New Pedestrian Access from Inner Belt to East Somerville MBTA Station Now Open to the Public

Improved Station Access Created Via Partnership Between North River Leerink and Wheelock Street Capital in Collaboration with the City of Somerville and MBTA.

SOMERVILLE, Mass., July 16, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- The City of Somerville, MBTA, and developers North River Leerink and Wheelock Street Capital are pleased to announce a new pedestrian connection between the MBTA's East Somerville Green Line Station and the Inner Belt Road neighborhood.  The pedestrian connection, which was constructed by Consigli Construction and managed by Redgate, officially opened May 1^st, 2025 and provides public transportation access to organizations within the Inner Belt neighborhood, which previously was limited to vehicular access only from Washington Street.

The East Somerville Green Line Station has been instrumental in stimulating the transformation of the Brickbottom and Inner Belt neighborhoods and attracting companies to Somerville.  In the past two years, The ADA Forsyth Institute, Ultragenyx, and incubator Hatch.Bio have relocated from Cambridge to 100 Chestnut Street in Somerville. More recently, Form Energy expanded their Somerville-based operations to occupy over 100,000 square feet at 200 Inner Belt Road.  The proximity and access to the new East Somerville Green Line station played a major role in attracting these companies to the neighborhood.  Inner Belt Road is also home to Triumvirate Environmental, one of Somerville's largest employers.

The station can be accessed directly from Inner Belt Road through a newly constructed public pedestrian path that crosses the 200 Inner Belt Road property.  In addition to the new path, a blue bike station has been installed adjacent to the station.  This new connection also provides the Inner Belt neighborhood access to the recently opened Somerville Community Path, a protected pedestrian and bike path which connects into Cambridge and through Somerville.

Collectively, North River Leerink and Wheelock Street Capital own approximately 10 acres adjacent to the East Somerville Green Line Station, and are in the initial stages of planning (see www.atbrickbottom.com) an additional +1M SF of commercial and residential development.  The vision for the plan is to create a unique mixed-use neighborhood that capitalizes on the major investment made in the Green Line extension and to support the vision that has been outlined by the City of Somerville in the Brickbottom Neighborhood Plan.  

About Wheelock Street Capital

Wheelock Street Capital L.L.C. is a private real estate investment firm founded in 2008 by Rick Kleeman and Jonathan Paul, two veteran real estate private equity investors, each with over 30 years of broad real estate transaction experience across all major asset classes. Wheelock has raised over $5 billion in capital commitments from well-known institutional investors and focuses on real estate investment opportunities throughout the United States, in both public and private markets. Wheelock is currently deploying its seventh fund in its value-added series, Wheelock Street Real Estate Fund VII with $1.2 billion of capital commitments and its first perpetual life fund, Wheelock Street Long Term Value Fund with $1.1 billion of capital commitments. The firm may invest directly or with high quality joint venture partners through a variety of capital structures and transaction types, including acquisitions, restructurings, and recapitalizations. Wheelock's investment team benefits from extensive experience from top-tier institutional investment firms and highly regarded real estate operating companies and has produced a 10-plus-year track record of demonstrated and consistent outperformance over industry benchmarks. For more information, visit www.wheelockst.com.

About North River Leerink:

North River Leerink ("NRL") develops, owns, and operates a portfolio of Life Science and Innovation Economy real estate assets. https://www.northriverleerink.com/

Media Contacts:

Jeff Glynn
[email protected] 
781-223-0032

Doug Gensler
[email protected] 
617-308-2628

SOURCE Leerink Partners