Assembly Row / East Somerville
A billion-dollar mixed-use development with Orange Line access, new apartments, national retail, and a waterfront that didn't exist a decade ago.
About Assembly Row / East Somerville
Assembly Row is the most dramatic physical transformation in Greater Boston in the last twenty years. What was once a contaminated industrial site along the Mystic River is now a gleaming mixed-use development with an MBTA Orange Line station, hundreds of apartments and condos, national retailers (J.Crew, Lululemon, Nike), a movie theater, and a growing roster of restaurants. The residential buildings are new, amenity-rich, and attract a young professional demographic that skews toward biotech and tech workers commuting to Cambridge and downtown Boston. East Somerville, the historic neighborhood adjacent to Assembly Row, is a different story — dense, working-class, historically Brazilian and Salvadoran, with triple-deckers and small commercial strips that are just beginning to feel the Assembly Row effect. The Green Line Extension has added a station here too, compounding the transit advantage. For buyers, the question is whether you want the polish of Assembly Row's new construction or the value and character of old East Somerville.
Property Character
Two distinct markets: new luxury apartments and condos within the Assembly Row development itself, and classic Somerville triple-deckers and multi-families in the surrounding East Somerville streets. The gap between them is narrowing as the neighborhood evolves.
Typical Home Styles
Best For
Local Highlights
- •Orange Line at Assembly Station — 10 min to downtown Boston
- •New Green Line Extension station at East Somerville adds a second transit option
- •National retail, restaurants, and a waterfront promenade along the Mystic River
- •Massive ongoing development pipeline with more residential and commercial coming
Getting Around
Orange Line at Assembly Station — 10 min to downtown. Green Line Extension at East Somerville station. Bus route 90. Water taxi potential as the waterfront develops. Some of the best dual-transit access in the metro.
Schools
Somerville Public Schools. East Somerville Community School is the closest elementary. The Assembly Row area itself skews toward young professionals and renters — fewer school-age families, though that's changing as the residential community matures.
Explore more of Somerville
Assembly Row / East Somerville is just one part of what makes Somerville special.