Marc Levy The Riverview condos have been empty since owners were evacuated last winter, as of May 15.
Cambridge is stepping in to handle the demolition of the Riverview Condominiums, a 66-unit building at 221 Mount Auburn St. that was found to have serious structural problems in 2023. Because of safety concerns about the building’s condition, city officials will shut down nearby parts of Mount Auburn and Sparks streets starting Saturday and set up detours, disrupting the usual way to Mount Auburn Hospital close by.
Update on July 18, 2025: Also, the Department of Conservation and Recreation will close the right westbound lane on Memorial Drive between Hawthorn Street and Gerrys Landing Road starting Saturday. The two eastbound lanes and left westbound lane on this stretch will stay open. Officials warn these closures and detours might last until the end of 2025 “and will significantly affect commuter routes and neighborhood travel.”
City staff held a community meeting Thursday at Buckingham Browne & Nichols, a private school near the condos in West Cambridge, to share updates about the demolition.
Around when demolition was first announced in early June, the condo board told city officials they couldn’t handle such a big and expensive project on their own, said deputy city manager Katherine Watkins. The building overlooks the Charles River and is nine stories tall-102 feet high-and stretches half a block from Sparks Street: it’s 232 feet along Mount Auburn and extends 53 feet along Sparks where it meets a parking lot next to Bradbury Street on its north side.
The city now plans to use state law that lets local inspectors tear down buildings for public safety reasons and then recover costs – which are over $8.8 million according to Consigli Construction’s report – through selling off the land later via the condo trust.
Alyssa Chen Deputy city manager Katherine Watkins talks about Riverview condo demolition Thursday at a neighborhood meeting.
When residents were evacuated back in November, there was hope repairs could let them return within a year. But by December, as more details came out about how bad things were, repair seemed less likely. An April report confirmed those worries: Consigli estimated fixing it would cost $73.2 million-way too much for just 66 units-so tearing it down became clearly the best choice.
Watkins said demolition should start late this fall but first they still need court approval confirming their authority plus hiring contractors and environmental experts.
One tricky part is that workers can’t safely go inside this unstable building to remove asbestos found in ceilings and tiles beforehand. So state environmental rules say they must treat the entire site as hazardous during what’s called “nontraditional demolition”; this big job will involve misting water sprays and air checks to control dust and asbestos fibers since inhaling them is dangerous.
The structural flaws happened because when built in the ’60s, construction didn’t follow original plans properly. Issues like misplaced reinforcement bars (rebar) plus weak concrete strength detailed over 310 pages by engineering firm SGH show that even without people or furniture or snow load, this building barely holds up under its own weight. SGH says it has “very low to potentially zero safety factor,” risking collapse like pancakes falling down if things go wrong worst case scenario,” Watkins explained.
This isn’t Cambridge’s first time dealing with development here though – back in ‘59 properties were taken by eminent domain for urban renewal projects led by Cambridge Redevelopment Authority who picked First Realty through competition to build both Riverview condos plus Bradbury townhouses nearby under one condo trust.
City rep Jeremy Warnick said problems with Riverview went beyond normal inspections back then:
“Because of the size of the building, a city inspector would not have been checking the concrete or the reinforcement placement,” Warnick wrote in an email. “It would be the duty of the structural engineer to test and look at the position of the rebar.”
Why construction was so poor remains unclear but old records suggest companies responsible probably still exist today. Both condo board members and city officials seem focused mainly on demolishing rather than digging into past mistakes which aren’t legally relevant anymore due to expired statutes limiting claims decades ago.
“We certainly encourage [the condo trust] to be exploring that,” city manager Yi-An Huang said. “But it’s hard. Even if there may be some responsibility from the original construction, we’re talking about 65 years ago.”
A few neighbors asked about future plans for rebuilding during Thursday’s meeting but officials replied they’re concentrating only on demolition right now. Current zoning allows seven-story buildings up to around 85 feet tall where Riverview stands (C-2 district), though developers might get permission for taller buildings through variances.
City of Cambridge Map showing street closures near upcoming demolition site in West Cambridge affecting Mount Auburn & Sparks streets traffic flow starting Saturday
“ It would be up to the condo association how they want to move forward with rebuilding or selling land to developers which seems likely ,” Watkins added. “ But nothing’s decided yet. ”
They expect engineering approvals + permits will take six-eight weeks , then actual teardown should run another three-to-four months.
For now , as precaution , parts of Mount Auburn & Sparks streets closest to building will close immediately , meaning all traffic including MBTA buses #71 & #73 must detour.
City also offers another online community session via Zoom from 6:30-8 PM July 24. Check documents or sign up for updates at cambridgema. gov/221mtauburnst.
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