Six Developers Submit Powder House School Proposals

Update, March 8: According to an email from the Somerville Community Corporation, they are the group behind the proposal put forth by Davis Square Architects. A clarification has been made below in the original story.

ORIGINAL STORY:

Six developers submitted proposals to build at the site of the Powder House Community School near Teele Square, according to the city of Somerville.

The school closed in 2004, and the city issued a request for proposals on Dec. 26, 2012, seeking development pitches for the 1.85-acre plot of land.

Proposals were due at the end of February, and here are the six development groups that submitted proposals:

• Tufts University
• Somerville Community Corporation, a local developer that builds affordable housing. They are working with Davis Square Architects, which builds sustainable communities and has worked on residential, commercial and restaurant space, including Diesel Cafe and Bloc 11 in Somerville.
• Gate Residential/KSS Realty Partners, the folks behind Maxwell's Green here in Somerville
• Diamond Sinacori Real Estate Development, a firm based out of the South End that specializes in residential and commercial real estate and which worked on a luxury condo building in Chestnut Hill called Waterworks Park.
• Peter Lee (Young Development) and Michael McKee (Architect)
• Mammoth Acquisition Company, LLC, which appears to be based out of Brockton.

Jaclyn Rossetti, a spokesperson for the city, said the next step in the process is to form a review committee to assess the six proposals.

The request for proposals says the mayor planned to recommend a development proposal to the Somerville Board of Aldermen by March 18, but Rossetti said the process would likely take longer than that, possibly into late spring or early summer.

That said, "The goal is to get things going as soon as possible," she said.

The review committee, officially named the Powder House Community School Technical Advisory Committee, according to the request proposals, will be composed of staff from the mayor's office, the purchasing department, the Office of Strategic Planning and Community Development and other representatives.

Rossetti said its members will likely be chosen in the next week or two.

More

City Officially Seeks Buyers for Powder House School Near Teele Square

City to 'Test the Waters' With Powder House School This Fall

Future of Powder House School and Teele Square Debated