Beverly Developer Planning 238 Senior Units

According to the Salem News, one of the country's largest developers of retirement homes wants to build 238 senior citizen apartments in five buildings in the Cherry Hill Industrial Park.
Holiday Retirement hopes to start construction on the $24 million project this fall.

Read the entire Salem News article.

MBTA Receiving Garage Bids at Beverly Depot

According to the Beverly Citizen, 5 proposals have been submitted to build a parking garage near the Beverly Depot. The state has committed about $18.5 million to the project, in addition to $3 million in Federal money another $4 million in support from the MBTA revenue from parking fees. The bids are not public at this point. 100 letters went out to property owners within 80 feet of the Depot asking them to submit plans showing a property with enough room for a 500 parking garage to include retail, office and residential space. The T wants to complete the sale by March 2009 and have the garage open by 2011.

Read the entire Beverly Citizen article.

New Multi-family Inspection Fee in Beverly

According to the Beverly Citizen, a new fee of $125.00 will be charged in Beverly for inspections of at least 3-family housing for safety inspections. The inspections will be done at least every 5 years which was required and haven't been done. This was a result of the Gloucester Crossing apartment building fire earlier this year which was caused by uninspected, faulty wiring.

Read the entire Beverly Citizen article.

Windover and MBTA to Work Together on Beverly Parking Garage

The Salem News reported that the president of Windover Development said that Windover looks forward to working with the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority to build a long-awaited parking garage near the train depot on Rantoul Street.

Read the entire Salem News article.

Chapman’s Corner Development in Bevely

According to the Beverly Citizen, the Beverly Planning Board approved a 27 house development at Chapman's Corner. The project will be called Manor Homes at Whitehall and will be located above a hill at Chapman's Corner (near the intersection of Hale and Boyles streets in the Cove). 27 houses are expected to be built and one 2-family. The houses will start at $750,000 – including two below market homes – and are expected to break ground in the fall.

Read the entire Beverly Citizen's article.

Senior Housing proposed for Cherry Hill Industrial Park in Beverly

According to the Beverly Citizen, a national developer of senior housing plans to build a 238-unit complex in the Cherry Hill Industrial Park in Beverly. The 2-phase project needs a special permit from the Zoning Board of Appeals, which is scheduled to meet on June 24th at 7:00pm at the library on Essex Street to consider the plan.

Phrase 1 would be 118 independent living building on a 9.5 acre parcel and will include studio, 1-bedroom,and 2-bedroom units plus many other rooms such as large formal dining and other amenities and rooms. 15% of the units would be subsidized. The site plan calls for a 4-story, 118-suit building closest to Conant Street and 3 other 4-story buildings on the rest of the property. The entrance would be directly across from Axcelis Technologies’ driveway on Cherry Hill Drive (pictured right).

Read the entire Beverly Citizen article.

Fight Over Open Space Continues in Beverly

The Beverly Citizen reports that heated discussions over open space preservation in Beverly continue. The Open Space and Residential Design Ordinance (OSRD) requires new developments to set aside half the land for open space and work around slopes, wildlife habitats, scenic vistas and other natural features. This was passed by the City Council in 2005. A waiver has been requested by the developers of Beaver Pond Road. Changes approved by the Planning Board to OSRD law apply to a four-acre or larger parcel where three or more lots are created in the one acre zoning district. In the two-acre zoning district, parcels about seven acre or larger, where three or more lots are created , would fall under OSRD requirements. The Conservation Commission feels this may eliminate open space completely on some lots. Robert Buchsbaum chairman of the Open Space and Recreation Committee suggested the OSRD guidelines should not be amended until the city has more experience with the ordinance.

Read the entire Beverly Citizen article.

Governor Promises Money for Beverly Parking Garage

According to the Salem News, Governor Deval Patrick has promised Beverly that the state will help pay for a new parking garage near the Beverly train depot, an announcement that MBTA and local officials said means the long-awaited project will finally become a reality.

