurs in the parking lot, Gewirtz said.
"Preserving the Farmers Market is a top priority for me," she said. "It needs to stay in Davis Square and that's a [criterion] for each one of the proponents of their projects - that they must meet to work with us on the location of the Farmers Market."
According to a proposal by Saracen Properties found on the City of Somerville's website, the organization offers a six-story structure. The first two floors are for parking for both hotel patrons and the public. With this plan, the Davis Square Farmers Market could continue to operate from the hotel's public parking area.
In a competing bid, Davis Square Partners proposes a five-story hotel. However, the size of this building would require the Farmers Market to move to the Grove Street parking lot or to a property at Maxwell's Green, located off Lowell St. near Magoun Square.
A third bid is from Davis Square Hotel Partners, who would create a 120-room hotel with decor featuring work by local artists. The group does not suggest alternative locations for the Farmers Market but said that it will work with the city.
Gerald Fandetti and David Proch-Wilson, a development duo that refurbished a Kendall Square firehouse into a hotel in 2007, offers an 80-room hotel but does not mention the Farmers Market.
The city could reopen the bidding process at a later time if Curtatone or members of the committee do not accept any of the current bidders' offers, Azar said.
"We're simply making recommendations to the mayor, but if the mayor doesn't feel that any of the particular teams are really qualified, then there won't be a project," she said.
Gewirtz echoed this sentiment and said that even community involvement will be important throughout the remainder of the process.
"There are people who are direct abutters [to the proposal] who are on this committee," she said. "There's going to be more opportunity for full-on engagement if and when the community decides to recommend that one of these developers should move forward."
