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About Us

About Us

01

Our Story

 

Graffito’s roots date back to 2007 in Cambridge, MA, when a team was assembled to lease 25,000 square feet of vacant retail space at the base of Kendall Square’s first non-academic residential tower, the Watermark. At the time, and despite robust office and lab activity, the neighborhood lacked retail activity and was void of meaningful ground-floor programming, thus limiting the appeal and viability of this rapidly evolving mixed-use district. Through the work of the Graffito team and its predecessor entity, CityRetail, local restaurants, retail amenities, and public realm elements were carefully introduced to the neighborhood.

Success in and around the Watermark led to additional work in Kendall Square and throughout Cambridge, then in Boston and Somerville. Today, Graffito SP operates throughout Greater Boston and in select cities across the country. Our work remains grounded in the same commitment to context-specific localism and neighborhood-scale value creation that was at the heart of our original mission back in 2007.

We think big, and we are building a more equitable model for real estate development, from the ground floor up.

02

Our Team

Our team is made up of a diverse set of individuals with experience in commercial transactions, real estate development, urban planning, small business advocacy, community engagement, graphic design, and branding. We prefer bikes to cars, we drink a lot of (good) coffee, and two of us really just can’t resist ice cream.

 

JESSE BAERKAHN

 

MELISSA CASTRO

 

TANIA CELESTIN

 

DAVE DOWNING

 

WENDELL JOSEPH

 

DREW KATZ

 

NOAH KORETZ

 

JOHANNA LOUGHRAN

 

BROOKE PORTER

 

ANGELA VANARSDALE

03

Landlord Clients

04

Tenant Clients

Tatte
LifeAlife
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Row34-Logo
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Salt & Straw
05

Our Collaborators

Black Owned Boston lifts the Black owned businesses, places, spaces and the people moving the culture forward in the Greater Boston Area.

Boston Main Streets Foundation strives to help local businesses succeed and guide city goers to the best places to visit.

The Boston Public Market is an indoor, year-round marketplace featuring 30 New England farmers, fishers, artisans, and food entrepreneurs.

CIC is a global leader in building and operating innovation communities through shared co-working spaces made to support entrepreneurship.

Commonwealth Kitchen is Boston’s premiere nonprofit food business incubator and small batch manufacturing center.

coUrbanize helps real estate development and planning teams bring community engagement online.

Isenberg Projects is a creative consulting agency based in Boston that specializes in placemaking and community engagement.

KAGE Growth Strategies is a consulting firm with strong expertise in crafting and implementing diversity and inclusion solutions.

The Kendall Square Association consists of companies and institutions committed to promoting the health, vitality and vibrancy of Cambridge’s Kendall Square.

Mass Restaurants United is a coalition of independent MA restaurant professionals advocating for the industry during COVID-19 and beyond.

Now + There is a public art curator that challenges our city’s cultural identity by taking artistic risks and producing temporary, site-specific projects.

Street Plans is an internationally recognized urban planning, design, architecture, and transportation planning practice.

Toast is a POS and management system that helps restaurants improve operations, increase sales and create a better guest experience.

Union Square Main Streets is a community development organization in Somerville, MA that aims to enhance the area’s commercial viability.

Venture Café Cambridge connects a community of innovators, entrepreneurs, and small businesses through free, high-impact programming and events.