Davis Square is a hotspot for Tufts students. In particular, students flock to The Burren, an Irish pub with red-paned windows and iconic outdoor picnic tables, that has drawn diners to live music seven nights a week for nearly 30 years. The Burren even gained national attention in 2019 for its charm: Thrillist listed it as one of the top 21 Irish Pubs in America.
However, The Burren, at least as it currently exists, faces an uncertain future. Boston-based commercial real estate company, Copper Mill, launched a plan to bring a 500-unit high-rise apartment building to the center of Davis Square last year. Their proposal requires temporarily shutting down the popular pub.
Notes from the Davis Square Neighborhood Council maintain that Copper Mill would try to bring old tenants back into a “modern purpose-built space.” If the plan goes forward, the old Burren building will likely cease to exist. The project, in early stages now, has prompted community discussions about the future of Davis Square.
The yet to be formally recognized Davis Square Neighborhood Council is participating in these conversations. For about a year they have met once a month, and they have also attended multiple meetings between the developers and community members hosted by Copper Mill. On their website, the Council emphasizes increasing zoning for more housing and the creation of more housing on Elm Street as two of their priorities.
Tufts third-year master’s student Zev Pogrebin, who got involved with the Council last year as it was beginning and is now a member, shared what he observed from the Council about the new project.
“There’s kind of two main factions. There’s the people in favor of the building going through and there’s the people in opposition, … but no one’s in opposition in the sense that they think there’s no need for housing,” Pogrebin said.
Underscoring these debates is an undeniable fact: Massachusetts faces a housing shortage. According to a 2021 report from the Commonwealth, Massachusetts should produce 200,000 more housing units by 2030 to fulfill housing needs.
Another priority for Somerville’s housing creation is affordability. The City of Somerville listed under their SomerVision2030 plan that a main goal is to expand affordable homeownership units for households of all sizes from diverse social and economic groups. In accordance with this, Somerville requires 20% of units to be affordable in new developments.
However, Justin Hollander, professor of urban and environmental policy and planning, explained that we have to think more creatively in order to create affordable housing stock and address the shortage. Simply adding more units won’t necessarily reduce prices.
“People subscribe to a very basic principle in economics that tells us that if you increase the supply and the demand doesn’t change, then the price will go down. That’s kind of the framing of a lot of these discussions,” Hollander said.
But in reality, he explained, the situation is more complicated.
“The supply and demand principles that I introduced ... are [not] wrong. It’s that demand goes up when Davis Square [is] super desirable,” he said.
In addition to questions around affordability, community members have raised concerns about the Copper Mill project relating to the proposed height of the building and neighborhood preservation.
“What are the businesses going to look like when the building reopens? Will it be Starbucks and McDonald’s, or will it be the same businesses that we’re expecting?” Pogrebin asked.
Tufts seniors Griffin Congdon and Wesley Jansen expanded on the topic of neighborhood preservation. While they had both only heard about the proposed development through an Instagram reel and were unfamiliar with the details of the plan, they emphasized that The Burren has added to their Tufts experiences and expressed sadness at the restaurant’s potential reconfiguration. They both go to The Burren almost every week.
“I would assume, even if [The Burren] comes back, it wouldn’t be the same, because it would be in a modern building. … There’s definitely something special about the old cave feeling there,” Congdon said.
At the same time, Congdon shared that he is pro-housing. Pogrebin also had strong opinions about the future of The Burren.
“I obviously really hope that The Burren would continue to exist, because it’s an amazing place, and it’s definitely a big cultural staple for Tufts. … There is something really charming and great about it,” Pogrebin said.
Hollander also said that the proposed Copper Mill project has come up in his course Real Estate Development and Planning.
“I’d say most of the students were not aware of [the project]. And there were some tears, actually, when people found out that The Burren is closing. But yeah, people are very emotional and it’s been an ongoing topic in our class,” Hollander said.
The Burren declined an interview request made through social media by the Daily.
Pogrebin remained hopeful that a great future Burren could emerge from the project, even if he didn’t know exactly what it would look like. He highlighted the importance of the dialogue between the community and developers and explained that the developers seem responsive so far to community input. Pogrebin also pushed back at the idea that additional housing units have to come at the expense of neighborhood character.
“It’s people that create character. It’s the businesses that go into the space. … If we get 500 new units that’s 500 potentially new families coming into Davis Square that provides so much more of an opportunity for vibrancy,” Pogrebin said.
In order for the project to go through, the City of Somerville must change zoning ordinances, as the current Elm Street location is not zoned for residential buildings. The developers are aiming to begin construction in the next 12 months. In the meantime, both Hollander and Pogrebin stressed that if students care, they should get involved in community discussions.
“I really hope that Tufts students can get involved with this process,” Pogrebin said.
Hollander emphasized the importance of getting involved early in the planning process.
“If you hear about some apparently benign planning meeting, … that actually is where you really want to go, because you can change the conversation,” he said.
Correction: The article was updated to better reflect Copper Mill's role in hosting community meetings. This correction was made on Feb. 14.
