Sephora signs as lead tenant of third phase of Assembly Row

Somerville, MA Assembly Row will welcome Sephora next year as a lead tenant for the development’s emerging third phase. The new phase also includes a 24-story, 500-unit apartment building with ground floor retail space, across from the Assembly Sq. MBTA station and a 300,000 s/f retail and office building that will house PUMA North America’s headquarters. Additionally, CVS, Shake Shack, Yakitori Totto and Pure Barre will open locations there in 2021. All She Wrote Books, a locally owned feminist bookstore, and arche shoes have opened pop-up locations to serve the area’s residents, workers and visitors.

Sephora is the neighborhood’s first beauty destination which has been hotly anticipated as the area continues to evolve and round out offerings. The 5,019 s/f store will offer an unparalleled experience in beauty with a variety of top brands in makeup, skincare, fragrance and more. 

With the addition of CVS, an essential retail category will be readily available for shoppers, residents and those who work in the neighborhood. Pure Barre will enhance the boutique offerings in FITRow’s line-up and arche shoes brings French design for shoppers who pay attention to personal style. All She Wrote Books is a 2,000 s/f bookstore featuring books written by female, queer, and non-binary authors across all genres.

“As the neighborhood has evolved, we continue to listen to our residents, visitors and workers as to what they’d like to see and these new retailers are being added as a direct reflection of that feedback,” said David Middleton, general manager for Federal Realty Investment Trust at Assembly Row. “We are excited to expand our inventory of retailers, services, entertainment and restaurants in Phase 3 as we carefully curate the mix to make sure we are continuing to provide options that appeal to all of our audiences.”

Since the beginning of the pandemic, Assembly Row has expanded outdoor amenity options both with increased patio seating for restaurants in addition to added seating along Assembly Row East, available for enjoying takeout or relaxing with a cup of coffee. At FITRow, the studios are now open with adjusted formats to align with COVID guidelines. Visitors to the neighborhood find increased hand-washing and sanitization opportunities, contact-less parking payment and enhanced public area cleaning. The Pick-Up program also continues with six locations around the property designed to provide quick and easy curbside pick-up at both retailers and restaurants. Assembly Row has added several works of public art in the last year including “Bloom” by Artists For Humanity, “The Dreamer” mural by Marka20, “Triumph of the People and Prosperity on the Mystic” by Alexander Golob and a new mural coming soon to The Smoke Shop BBQ building.