According to Alderman Mark Niedergang he learned a tremendous amount on our trip to check out candidates for Union Sq. Master Developer. I really liked the work of Gerding Eadlin in Portland, Ore. (pictured below), and Magellan & Mesirow (US2) in Chicago. I could see
either doin…g an excellent job in Union Sq. I was also impressed with the city’s delegation. They asked tough questions & all seem committed to finding the right partner for Union Sq. We’ll be checking out projects by the Abbey Group in Boston on Wed., after which I’ll be writing a brief report with my recommendations. Here’s a recap from the Somerville Journal: http://tinyurl.com/o397say, and photos and details from each of our stops at Somerville by Design : http://tinyurl.com/pczgxfs
Mark was on a trip with a 10-person City delegation to do due diligence on the finalists for Union Sq. Master Developer. We started in Bethesda, Md., are now in Chicago, then heading to Portland, Oregon and San Jose, Calif., to see completed developments in areas with urban feels like Union Sq. If you want more info about the delegation, itinerary, or the candidates, check out the press release: http://tinyurl.com/ot3p93l
It’s interesting to see Alderman Niedergang mention Gerding Edlen’s work in Portland as a reference point for Union Square, especially since that project is often cited for its mixed-use approach. I wonder how much of that model could realistically translate to Somerville given the different scale and transit situation here.
On a totally different note, I’ve been killing time between meetings with a free online voice-based party game called The Choicer Voicer, which is a fun little browser thing that doesn’t need any download.
https://thechoicervoicer.fun/
The trip was paid for by the developers.
Who paid for this trip?