Research & Development: Where Arts and Tech Coexist?

After a year and a half of debate over a developer's proposal to expand a green tech campus in Somerville’s largest arts-zoned space, the City is preparing to present a new zoning district and overlay that might accommodate both artist and greenie interests.

Greentown Labs, a climatetech incubator on the Somernova campus. (Photo: Ryan DiLello)

The Mayor's requests to establish a Research & Design district and an Arts & Innovation sub-area will go before the Land Use Committee for a public hearing this Thursday, March 20, at 6:30PM. The proposed zoning amendments are the first two steps in a forthcoming master plan for "Central Somerville Avenue," the area slated for development, stretching along Somerville Avenue between Park Street to just over Dane Street.

According to the project planning page, if approved, the current Fabrication zoning district will be split into two distinct districts: "an improved Fabrication district that more strongly supports the growth of artists and makers, and a new research & development district that facilitates the growth of the climate tech industry."

The R&D district would allow an additional 120 feet of building height in the area planned for development and limit the number of parking spaces to 750. While an Arts & Innovation sub-area would require among other provisions, 8 percent of non-residential floor space be leasable floor area for Arts & Creative Enterprise principal uses, the domains of which the City is still refining.

These changes would supplant the current Fabrication District zoning, enacted in 2019 to "create, maintain, and enhance activities common to the arts & creative economy and supporting commercial activities; and a variety of employment opportunities in the arts & creative enterprise."

Land Use Committee Chair Matt McLaughlin declined to comment on the Mayor's proposals ahead of the meeting, but shared he was looking forward to hearing from residents.

Residents and interest groups have already made their voices heard on the project, posting flyers, sending emails, and attending community meetings. Neighbors have expressed concern over building height and anticipated traffic congestion. The #ARTSTAYSHERE coalition has rallied artists around calls for maintaining and enhancing the protections to artists. And the city's Urban Design Commission shared concerns over the project's density, lack of open space, and shade.

In response to community pushback, Rafi Properties withdrew and refiled their proposal last May, reducing the scale of the project from 1.9 million square feet to 1.6 million square feet, adding 100 homes (20 of them affordable), and introducing multiple arts-focused spaces and provisions.

A summary report of the Union Square Neighborhood Council's (USNC) 2024 Community Benefits Agreement summits declared “the arts and creative economy,” “zoning/physical characteristics” and “housing” (which narrowly beat out “community center”) the top three interest areas for demands.

On January 22, 2025, USNC held a public meeting with the vice president of real estate development for Rafi and Somernova, Kristen Phelan, to provide updates on their ongoing CBA negotiations. The two parties expressed alignment in principle on many key interest areas including support for the arts and local businesses, affordable housing, a project labor agreement, and parking and mobility.

In response to the City's zoning amendments up for review at Thursday's Land Use Committee meeting, the USNC has issued a flyer requesting the Planning Board and Land Use Committee tighten the requirements for mobility and traffic management, require a special permit before allowing the maximum height to go from 60 feet to 78 feet in the proposed R&B base zone to avoid setting a precedent for Fabrication zones where artist clusters exist, and create a second set of step backs on all buildings where sides face low-rise residential uses and zones.