Rotunda Redevelopment in Hampden

Built in the 1920s, the Rotunda has long housed offices, small shops, a grocery store, and a movie theater.  However, given its underused parking lots and location in trendy Hampden, the Rotunda clearly has potential to bring even more energy to the community in terms of new residents and a greater mix of stores.

Enter Hekemian & Company, the developer renovating and retrofitting the existing structure and transforming the surface parking lots into 150,000 square feet of new retail space, 382 apartments, and a parking garage.  MOM's Organic Market leads the roster of new tenants, to the delight of many devotees of this environmentally-friendly grocery store.

Residents in this block of colorful row homes will soon have new stores to walk to in their neighborhood, in addition to the appealing mix of independently-owned shops and restaurant already thriving on the Avenue located just several blocks south.

Another shot of the construction shows the original building in the background.  Hekemian expects to finish the work in summer 2015.

The artsy/environmentalist vibe of Hampden extends far beyond its epicenter on The Avenue to these homes closer to the Rotunda, where residents paint their homes in a rainbow of colors and ride their bikes on even the coldest, iciest days.  This major new investment in Hampden confirms what many have known all along: the artists, environmentalists, and small business owners (and others - I certainly don't intend to exclude anyone who has had a hand in the transformation of Hampden) have created a very desirable place to live.