199 Elm Street

Neighborhood Architects proposes replacing the vacant house between Domino's and Revival Cafe with a 6-story apartment building with commercial space on the ground floor and 16 residential units (3 affordable) on the upper floors.

The original design was a 4-story building with 10 residential units (2 affordable).  After receiving city approvals, the developer's preliminary site work contractor discovered excavating the basement would be unusually expensive—about $500,000—because of the local soil and the need to avoid damaging the foundation of Revival.

This is a problem because the developer needs 10 units for adequate revenue, but the density factor required by Somerville Zoning Ordinance means the square footage of the basement is needed for the project to be legal.

The developer could ask for a hardship variance to eliminate the basement (which would also be bad for commercial tenants), or they could ask for a hardship variance or zoning map change to allow a 6-story building (with additional units to cover the unexpected cost).

The developer met with the DSNC Board on September 28th, 2026, and presented the 6-story design to the entire DSNC membership at our October 26th general meeting.

Currently (as of September 22nd, 2026), the building is abandoned and boarded up.