Medford Square Revitalization Underway

The City of Medford is implementing key recommendations from planning efforts made by its partner, the Metropolitan Area Planning Council, in Medford Square to attract and incentivize new development on city-owned parking lots in the Square, Mayor Breanna Lungo-Koehn announced.

“We have the opportunity to transform Medford Square and make it an ideal destination for commercial and residential growth,” said Mayor Lungo-Koehn. “We are thoroughly engaged with the community, our seniors, local businesses and the Chevalier Theatre to ensure that their needs are met and that they are heavily involved with the development process and is a willing partner in our efforts to revitalize the Square. ”

The City is also holding public input opportunities for community members to provide feedback regarding redevelopment priorities for the three City-owned parking lots in Medford Square. Interested community members can attend a virtual public forum or an in-person open house on Thursday, March 30 to see updated redevelopment concepts for the lots, based on past plans and recent community input. The open house will be held at the Medford Senior Center from 1:30-3:30pm and the virtual public forum will be held on Zoom from 6-7:30pm. Register here for the virtual public forum: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZArf-mrrzojGNDTjWxqam5OsSe3qWEwNu0E.

Two office hour sessions will be held in the following weeks, providing the Medford community with an opportunity to provide additional input and discuss the project with City staff:

· Office Hours #1: Medford Senior Center on April 4 from 1-3pm

· Office Hours #2: Medford Public Library on April 13 from 4-6pm

Based on community feedback, the City may move forward with development strategies for all three lots or may only commit to a single proposal for one lot.

As the city solidifies redevelopment options the Office of Planning, Development, & Sustainability is also exploring implementation of District Improvement Financing (DIF) in Medford Square, which would enable the city to use tax revenues from new growth to fund additional improvements to the square. The City received a grant from Mass Development to work with consultant Storrs Associates to determine how DIF implementation can help achieve community priorities in Medford Square.

Residents and businesses can find more information and register for email updates at transformingthesquare.org/stay-engaged/ or by contacting the Office of Planning, Development and Sustainability at ocd@medford-ma.gov.

###