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Assembly Square is a neighborhood in Somerville, Massachusetts, United States. It is located along the west bank of the Mystic River, bordered by Ten Hills and Massachusetts Route 28 to the north and the Charlestown neighborhood of Boston to the south. The district's western border runs along Interstate 93. Located from downtown Boston, the parcel is named for a former Ford Motor Company plant that closed in 1958.
The area is home to Assembly Row, a mixed-use, smart growth development that broke ground in April 2012 and opened in 2014 saddling a Main Street of the same name. It includes retail outlets, restaurants, residential space, office and research and development space, a 12-screen cinema and a 200-room hotel. Other amenities include a marina, a revitalized waterfront park, bike paths and other green space.
The area lies on the Road junction of Interstate 93 and Massachusetts Route 28, and is served by Public transport via the MBTA's Orange Line Assembly station and MBTA bus
Trade and transport led to an expansion of the area’s economy and population. The construction of the Middlesex Canal at the end of the 18th century accelerated this process. By the early 1800s, there were 10 shipyards along the Mystic River. The area had developed into a transportation corridor from Boston to the region. At mid-century, rail surpassed the canal as the most efficient mode of transport and the construction of two railroads across Somerville in 1845 and 1854, along with the opening of a station at Sullivan Square, brought even more development to the area.
Within the next 30 years, Assembly Square remained one of the largest employment centers in the region. However, in 1958, as a result of the failure of the Edsel and the change in Ford’s manufacturing strategies, the Assembly Plant was closed. It hurt the area both economically and physically, taking away hundreds of jobs and leaving a vast complex of empty manufacturing buildings. First National moved into the Assembly Plant site shortly after Ford's departure.
By the late 1950s and early 1960s, industries were already making the choice to move to suburban locations along newly constructed highways, where land costs were lower. The construction of the elevated Northern Expressway portion of Interstate 93 in the 1970s segregated the uses on both sides of the highway and significantly reduced its access and visibility from the surrounding areas. In 1976, First National moved its operations from the site to Windsor Locks, Connecticut, marking the end of Assembly Square as a major industrial employment center.
Despite a lack of a cohesive master plan and funding, Assembly took a big step with the arrival of a Home Depot on in 1992 at a site next to the mall, bringing a big-box store to the area for the first time. At the mall, the anchor stores remained the same until 1996 when Macy's acquired the Jordan Marsh chain and shuttered the store in 1997. By 1999, the mall had been closed off except for Kmart and Building 19, which had the year prior moved into the old Macy's/Jordan Marsh space.
In 1998, Mystic View Task Force, a citizens group, was formed to advocate for community interests in future Assembly projects. A vision emerged from the forum, of a pedestrian-oriented mixed-use development that could provide 30 additional acres of usable open space, over 30,000 diverse jobs, and over $30 million in new net tax revenue. Mystic View presented evidence that, developed as an office-based neighborhood with supporting retail and housing, Assembly Square could easily achieve those goals. But in order to do that, big-box behemoths — which had dominated much of the Assembly discussion — could not be an option.
In 1999, the internationally known Swedish home furnishings store IKEA purchased two former industrial sites on the Mystic River waterfront. IKEA obtained permits for its proposed retail store; however, the permits were challenged in court by community members opposed to a "big box" use on the waterfront, with the result that redevelopment of the site was stalled for a number of years.
In 2005, Federal Realty Investment Trust (FRIT), a Maryland-based real estate investment trust and developer, purchased the defunct Assembly Square Mall along with other properties in Assembly Square. FRIT quickly redeveloped the existing mall into the Assembly Square Marketplace.
Later in 2006, Somerville Mayor Joseph Curtatone aided in bringing FRIT and IKEA together to come up with a feasible redevelopment plan consistent with the new vision. FRIT and IKEA agreed to trade parcels, moving IKEA inland from its initial site and leaving the waterfront open for FRIT to create pedestrian friendly, mixed-use development. The new plan, developed by Street-Works Studio LLC for Federal Realty, integrated residential, office, retail and open space across the site and embraced the waterfront for public use and a future transit stop. Street-Works Studio worked with project-wide consultants to ensure phasing, retail connectedness, developed design guidelines, and brought an important human-scale aesthetic to the project, thinking of the "whole" and every user experience, not just on a block by block basis. This new plan was welcomed by those who had previously opposed the IKEA development. The land swap was executed in October 2009 solidifying the vision of the district.
After more than a decade of planning, IKEA formally pulled out of the Assembly Square project in July 2012, stating that its Stoughton store was sufficient to serve the state. The next year, it was announced that FRIT would purchase the from IKEA. This sale means that FRIT owns nearly all of the property at Assembly Square.
After two years of preparing the former brownfields site, the ground was broken in April 2012 for two residential apartment blocks, a new main street, and a new MBTA transit infill station. The apartment buildings, the Avalon at Assembly Square (195 units) and AVA Somerville (253 units), are designed by Elkus Manfredi Architects and developed by AvalonBay Communities Inc., a US-based Real Estate Investment Trust and manager of luxury apartments.
In 2016, Sports Authority closed after the chain went out of business and was replaced by Burlington in 2018. A.C. Moore also closed in 2016 and was replaced by Trader Joe's in 2017, with Xfinity joining in 2019.
In November 2019, Kmart was closed by Sears, marking the closure of the last of the marketplace's original anchors after 38 years.
The mall was originally anchored by a Jordan Marsh and a Kmart. These anchor stores remained the same until 1996, when Macy's acquired Jordan Marsh. Macy's closed the store in 1997, and by 1999, it was replaced with Building 19.
Shortly after Building 19 opened, the mall was closed off except for Building 19 and Kmart. The vacant mall and Building 19 spaces were gutted and reconfigured in 2005. The Kmart store remained in place.
The new Assembly Square Marketplace was completed in early 2006. The area around the mall will be redeveloped as an "urban village"-style development. Assembly on the Mystic - Redevelopment
The first Legoland Discovery Centre in New England and seventh in the United States is located on the property. The indoor family entertainment center based on Lego construction toys is housed in a space opened in Spring 2014. Other brands announced to be moving into the neighborhood's retail spaces early on included Nike, Le Creuset, Brooks Brothers, Chico's, J.P. Licks, and AMC Theatres.
In December 2013 the state's largest hospital system, Mass General Brigham, known at the time as Partners HealthCare, announced it would consolidate administrative operations from 14 sites in eastern Massachusetts and move 4,500 non-hospital employees into of a new office building. While the company’s executive headquarters would remain in Boston, offices throughout the region, including locations in Charlestown, Wellesley and Needham closed.
Other offices at Assembly Square include SmartBear Software's headquarters as well as the North America headquarters for Germany athletic brand Puma.
FRIT has also committed to building a pedestrian underpass to connect Baxter Park to the Somerville side of the Mystic River Reservation (the next segment being known as the Shore Drive Parklands).
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