Graffito has been working with MIT Investment Management Company since 2009 to reimagine and reposition certain retail assets in and around Kendall and Central Square in Cambridge, MA.

Graffito’s work has spanned planning, permitting, development, and leasing phases, resulting in dozens of newly activated storefronts across East Cambridge, including bars, restaurants, cafes, service providers, a pharmacy, a food hall, a pool hall, and a full service grocery store.

MIT is adding over 4.6 million square feet of new laboratories, work spaces, residences, cultural attractions, and retail at the heart of this center of invention and discovery. It will be a place more open, more vibrant, and more connected; an even stronger neighborhood anchored at its base by best-in-class makers, retailers, and restaurateurs.

MITIMCo’s criteria for selecting operators were based on the following five principles: Local First, Inclusivity, Innovation, Balancing the Market, and Extended Hours of Operation.