Why the CambridgeSide Rezoning Request is Excessive and Bad for Residents

New England Development (NED) is petitioning (PUD-8) the City of Cambridge to rezone the CambridgeSide Mall area. Through initiatives that include building 10 & 12 story high-rise buildings that are 118% higher than current zoning regulations. Space dedicated to retail will be scaled back and the vast majority of total SF will be devoted to ultra-lucrative office and lab space.

NED’s primary argument for rezoning the CambridgeSide area is to save the Mall due to the impact ecommerce has had on brick & mortar retailers. We understand that stores are suffering an want the Mall area to thrive. That said, the questions that every Cambridge citizen should be asking is why is it necessary to increase building heights by 118% to save the Mall?

Why can’t the Mall be saved within current zoning code?

By staying within its current zoning – maintaining the two core floors of Mall as retail and converting the rest of the square footage to office/lab – it’s estimated that the gross upside in value is $927M. If the rezoning is approved, the gross upside in value skyrockets to $1.68B. (Note: these figures may be revised per feedback from NED and if they change their proposal). How much is enough to save the Mall?

Key costs include: increased traffic, noise (labs are notorious for unreasonable noise), enhanced shadows from tall buildings, heightened potential for the infrastructure to fail (e.g., Eversource reports that electricity demand reached 98% of all-time peak in Cambridge last summer) and very importantly, adding a 10 & 12 story office buildings will significantly alter a historical neighborhood with architectural history.