Fwd: [DSNC] Re: New Copper Mill Office Hours now available

[Kendra Fox]

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From: Colin McMillen <co...@mcmillen.dev>
Date: Thursday, May 28, 2026 at 6:25:13 PM UTC-4
Subject: Re: [DSNC] Re: New Copper Mill Office Hours now available
To: daviss...@googlegroups.com <daviss...@googlegroups.com>

I think the point about the "podium" is a very good one. Here's a Street View photo right out the front of the apartment building I where I used to live in Gotanda -- a medium-density neighborhood of Tokyo. It felt like a "cozy" sort of area, as Davis Square does to me -- it's not in the middle of the hustle & bustle usually associated with Tokyo, and mostly empty of car traffic because it's an 5-minute walk from a subway stop and not on any major streets.

The main thing you'll notice is a mix of heights, from a couple of 2-story restaurant buildings, a couple of 4-6 story apartment buildings, the 8-story building I actually lived in, and also a 24-story condo tower. You don't even notice the 24-story tower in this photo (or when walking around the neighborhood) because it fits in with the vibe of the rest of the neighborhood. You'd have to actually look up to notice how tall it is, but in the normal course of a day that's not something you actually *do*.

What kept it feeling "cozy" for me was the pedestrian-and-cyclist friendliness of the area, and the diversity of street-level shops even on the ground level of all the apartment & condo buildings. There's 6 restaurants in this image, two barber shops, a hotel, a convenience store, a music club, a snacks & tobacco shop, a newsstand, two bars, and even a Domino's Pizza right behind the viewer (as well as a surface parking lot and a row of 8-or-so vending machines.).

Yes, it's more dense than Davis Square is, but my ideal vision for Davis Square would be exactly this sort of mix of the existing 1-4 story buildings, some taller 4-8 story buildings, and yes, a few (but not more than 2 or 3) tall condo / apartment towers, all with ground-level retail that's thriving and a minimum of car traffic. But from the standpoint of a tower building itself, I care a lot more about the looks & amenities (and pedestrian / sidewalk experience) offered on the first couple floors than what it looks like on floors 6-and-above.

On Thu, May 28, 2026, at 1:23 PM, rebecrog wrote:

Hi neighbors,

I wanted to add to Ruvim's comment and put in a plug for going to visit the Copper Mill officer hours.  I went yesterday and thought it was helpful.  You can sign up here (I think more times will be added in the future).  There were 5 folks there from Copper Mill plus a bunch of folks from the community and it was great to get a chance to talk to lots of different people one-on-one and in small groups of 3 or 4.  For me, the smaller groups made for interesting conversations.  And it was nice to be able to ask direct questions of Copper Mill and hear immediately what their answers were (and weren't).

During my visit I enjoyed thinking a little more about what the pedestrian experience might be for a building like this.  For me, I think the biggest impact has more to do with the design of the part of the building that directly abuts the sidewalk--the part that Copper Mill calls the "podium"-- and less to do with the actual height of the tower.  For me, I'm much more interested in a shorter podium (2-3 stories) with a greater setback for the main tower.  I really liked the part of the original design that had the corner 2-story building separated from the main tower by a little alley.  I enjoyed talking to the folks there, both Copper Mill people and neighbors, about the pros and cons of different "podium" designs. 

All that podium pondering had me thinking a bit about what it would be like if parts of the building were open to the public.  For example, could there be public access to some of the roof deck space?  Would that be restaurant space?  Public park area?  What if there were a community meeting space in the podium building that was reservable by members of the public for free?   Would I be willing to live with more floors (in a podium, or in a tower height) in exchange for more publicly available amenities?

Anyway, it was a fun chance to do some day dreaming and chatting with other interested folks.  

--Rebecca

On Tuesday, May 19, 2026 at 9:44:28 PM UTC-4 ruvimg...@gmail.com wrote:

Hi all,

There are two new office hours slots that are available via Copper Mill's website:

- Wednesday May 27th, 12:00 pm

- Tuesday June 2nd, 5:30 pm

The link to book tickets is below:

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/copper-mill-davis-square-small-group-office-hours-tickets-1988512027002?aff=oddtdtcreator

Or you can click the button on the Copper Mill website:

https://www.elmgrovedavis.com/project-information/

Looks like each session is limited to 15 people. I'll be attending the June 2nd session, and I'm planning on asking a few questions and taking notes about the conversation. 

I'm not a board member or anything, so I'm definitely not going to attempt to represent the group in any capacity. But, if anyone can't attend the office hours and wants me to ask a specific question, I can do that!

