Rent and true total cost by unit type
Apartments.com’s CoStar-verified listing already folds mandatory charges into its Total Monthly Price: base rent, renters insurance, and submetered utilities. It does not fold in parking or storage, which are common enough that a realistic budget should include them.
| Unit type | Total monthly price range | Cheapest listed unit | With $350 parking + $100 storage added |
|---|---|---|---|
| Studio | $2,855 to $3,225 | Unit 0549, $2,855, 589 sq ft | $3,305 |
| 1 Bedroom | $3,120 to $4,000 | Unit 0229, $3,120, 665 sq ft | $3,570 |
| 2 Bedroom | $4,463 to $5,195 | Unit 0809, $4,463, 1,088 sq ft | $4,913 |
| 3 Bedroom | $5,755 to $5,946 | Unit P-1906, $5,755, 1,460 sq ft | $6,205 |
Adding both optional fees moves every unit type up by $450 a month, a gap none of the headline “starting at” prices show. Assembly Square’s submarket runs a bit above the city overall: Somerville-wide averages sit near $2,772 for a studio and $3,327 for a one-bedroom, against $2,979 and $3,452 for Assembly Square specifically.
How much income do I need to qualify for a studio, one-bedroom, or two-bedroom at Montaje? Using the standard 30%-of-gross-income rule against the cheapest listed unit of each type: about $114,200 a year for the $2,855 studio, $124,800 for the $3,120 one-bedroom, and $178,520 for the $4,463 two-bedroom.
What it costs to move in and to move out
| Fee | Amount | When it applies |
|---|---|---|
| Security deposit | About 100% of base rent, may vary with screening | Due at move-in |
| Pet rent | $50/mo per cat, $100/mo per dog, max 2 pets, 80 lb limit | Monthly |
| Parking | $350/mo | Monthly, optional |
| Storage | $100/mo | Monthly, optional |
| Month-to-month premium | $1,000 | One-time, if leasing without a fixed term |
| Late payment | $50 | Per occurrence |
| Returned payment (NSF) | $15 | Per occurrence |
| Intra-community transfer | $2,000 | If moving to another unit in the building |
| Insufficient move-out notice | 200% of base rent | One-time, if notice isn’t given per lease terms |
| Lease buyout | 200% of base rent | One-time, to exit early |
Unit 0549, the studio at $2,855 for 589 square feet, was listed as available immediately at the time of this pricing pull. Breaking a lease early or failing to give proper notice both carry the same 200%-of-base-rent charge, on top of whatever’s left on the lease.
What does breaking a Montaje lease early cost? A lease buyout runs 200% of base rent as a one-time charge, and insufficient move-out notice carries the identical 200% penalty; a month-to-month arrangement instead of a fixed lease adds a flat $1,000.
How Montaje compares to Miscela, AVA Somerville, Revolution at Assembly Row, and Arris
| Building | Address | Distance to Assembly Row | Studio | 1 Bedroom | 2 Bedroom |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Montaje | 449 Canal St | 0.1 mi | $2,855 to $3,225 | $3,120 to $4,000 | $4,463 to $5,195 |
| Miscela | 485 Foley St | On-site | $2,850 | From $3,157 | From $4,535 |
| AVA Somerville | 445 Artisan Way | On-site | $2,816 | From $3,366 | From $3,783 |
| Revolution at Assembly Row | 290 Revolution Dr | On-site | From $2,914 | From $3,208 | $4,953 |
| Arris | 10 Inner Belt Rd | About 1.6 mi, different sub-neighborhood | From $2,596 (overall) | Not independently confirmed by unit type | Not independently confirmed by unit type |
AVA Somerville currently undercuts Montaje at every bedroom count shown here, and Revolution at Assembly Row’s one-bedroom starts lower too. Arris looks like the cheapest studio on paper, but it sits in Inner Belt rather than Assembly Row, and part of its 205 units are income-restricted between 50 and 110 percent of area median income, so it isn’t competing for quite the same renter.
Is Arris a fair comparison to Montaje? Only partly: it’s about 1.6 miles away in a different sub-neighborhood, and a portion of its units are reserved for income-qualified renters, so its low advertised starting price isn’t available to every applicant the way Montaje’s is.
Location, commute, and the score gap between listings
Montaje sits 0.2 miles, about a 3-minute walk, from the Assembly MBTA station. Beyond that, the two major listing sites disagree with each other. Apartments.com’s Local Logic data puts walkability at 70, transit at 70, drivability at 90, and bikeability at 70. Zillow’s Walk Score-sourced figures show a 75 walkability and a 63 transit score on one listing page, and a 70 transit score with no walkability figure on a second listing. Neither site publishes a snapshot date, so the gap could reflect different measurement dates as easily as different methodologies.
Why do Montaje’s walk and transit scores differ between listing sites? Apartments.com sources its scores from Local Logic; Zillow sources its scores from Walk Score, a separate company with its own methodology, and the two don’t always agree on the same address.
Pet policy and parking
Parking is a separate optional line at $350/mo, and storage space runs $100/mo when available.
How many pets can I have at Montaje, and what do they cost? Up to 2 pets per apartment, 80 lb weight limit each, $50/mo for a cat and $100/mo for a dog.
What residents say
Montaje’s aggregate rating differs slightly by source: 4.5 out of 5 across 238 reviews on Apartments.com, and 4.4 out of 5 across 164 votes on ApartmentRatings, where the staff-specific sub-score drops to 3.9. Reported monthly utility costs for a one-bedroom vary widely across resident Q&A threads, from roughly $65 to as high as $600, which several posters flagged as inconsistent with each other.
Who Montaje suits, and who should look elsewhere
- Renters who value on-site scale and amenities over the lowest possible rent get 447 units, a pool, and a 20th-floor lounge that smaller Assembly Row buildings don’t match.
- Renters comparison-shopping strictly on price should look at AVA Somerville or Revolution at Assembly Row’s one-bedrooms first; both currently start lower than Montaje’s equivalent floorplans.
- Anyone considering a short stay or an early exit should budget for the 200%-of-base-rent buyout before signing, not after.
- Income-qualified applicants priced out of market-rate Assembly Row buildings should check Arris’s affordable units directly rather than comparing its market-rate starting price to Montaje’s.
Montaje’s marketing describes a hub connecting Somerville to Boston and to Assembly Row’s shops and restaurants, including Trader Joe’s, Legoland Discovery Center, and Muse Paintbar; that framing appears close to verbatim across the official site and both aggregators. The property also advertises a J Turner Research ORA Elite 1% award, five times running.
Leave a Reply