Copper Mill CEO Andrew Flynn confirmed in late August that the company will not be moving forward with its plan to build a 26-story apartment tower with roughly 500 housing units in Davis Square.
In an Aug. 31 letter sent to the Davis Square Neighborhood Council, Flynn thanked community members for their engagement with the proposal. He attributed the plan’s withdrawal to what he described as a lack of cooperation and direction from Somerville city leadership.
“Despite an exhaustive community engagement process over the past three years … the housing development has not made any material progress with regards to procurement of approvals due to the apathy of city leadership,” Flynn wrote.
Flynn also criticized the Somerville administration for failing to co-sign Copper Mill’s 40B application, a process which allows developers to bypass certain local zoning restrictions in exchange for including affordable housing units.
Somerville Mayor Jake Wilson pushed back on the claims, explaining that the 40B project eligibility proposal had been paused by MassHousing since the beginning, giving the city little role in the process.
“It was pretty fascinating to read how somehow the city was to blame for this from the developer’s perspective, despite the fact [that] we were never even given the opportunity to provide comment on this by the state,” Wilson commented.
Davis Square residents and business owners expressed differing views on the cancellation and what it means for the neighborhood’s future.
Christopher Beland, vice president of the Davis Square Neighborhood Council and a member of Somerville YIMBY, the city’s branch of the pro-housing movement ‘Yes In My Backyard,’ said that while the Davis Square Neighborhood Council did not take an official position on the proposal, he personally expressed support.
“It actually looked like a really good project, and it was something that I would love to have in my neighborhood,” Beland said. “Just adding housing supply is so important, and going tall like this enables the city to put in a lot of housing all at once without displacing anyone.”
Paul Christie, co-owner of local gift shop Davis Squared and head of the Davis Square Merchants Association, had concerns about Copper Mill and the size of the proposed project.
“Honestly, I wasn’t a big fan of Copper Mill. I didn’t feel like they were good neighbors up to this point and so entrusting them with the largest construction project in Davis Square, … I was hesitant about that,” Christie said.
Christie also discussed existing challenges facing businesses in Davis Square that influenced his concerns about the proposed development.
“The vacancy rate in the square doesn’t help, and then the public safety issues that we’ve been having, the homelessness and the addiction, were definitely factors that have been affecting business in the square,” Christie said. “So I think to have a huge construction project like that would have put additional stress on businesses that were already struggling.”
Tommy McCarthy, co-owner of The Burren, the Irish pub and music venue that would have been temporarily displaced by the proposed development, said he saw significant opposition to the project from the outset. McCarthy shared that he wants future development to preserve the community that he believes has shaped Davis Square.
“What I’d like to see for Davis Square is [to] keep going on what The Burren started, which is music and arts and crafts, and not to become some kind of a glass house town with tall buildings and people working from home,” McCarthy said.
Meanwhile, the city has continued to invest in Davis Square’s public spaces. On Aug. 21, Somerville held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for improvements to the Davis Square Slip Lane and Statue Park, adding seating, plants, lighting and art installations to the area.
Wilson said the city’s public space improvements are part of a broader effort to support local businesses and make Davis Square a destination for residents and visitors.
“The great thing about Davis is it’s really built on local independent-owned businesses,” Wilson said. “We want to make sure that we’re really protecting that part of Davis Square and centering that as we look at giving Davis Square a really bright future.”
According to Wilson, the withdrawal of the Copper Mill proposal added urgency to completing the comprehensive Davis Square Neighborhood Plan, which has been in development for more than a decade.
“[The proposal had] a real impact in the sense that it brought urgency to the need for the Davis Square Neighborhood Plan, so that we were having this holistic vision for Davis Square as opposed to doing development and making important decisions on a parcel-by-parcel basis,” Wilson said.
Wilson stated that the proposal also prompted discussion about housing in Davis Square, which is currently not zoned for residential development.
“We want to have residential development in Davis Square. Where should that be? What are people willing to look at in terms of heights?” Wilson said. “This entire process and the discussion … [has] pushed people in good directions, and I’m excited to see where we go with this.”
