Board of Appeals seeks another opinion

MARBLEHEAD – The Board of Appeals is seeking an architect’s opinion on the 44 Chapter 40B luxury and affordable units KSS wants to build on the Marblehead-Salem line – and although the board could vote on the project as early as October there is no guarantee that they will.The board chose Joseph LaGrasse and Associates as the firm that will look at Lafayette Tides designs inside and out Monday evening, during the latest session of the on-going Board of Appeals hearing on KSS plans to build housing on the site of the former Chadwick Lead Mills property off Lafayette Street.Appeals board Chairman William Moriarty set the next Lafayette Tides meeting for Sept. 10, and adjourned the meeting before KSS Realty Attorney Carl King could ask the board about setting a meeting to approve the project.When King raised that question Moriarty told him the board would discuss setting future meetings in September.Earlier in the two-hour session, King called for an August discussion of architecture and a September vote, pointing out that the experts employed in the town review of Lafayette Tides have already cost KSS about $40,000, costs that “far exceeded any other Chapter 40B project in town.””We’ve gone well beyond what is typical,” he said.Moriarty pointed out that Lafayette Tides is only Marblehead’s third 40B projectKSS Realty has a big question about the proposed lead clean-up of their property, scheduled to begin this year.He said the extra cost could indicate the board’s maturity. “We know more about what we need,” he said.Most of the meeting was taken up by a financial review by development consultant Edward Marchant, who walked board members through KSS figures and said the project would cost $28.08 million and make $32.4 million, generating a $4.3 million profit.When board members questioned the profit picture King pointed out that units at Oliver’s Pond cost $338 per square foot to purchase and Lafayette Tides units cost $475 per square foot. “Lafayette Tides is a waterfront development in which every unit has an ocean view and two parking spaces,” King said.