The Commonwealth is committed to spending the $11 million the state Legislature authorized four years ago for the Beverly garage. The MBTA will pay $4 million and the federal government will pay $3 million, MBTA General Manager Dan Grabauskas said.

Read the entire Salem News article.

Update on Beverly Commuter Parking Garage

Update on our May 21, 2008 post... according to the Beverly Citizen, Beverly officials are looking to seek proposals from local landowners to build a commuter parking garage near Beverly Depot.

Read the entire Beverly Citizen article.

Beverly Developer Proposes New Plan

According to the Beverly Citizen, developer CEA Group of Cambridge, who bought the Beverly property at Brimbal Ave and Sohier Rd in November 2005, has asked the City to rezone the property from industrial to commercial. CEA Group has a plan on the site for 4 buildings, a mix of retail and office space along with a childcare center.

Read the entire Beverly Citizen article.

Affordable Housing Coalition Receives Funding for Beverly Construction

The Beverly Citizen reported that the Beverly Affordable Housing Coalition has received all the needed permits and approvals as well as the funding for the $8.5 million project replacing the existing Mayflower Motel on Cabot and Elliot Streets in Beverly. Construction would begin the end of the year and last for about one year.

The units will be affordable based on the financing agreements with Department of Housing and Community Development, City of Beverly, Northshore Home Consortium, Enterprise Foundation and the Danvers State Preservation Fund. Each unit will be between 250-400 sq. ft. restricted to one resident and rent for $375 to $625 a month. A grant of $46,000 from The Enterprise Foundation is awarded because the building will be energy efficient thus a Green Building.

This photo, courtesy of the Beverly Citizen, is an artist’s conception of what Cabot Street Homes will look like when it is built at the current site of the Mayflower Motel.

Read the entire Beverly Citizen article.

Parking Garage Stalling $100 million Beverly Project

According to the Beverly Citizen, parking issues could stall a plan for Windover Development to go forward with plans for a mixed commercial and residential development block in Beverly next to Beverly Depot train station. A parking garage was supposed to be approved by Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority and without that, Windover President Lee Dellicker cannot advance with the plans. The key was to have this garage that would create hundreds of parking spaces. Windover has a plan B if they have no assurances of a garage being built they would revise their plans for a project that would take in account the smaller parking spaces.

Read the entire Beverly Citizen article.

Beverly Waterfront Modernization Advances

According to the Beverly Citizen, a consultant has been hired to write new regulations for the Beverly waterfront project along the inner waterfront on Water Street and Bass River between Goat Hill and Elliot Street. This will rewrite land use laws to allow mix use of retail stores, residential and restaurants.

Planning Director Tina Cassidy said a 3-consultant team will begin the work shortly. Public hearing and public meeting and speaking with property owners will be part of the process. The proposal will be presented by the end of 2008 to the City Council.

Read the entire Beverly Citizen article.

5 North Shore Development Projects Aimed at Boosting Economy

The Salem News reports that there are 5 major development projects in the works in the North Shore aimed at boosting the local economy:

1. $106 million Salem court construction
2. Northshore Mall expansion in Peabody
3. $15 million Bridge Street bypass road in Salem
4. Health Care Expansions in Danvers & Peabody
5. Beverly waterfront transformation

Read the entire Salem News article.

Two Plans Submitted for McKay School in Beverly

According to the Beverly Citizen, two developers have proposed converting the vacant McKay School in Beverly into residential units – beginning as apartments which may be later be sold as condominiums.

Redevelopment of the McKay School is one of several components of Mayor Bill Scanlon’s plan to pay for the $68 million Beverly High School construction and renovation project that is scheduled to break ground later this year. Any redevelopment plan would need a special permit from the City Council under a recently revised zoning ordinance that governs residential reuse of municipal buildings.

