Proposals due for Nahant Coast Guard housing

NAHANT-At noon on Monday, proposals for development of the former Coast Guard Housing site are due and Town Administrator Mark Cullinan said he is pleased with the amount of interest from developers.?I think we have a lot of interest in developing this site,” he said. “We had 13 individuals pick up request for proposal packets. I think we’ll have several well established and highly qualified developers submit proposals.”In April, Town Meeting authorized the town to issue the Request for Proposals (RFP) for the former military housing site. The RFP specifies the minimum purchase price is set at $2.1 million, but price is not the sole criteria in selecting a developer.According to the RFP, the town reserves the right to select any development proposal as long as the offered price meets the minimum requirement. The RFP calls for re-development proposals that include eight single-family homes with a minimum lot size of 4,500 square feet per home in the vicinity of Castle/Gardner Road. It also allows for no more than 20 multi-family homes in the Goddard Drive area. Cullinan said the RFP specifies the Castle/Gardner Road area should be planned as an area for detached single-family homes so it would blend into the existing neighborhood. He said the Goddard Drive area, which is adjacent to Kelley Greens Golf Course and Bailey’s Hill, should consist of multi-family homes designed to blend in with the neighborhood in terms of design and scale. Cullinan said some of the units would be affordable housing, which he pointed out is not the same as subsidized or low-income housing.Cullinan, who is an ex officio member of the Military Housing Committee, said once the proposals are opened, each proposal would be logged in.?We will look at each proposal and make sure it meets the minimum requirements,” he said. “Then the Military Housing Committee will meet to develop a schedule for evaluating the proposals.”Cullinan said the Military Housing Committee would select two or three proposals that are most responsive to the criteria set forth by the town.?We will schedule a public information session sometime in September,” he said. “The two or three developers selected by the Military Housing Committee will be asked to give a short presentation.”Cullinan said after the public information session, the Military Housing Committee would make a recommendation to the Board of Selectmen.?The selectmen will call for a special Town Meeting,” he said. “I expect the special Town Meeting to take place in late October or early November.”