If you want to gauge the energy in Somerville's Magoun Square, take a look at the retail storefronts and the empty lots and old garage sites filling up with new housing.
Two years ago there were about a dozen empty storefronts in the retail district at the intersection of Broadway and Medford Street, but now there's a new sign and new venues such as Daddy Jones Bar, Modelo Butcher Market, K-2 Beer & Wine shop and Pennypacker's, a food truck gone brick and mortar, joining the popular Olde Magoun's Saloon.
Winchester natives Greg Huber, 29, and Leah Gallagher, 27, bought a top floor condo in an old Victorian here less than a year ago and already two new single-family houses have sprouted up across the street. Side-by-side auto body and glass shops will soon be sites for about 25 units, the Sons of Italy wants to add housing to its property, and there's talk of other deals recently signed or about to be.
"We're thrilled that we bought in Magoun Square," said Gallagher, who commutes to her financial services job in downtown Boston. "We have friends our age who are also looking to buy here because housing is still reasonably priced and it's a great neighborhood to raise a family."
The Magoun neighborhood got a big boost with the 2012 opening of Maxwell's Green, a successful 199-unit high-end apartment and townhouse complex built on a brownfields former factory site — a project that drew the attention of Huber and Gallagher to the area. And then there's the long-delayed Green Line extension from Lechmere, which will stop along Lowell Street when it opens in 2018. And the Somerville bike path is coming up to the area from Davis Square this spring.
Longtime residents such as Courtney O'Keefe, a former alderman and advocate for the neighborhood, knows that the area her parents moved to 30 years ago to open a sub shop is about to change.
"You'd like to keep it as a little secret, a hidden gem, but the word is getting out," said O'Keefe, 33, who moved back. "But there is some room for growth here that fits in with the neighborhood and maintains what's now a nice balance between longtimers and newcomers."
O'Keefe adds that the rebirth of the retail district has been more important than the promise of the Green Line. "I've been saying all along not to put all our eggs in the Green basket," she said.
Other Somerville locals such as Dimitra Tsourianis Murphy also see the potential. After working for the Lyons Group opening and managing hip Hub venues, she returned to her roots and bought a building in Magoun Square and just over a year ago opened Daddy Jones Bar, a cocktail bar with Greek food and a neighborhood feel that draws natives and newcomers.
"Magoun Square used to be a drive-through area and now there's a reason to pause here," said the 33-year-old Murphy, who says the square could use some clothing shops as well as a local business association. "I'm seeing a lot of young families moving in, which is really great for the neighborhood."
You can still buy a single-family here in the mid-$400,000s, unlike Davis Square a mile away where housing prices are astronomical. Few want to see that happen in Magoun, but condo conversions are picking up.
"There's still old-timers here with two-family houses who live in one unit and rent the other to one of their kids," said Ted Tobin of KSS Realty, which co-developed Maxwell's Green. "But there's more young buyers looking to get in on the ground floor of something special. Being able to wake up and have places to go in your own square adds to the appeal. This area has a bright future."
Huber and Gallagher are already thinking of buying an investment property in the neighborhood.
"I'm a real believer in Magoun Square," said Huber, who commutes to his medical sales job in Burlington. "It's a nice, homey place, and the retail area has just taken off. There's no doubt it's up and coming."
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