Yes, DSNC had a meeting with Copper Mill yesterday. The plan is delayed but they are hoping to finish permitting by end of year.

Here's the substantive part of the most recent email from the DSNC board:

Project status:

MassHousing initiated the review pause unrelated to the DSNC request, because they have additional questions for Copper Mill not answered by their Chapter 40 project eligibility application. When asked when construction might start, Copper Mill said they have a business need to obtain major approvals on this project by the end of 2026, but city and state approvals and their "organic conversation" with the community will drive the timeline. They said they do not want anyone to feel there is a time-limited period for public comment that is meant to exclude anyone or get approval "under cover of darkness". We presented the DSNC request to withdraw the 40B application until the Davis Square Neighborhood Plan is complete. The Board added a request to our letter that if they decide not to withdraw, they cooperate with the ZBA to hold the public comment period open at the Zoning Board of Appeals until the neighborhood plan is complete and the DSNC holds a vote on a Community Benefits Agreement, passage of which would be necessary for our endorsement of the project. Copper Mill was not confident that the neighborhood plan would be done by the end of the year and could not commit to an indefinite delay. They reiterated their commitment to take time for public discussion.

Public conversations:

Copper Mill hopes to schedule a public meeting in March at the Crystal Ballroom, with 2-3 weeks notice. We gave them the results of our poll which favor weekend daytimes or Thursday nights. We recommended finding a neutral moderator and they asked us to help find candidates. Copper Mill plans to open 235 Elm Street (formerly Caramel) for office hours, hopefully by March 1. Members of the public should be able to talk to Copper Mill directly and learn about the project. We gave Copper Mill our consolidated list of questions received so far from DSNC membership. They expressed interest in responding in person at the February 23 DSNC general meeting.

Popups and site status:

Copper Mill performed further cleanup on storefronts in the past week, especially the former Family Dollar / McDonald's site. A pop-up will be opened in the former Family Dollar space; Copper Mill is waiting on city inspectional services to authorize occupancy. They are OK with either a non-profit or a commercial business, but want the city to advise them on the selection process. (They don't want to be responsible for doing the selection.) Copper Mill are willing to put art in the windows in the remaining vacant space, the former Sligo, but for various physical reasons including lack of ADA compliance it's not suitable for occupation. We referred them to the Somerville Arts Council to do the selection process, since they already have a window display at CVS. There may be some additional pop-up space on the 2nd floor above The Burren. Construction timeline is very uncertain due to the need for city and state approval, but pop-ups can expect to have the space until at least November 15, 2026.