231-249 Elm Street

History

2019

• Scape proposed a new building with approximately 250 units of housing and retail on the ground floor. Community perception was the housing would primarily be targeted at Tufts students. Scape said they intended to retain The Burren, but demolish and rebuild the rest of the block through Dragon Pizza.  (📰)

2022

• Caramel French Patisserie closed in May, citing “The building we are located in, is under new management and the plans no longer allow us to operate.” (📃)

• In August, Scape announced a pivot to a 4-story building with lab space on the upper floors. (📰)

• At the Ward 6 community meeting, the City confirmed it was approving Scape's plans. A hand-raise poll of attendees showed the majority were unaware of the new plans prior to that meeting.

2023

• Sligo Pub closed in June. (📰)

2024

• Some of the same developers, having parted ways with Scape, kicked off a series of community meetings in October to hear what the community wants in that space. Community attendees were overwhelmingly in favor of housing.

• In December, they presented a 25-story concept with, ≈10 commercial spaces on the ground floor, ≈250 residential units on the upper floors, and an underground parking garage. Community responses ranged from support, to requests for something in between the current 4-story zoning and the 25-story proposal, to strong opposition to anything over the City's current 4-story restriction.

2025

• Copper Mill hosted an additional community meeting in February, in which they offered concessions of outdoor pedestrian space and free retail space for the City, and listed new and returning businesses they were in discussions with. They didn't bring any potential compromises on building height.

• Copper Mill sent a letter to the state in December requesting eligibility to use MGL Chapter 40B to supersede local zoning. Ward 6 councilor Lance Davis and Somerville Office of Strategic Planning and Community Development (OSPCD) Executive Director Tom Galligani informed the DSNC of it at our December general meeting (January 5th, 2026, due to the holidays).

2026

• DSNC obtained a copy of the 40B submission from OSPCD on January 8th.  It included more thorough details about the updated building plan dated July 15th, 2025. Changes included an increase to 26 stories, an increase to 502 residential units, and removal of all off-street parking. (💬, 📄)

• In early January, Copper Mill contacted the DSNC Board to request a meeting. (💬)

• On January 20th and February 11th, the DSNC Board met with Copper Mill staff. 

• In the winter, DSNC launched a form to collect community input and project questions. As we heard new answers from Copper Mill, we updated our FAQ document.

• On March 10th, Copper Mill staff held a meeting at the Crystal Ballroom to discuss the current proposal and answer questions. (📺)

• In the spring, Copper Mill launched ElmGroveDavis.com.

• In the spring, Copper Mill staff held office hours in 235 Elm Street (formerly Caramel) (🌐).

• DSNC invited community members to apply to join our project committee, which intended to negotiate a Community Benefits Agreement (CBA) with Copper Mill based on community feedback.

• On August 31st, the DSNC Board received a letter from Andrew Flynn of Copper Mill stating, “we will not be moving forward with our transit-oriented housing development in Davis Square.” This was also covered in this Boston Globe article.