Keep public land in public hands. We oppose the privatization of the Sullivan Courthouse site and some 420 parking spaces in the First Street Garage. By rejecting the sale of these public assets to commercial real estate developer Leggat McCall Properties, we will be able to pursue a community-driven plan to reclaim the Courthouse site for affordable housing, community and arts space, and a public park.

Public assets should serve public needs. The Courthouse site has been in the public domain for 206 years — it was part of the founding gift that established East Cambridge. Today, in the face of an ongoing affordable housing crisis, the last thing East Cambridge residents want for the Courthouse site is a massive commercial office tower, as Leggat McCall has proposed. Major commercial development is happening in literally every direction — at Cambridge Crossing, the Galleria Mall, MIT's East Campus, the Volpe site, the Met Pipe site, Union Square, Boynton Yards, and several other nearby locations. With commercial development and luxury housing going up all around us, we're calling for a redevelopment of the Courthouse site that serves our most pressing needs and speaks to our highest values as a community.

Support a People's Plan for the Courthouse site. On October 30, 2018, State Rep. Mike Connolly stood with East Cambridge residents in speaking out about the Leggat McCall plan for the state-owned Courthouse site and the city-owned First Street Garage. He followed with a letter to the Cambridge City Council outlining how we could push for a community-driven redevelopment of the Courthouse site. On November 15, the East Cambridge Planning Team unanimously voted to support Rep. Connolly's letter. Meanwhile, local residents are getting organized and working with design and development professionals to advance conceptual models for the redevelopment of the Courthouse site as affordable housing, community space, and a public park.