Joint Venture Breaks Ground on $2B USQ Mixed-Use Project in Metro Boston

Author: Kristin Hiller
This  post was written for and originally published on 7/21/2021 on ReBusinessOnline.com

SOMERVILLE, MASS. — US2, a joint venture between Magellan Development, RAS Development LLC, Cypress Equity Investments and USAA Real Estate, has broken ground on a $2 billion mixed-use project known as USQ in Somerville, just northwest of Boston.

The 15-acre, transit-oriented development is situated in the city’s historic Union Square neighborhood at the southeast corner of Somerville Avenue and Prospect Street. An official groundbreaking ceremony took place this morning.

Totaling 2.4 million square feet, USQ has been in the making for decades, according to the development team. Plans call for 1.2 million square feet of office and life sciences space, 1,000 apartment units and 140,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space. There will also be 3.6 acres of public space encompassing 11 new parks and two new Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) stations.

The first office building, 10 Prospect Street, is slated for completion in the fourth quarter of 2022. Rising seven stories and spanning 194,000 rentable square feet, the LEED Gold building will include an outdoor terrace and onsite parking. Leasing is currently underway.

In the Somerville community, there are 18,000 residents who work in the scientific, technology or healthcare industries, according to the project website. Of the current Somerville residents, 46 percent are millennials.

JLL is serving as leasing agent for the lab and office portions of the project, while Boston-based Graffito SP is handling the retail leasing.

— Kristin Hiller