The Beverly Citizen article had a nice breakdown of the plans:

Windover Development LLC
Proposed residential units in former McKay School: 23
Units in newly constructed buildings: 6
New residents: 60 to 65 people
Proposed purchase price: $600,000
Project cost: $7.4 million
Tax revenue after six years: $101,700
Parking spaces: 58
Below market (affordable) units: four

Dakota Partners Inc.
Proposed residential units in former McKay School: 30
Units in newly constructed building: 6
New residents: 58 to 87 people
Proposed purchase price: $1 million
Project cost: $8.37 million
Tax revenue after six years: $136,768
Parking spaces: 72
Below market (affordable) units: four

Beverly Affordable Housing Coalition to work on filling 65-unit Affordable-Housing Development

The Beverly Citizen reported that the Beverly Affordable Housing Coalition and the North Shore United Way have organized an umbrella group of 11 social-service agencies in hopes to remake parts of the Gloucester Crossing neighborhood through Holcroft Park Homes, and also to help build the families that will live in the 65-unit affordable-housing development.

The group, under the banner of the “Gloucester Crossing Resource Group”, have been joined by the likes of Beverly Bootstraps, Health Quarters the North Shore Career Center, and the Police Department, and will cover everything from education, job training, day care, fuel assistance, literacy education, tax preparation, health services and law enforcement. The vision of Gloucester Crossing Resource Group is to provide a model for communities on the North Shore as communities grapple with solutions to poverty and a persistent affordable housing crisis.

Read the entire Beverly Citizen article.

Beverly Mayor Seeks to Scale Back Open Space and Residential Design Ordinance

According to the Beverly Citizen, Beverly Mayor Bill Scanlon is seeking to change Beverly’s relatively new Open Space and Residential Design Ordinance (OSRD) in order to control, but not stop, residential development. The latest set of proposed changes would reduce the buffer around each parcel from 100 feet to 25 feet and not require it around rock outcrops and conservation areas on the site but still require it around wetlands and vernal pools.

The changes would also increase the threshold for land required to be developed using the rules in zoning districts where the minimum lot size is one or two acres.

The Beverly Citizen article includes a more detailed bulleted list of the proposed changes.

The March 23, 2008 OSRD ordinance public hearing will continue on April 7, 2008 at 7:15 in City Council chambers.

Read the entire Beverly Citizen article.

First Residential Subdivision Application Under Beverly’s Open Space and Residential Design ordinance

The Beverly Citizen reported that the first residential subdivion application has been filed under Beverly’s new Open Space and Residential Design (OSRD) ordinance. The application proposes 4 new building lots off Beaver Pond, a private road that runs along the edge of Beaver Pond and connects Dodge Street in North Beverly and Old Essex Road in Centerville, behind Harry Ball Field.

Read the entire Beverly Citizen article.

Beverly Public Hearing for Open Space Protection

According to the Beverly Citizen, the Beverly Planning Board and City Council is holding a joint public hearing tonight, March 3, 2008, at7:15pm to consider changes to the Open Space and Residential Design ordinance.

Among the proposed changes are a recommendation for the 100-foot buffer around each property to be eliminated or reduced to 25 feet, and also to change the threshold for land required to be developed using the ordinance.

Read the entire Beverly Citizen article.

Beverly Housing Coalition Staff Added for New Projects

According to the Beverly Citizen, the Beverly Affordable Housing Coalition has added a new program manager to help the organization take on its two largest projects yet — a new building of 43, single-room-occupancy units at the Mayflower Motel property on Cabot Street and several new below-market-rate apartments buildings in the Gloucester Crossing neighborhood.

The new staff, David Bresnahan, was working in New Orleans as director of special projects for a homeless housing collaborative that involved over 60 different agencies at the time Hurricane Katrina struck. Bresnahan’s addition doubled the size of the Beverly Affordable Housing Coalition; he is a graduate of the London School of Economic and Political Science with a degree in social policy and administration.

Read the entire Beverly Citizen article