The Malling of Central Square

Part 2

by Jason Gay

Central Square sits at the core of Cambridge, a mile and a half east on Mass Ave from its storied sister, Harvard Square, and a mile north of the Charles River. First established as a hay market, Central Square was an important commercial center for much of this century, a hub of business activity just across the river from Boston. It was home to numerous shops and department stores, including the now-extinct Woolworth's, Corcoran's, and Harvard Bazaar, as well as two movie theaters. And it became the site of Cambridge City Hall, the city's police department, and its main post office.

But like many urban centers, Central Square watched many of its most vibrant businesses close as suburban malls blossomed in the 1960s. The market for office space had dried up, and some landlords (including the Holmes Realty Trust) demolished the upper stories of their buildings to save on real estate taxes. By the start of the 1970s, the downtown Central Square retail district was a shell of its former self: for more than a decade, sidewalks and congregating areas were left unkempt and dingy, retail space went vacant, and residents faced occasional brushes with street crime.

"It hit bottom in the recession of the early 1990s, especially with regards to crime," says Charles Sullivan, director of the Cambridge Historical Commission. "There was a lot of crime and concern about crime, and that forced the city to focus its attention back on Central Square."

That new focus brought results, Sullivan says. Over the past few years, there has been a growing sense that Central Square is on the mend. New businesses have moved into the neighborhood, old businesses have refurbished themselves, and the area pulsates with energy long into the night. The city even committed $3.6 million toward such civic improvements as enhanced street lighting, greenery, and park benches. The hope was that besides making Central Square better looking, this public investment would attract interest from the private sector back to the neighborhood.

The Holmes Realty Trust's proposal for a multistory retail-residential complex at the intersection of Mass Ave and Magazine Street, announced last spring, was exactly what many Cambridge business leaders had been hoping for. The Trust has owned the buildings on that corner for nearly a century, and had considered various renovation projects over the years. After witnessing the city's commitment to the area (not to mention the booming real-estate market), the family moved forward on a plan to demolish and rebuild, says Holmes trustee Stuart Pratt.

Pratt, who would oversee the planned construction, says the Trust recognizes the significance of this site. "This is the most important project that's going to happen in Cambridge this year, because it affects the commercial as well as the residential marketplace." he says. "Central Square is at a transitional point in its existence, and how this project goes will set the tone for how it moves forward."

The Trust's current plan, recently revised but not yet released in drawn form, will unquestionably change the area's appearance. Plans call for two separate buildings, with retail space, office space, and 90 apartment units. The most prominent building, fronting what is now a brick plaza and bus stop, will be two floors of retail space. The second building, seven stories high (down from the Trust's original proposal of 11 stories), will contain residential apartment units, 10 percent of which will be earmarked for affordable housing. The current layout calls for a wide space between the two Holmes buildings, which will be opened into a public plaza with greenery and benches.

Holmes attorney James Rafferty, a Cambridge native who specializes in land-use law, rejects charges that the Trust is looking to make a quick buck in a hot real-estate market. If that were the case, he says, they could erect and sell 90,000 square feet of office space without a single city permit. The Trust intends to be in Central Square for the long haul, Rafferty maintains. "They are not in this to flip it and sell it."

As for the chain stores, Rafferty has heard all the rumors but insists that no company has been inked to a deal. The Trust has expressed an interest in having a bookstore chain such as Barnes & Noble "anchor" its upstairs retail space, but that's all, he says. Instead, the Trust extended offers to several of its current tenants, including Irving's Shoes, Emily Rose women's clothing, Surman's men's clothing, CVS pharmacy, and the local tobacconist/newsstand. There are also negotiations for the owner of the Ethiopian restaurant to open a café in the new development.

Despite these overtures, the Trust has taken a public-relations beating at times. Pratt says he was surprised at the reaction. "I find the objections are being led by the people who are the least affected by the [demolition] . . . people outside of Cambridge or from other parts of the city," Pratt says. "The people who are most affected by it, for the most part, have been pretty supportive."

But the loudest objection is coming from one of Pratt's current tenants. The Lucy Parsons Center, an independent, volunteer-staffed leftist bookstore, doesn't enjoy a cozy relationship with the Trust, and it hasn't been asked to return to a new building. Founded in 1971 as the Red Book Store on River Street, in Cambridge, the Center moved to Central Square in 1994, after spending nine years in Jamaica Plain. Many of its employees and customers are spearheading the Save Central Square movement to stop the Trust's development.

Rafferty, the attorney, isn't shocked. "I jokingly tell my client, `You have a Marxist bookstore as a tenant,' " he says. " `What did you expect?' "

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Jason Gay can be reached at jgay[a]phx.com.