MarKa Communities presented their proposed plan for redevelopment of the Powder House Community School to the public at a meeting held last week. — Photo by Bobbie Toner

By Josie Grove

Cambridge-based developer MarKa Communities showed off their plan for redevelopment of the Powder House Community School (PHCS) building on Broadway last Wednesday. The structure will become a mixed-use building with 40 residential units and 15,000 square feet of retail space. A city park will emerge from the building’s courtyard, filled with a laundry list of amenities for the neighborhood.

“The green blurs the line between the public domain and the private domain, and will be programmed 100%,” said Steven Azar, MarKa’s director of Development and Operations. “In the last meeting we had, it was kind of a dream session. We called out to the community and asked, ‘What else do you want to see here?’”

Between the 70 people at the previous planning meeting and the project’s website, MarKa has received around 300 comments, and Azar says all but seven have been incorporated into the design. “The proposal before you is a very Somerville proposal, based on the feedback we received from the community,” he said.

With space at a premium in Somerville, this building needs to serve many different purposes. There will be three price tiers for residential units: market-rate, live-work space for certified artists, and affordable housing for seniors, organized with the Collaborative Living Project (CLP). “We’re working with CLP to identify the housing needs for seniors in our community,” said Azar.

MarKa is working with other community organizations to program the park area. There is a large paved area on the eastern edge of the park, which is intended for the Somerville Bicycle Riding School. “It’s a space for biking and skating, but also a great scheduled space that can host farmer’s markets or art exhibitions,” said Brian Militana, the senior project manager.

Between the park and the building, MarKa envisions a 3,000 square foot function hall with offices and bathrooms. “We’ve been talking with all kinds of folks in the community, whether it’s martial arts or HONK! or CLP, tons of groups. It’s been really exciting,” says Militana. “What we want to do is create a space that would allow for collaboration.”

The commercial space on Broadway also caters to the neighborhood. “The idea is to attract small and local business in this area,” said Azar. “We are committed to local businesses. We don’t want chains in these spaces. We’re trying to create a culture of a very neighborhood and friendly place.

Azar kept the discussion positive and friendly. At the meeting last Wednesday, critical questions about whether the developer would use union labor, and about how the retail space would impact businesses in Teele Square were met with the promise of one-on-one meetings. Azar estimates that he has already met with between thirty-five and forty individuals to address their concerns.

While there are still some questions as to how the building will be built and used, the hundreds of suggestions and partnerships provided a useful framework for the designers. “The community process really helped us to design toward something,” Sebastian Mariscal, the sole managing partner of MarKa, said. “They really helped us strengthen our design.”

The structural skeleton of the existing school building will remain intact, but the design proposes to remove exterior walls, making the building look more open. “We believe the right thing to do is to keep the building,” said Mariscal. “With demolition, the building goes to waste, and we didn’t feel that was the right approach. And we felt that there was some value in the building.”

The next meeting about the development will discuss construction at the Community Baptist Church on November 10.