Ruvim Ginzburg

--

Davis Square Neighborhood Council · https://DavisSquareNC.org · https://linktr.ee/DavisSquareNC

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[ruvimg...@gmail.com]

Hi everyone, 

Here's my follow up message post-Copper Mill office hours meeting. My intent is to describe what the meeting was like, to recap what the two major discussions were about, and to try to articulate what I perceived the conclusions to be.

What was the meeting like?

• Roughly 12 attendees from the community, everyone seemed to live or work in the neighborhood
• Andrew Flynn represented Copper Mill
• Respectful conversation, everyone got a chance to speak (eventually)
• Meeting lasted just about the full 2 hours

Major discussions

• What is the role of the Davis Square Neighborhood Plan in this development project?
  • Attendees generally agreed that the role of the plan would be to deliver guidelines (ex: zoning) that the community has agreed to accept
    • Attendees all seemed to think that the Neighborhood Plan should update the zoning of Davis Square to something like low- to mid-rise mixed use buildings (6-10 stories)
    • The plan itself must be developed by the city's planning body with community input, and adopted by the City Council
    • The Planning, Preservation, and Zoning Division page on the city's website last updated their page on the "Davis Square Plan" in February to say "Coming soon!" (link below)
      • https://voice.somervillema.gov/davis-square-plan
  • Andrew F indicated that Copper Mill would also benefit from a Neighborhood Plan 
    • The city of Somerville would have a consensus on a set of guidelines with which Copper Mill could negotiate, as opposed to the current state where it's unclear to them what the community consensus is and which body to negotiate with
  • Some attendees expressed frustration with the city's lack of progress on the Neighborhood Plan over the past several years
    • Some felt like the process to build "something" has been effectively stalled because the promised plan hasn't materialized, leaving the neighborhood stuck with a bunch of empty storefronts and no additional housing

• Why 26 stories?
  • Didn't seem like many of the attendees were enthusiastic about this height
  • Andrew F explained:
    • The family that owns the land currently has a contract with Copper Mill
      • Copper Mill has the exclusive right to either buy the plot from the family for $40+ million, or to obtain a "ground lease" for the property in order to build
      • Andrew said that it's more favorable to buy the plot outright rather than get the ground lease
    • According to Andrew, for this price, the numbers add up to a profit with a 26 story building
      • This includes, among other things: union labor, 20% affordable units in the building, an electrical substation to serve the building, a geothermal system
  • Question from some of the attendees: What would the price to purchase the plot have to be for Copper Mill to turn a profit on a 6 story building? What about 10? 15? 
    • Andrew F: Unsure, but might be able to produce some rough estimates 

Conclusions

Those at the meeting all appeared to agree that building something taller than 1 story with commercial space and residential units (some affordable) would be a vast improvement for the stretch of Elm Street between The Burren and Dragon Pizza. I feel like the main "next step" was to communicate to the city our desire for them to complete the Davis Square Neighborhood Plan, given that the absence of a Neighborhood Plan with city-level support has been an obstacle to this project converging on a compromise between the community, the city, and Copper Mill. There was a significant note for Copper Mill as well: some attendees urged Andrew F to do more to engage directly with the neighborhood, starting with getting the closed storefronts cleaned up on a much more regular cadence, to demonstrate investment in the community with actions. 

I hope these notes are helpful! If anyone has any questions, please ask. If anyone reading this was also there, please fill in any major points that I neglected!

Ruvim Ginzburg

[susa...@gmail.com]

I have tried to reach Copper Mill by email and the form on their website (twice) with no response. What is the best way to get in touch with them? 

[Meredith Porter]

> I have tried to reach Copper Mill by email and the form on their website (twice) with no response. What is the best way to get in touch with them? 

I'm sorry to hear that! If you can't reach Copper Mill by other means, a last resort would be to call Andrew Flynn on his cell phone, which he shared below.

Best regards,

Meredith Porter ("Merit," he/him)

On Jun 4, 2026, at 9:30 AM, Andrew Flynn <afl...@coppermill.com> wrote:

Good morning all,

 

Thank you very much for taking the time to attend our Office Hours on Tuesday evening – we sincerely appreciate it. It was a very informative and insightful discussion on various fronts – and we are very grateful for all of your feedback. 

 

We look forward to continuing to work closely with you in a spirit of partnership and stewardship regarding the future of Davis Square.

 

I have cc-ed a handful of my team members here as well. My personal cell phone is 857-205-4575.

 

Please feel free to reach-out at any time. Let’s be sure to all reconvene again very soon.

 

All the best,

Andrew

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From: susa...@gmail.com
To: "DSNC Discussion" <dsnc-di...@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Wednesday, June 3, 2026 5:24:51 AM
Subject: [DSNC-Discussions] Re: [DSNC] Re: New Copper Mill Office Hours now available

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