Rafi Properties Completes 599 Somerville Avenue R&D Hub

Rafi Properties, Studio TROIKA, Shawmut Design and Construction, and H+O Structural Engineering have completed 599 Somerville Avenue, a 43,200 square-foot, three-story Class A R&D facility in Somerville, MA built for tough tech, life science, and research and development tenants.

LEED Platinum certified with one level of below-grade parking, 599 Somerville Avenue sits a half-mile from Porter Square’s MBTA Red Line stop. Somernova campus, home to The Engine by MIT and Greentown Labs, is adjacent.

Previously home to La Ronga Bakery & Delicatessen, a family-owned business on that block for over 50 years, Rafi acquired the property, demolished the existing structure, and broke ground in April 2022. Steel topped off in October 2023.

Below Grade: Secant Pile Construction

Below-grade construction uses secant pile construction as temporary support of excavation, permanent basement walls, and water cutoff.

Above Grade: Vibration-Controlled Composite Steel

Lab and R&D buildings require floors designed to strict vibration limits. That threshold is measured in micro-inches per second (mips): the lower the number, the stricter the requirement.

Above-grade construction uses composite steel designed to meet criteria ranging from 2,000 to 8,000 mips, depending on tenant requirements.

Part of Somerville’s Growing Innovation Ecosystem

Rafi has owned Somernova, formerly Ames Business Park, since 2018. Current tenants include The Engine by MIT, Greentown Labs, Aeronaut Brewing, and The Bouldering Project. In July 2025, Somerville City Council approved rezoning to allow Rafi to expand the campus to over 1.6 million square feet.

599 Somerville Avenue reflects what’s possible when structural engineering is matched to the specific demands of the program: vibration thresholds calibrated to tenant use and below-grade systems built to perform over the life of the building.

At H+O Structural Engineering, we build cost intelligence into design from the start. Contact us today to find out what savings you can capture on your next project and take back control of your pro forma. We offer risk-free third-party peer reviews: no fee unless we find $100K+ in savings.