Mashpee Commons is a lifestyle center located on Cape Cod in the town of Mashpee, Massachusetts. The center opened in 1986 and is considered to be an early example of new urbanist development.[1]
Mashpee Commons occupies the former site of the New Seabury Shopping Center; the original strip mall was constructed in 1960 and initially consisted of 62,000 square feet (5,800 m2) of retail floor area. By the early 1980s the Field Point Corporation, owners of the New Seabury Shopping Center, sought to convert the site into a mixed-used district. Field Point contracted Andres Duany and Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, the planners of Seaside, Florida, and the founders of the Congress for the New Urbanism, to design the conversion.[2] The original four single-story flat-roofed buildings were renovated with new facades, and the parking lot was redeveloped as streets and blocks bordered by two-story buildings that typically housed offices or residential units above shops; parking is curbside and located behind the buildings.[3] The site reopened as Mashpee Commons in 1986 and has had several expansions since.[4]
Much of the design of Mashpee Common is attributed to the new urbanism movement that emerged during the early 1980s. New urbanist elements such as rear parking, street-facing structures, and pedestrianized areas are present in Mashpee Commons. The architectural design of the center is derivative of traditional New England town centers, featuring a mix of colonial-style facades. Mashpee Commons is classified as a lifestyle center and contains a limited amount of multifunctional development, with most of the off-street parking being relegated to a large surface lot that encircles the main retail area similar to a traditional shopping mall.[5]
