Developer withdraws apartment plan in Lynn

LYNN – Local developer David Potter has withdrawn his plans to erect four apartment buildings on Brookline Street.Potter informed the City Council of his intent last week. He initially said he would construct four apartment buildings at 118-120 Brookline St. at a cost of $15 million. He had approached the City Council for a special permit.The project was first introduced in 2007 and described 156 owner-occupied condominiums in four buildings on five acres, built on a former industrial site. Changes in the real estate market prompted a revision of those plans. Potter said the unit prices would be lowered and offered for rent with an option to buy rather than sold as condominiums.”There are some other things we have to do before we go back for a site plan review,” Potter said. “We should have had that information when we went to the meeting, but we didn’t.”According to Potter, he plans to hold a neighborhood meeting over the summer to discuss changes in the project’s construction and timetable.”The project is definitely going forward. We’ll have a meeting with neighbors in a couple of months,” he said.Michael Donovan, director of the city’s Department of Inspectional Services, said a special permit is required because the proposal entails building four residential structures with a total 156 units on a former industrial site.”The plans and documents he submitted for review were not adequate. He was asked to submit more but he didn’t do that,” Donovan said. “He seemed to think this was just a redo of the plans he submitted in 2007, but he needed to reflect the changes in the project that were sufficient enough so that he can’t just drop the old plans on the table and say, ‘Use these.’ It doesn’t work that way with site plans. The whole process starts over once you withdraw. The last site plan took two or three months to complete.”