Somerville Advisory Panel Unanimously Advances Two 90 Washington Street Development Finalists

Finance Committee · Meeting of May 5, 2026

Somerville's 90 Washington Street Civic Advisory Committee voted 9-0 to advance both development finalists and declared a group preference for the North River Lyrinc proposal. The committee forwarded Wood Partners, proposing a single seven-story, 324-unit building with 398 structured parking spaces, and North River Lyrinc Manager LLC, proposing three buildings of six to 16 stories with 426 units and 200 underground parking spaces, to the City Council and Somerville Redevelopment Authority ahead of a May 11 special Council session. Senior Planner Ben DeMers flagged that North River Lyrinc's underground parking depends on unresolved soil testing, warning that a negative feasibility finding would "pretty significantly" alter the site plan.

The committee's finalized written memo states members hold a "strong preference" for North River Lyrinc's current proposal while remaining open to best and final offers from both teams, with Councillor Ben Wheeler calling the transit-adjacent site "exactly the kind of place where we want to put a lot of people." One member dissented from the density consensus, arguing both proposals are undermined by the absence of homeownership opportunities.

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Source: the Finance Committee meeting of May 5, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.