LYNN — An 11-acre wooded parcel on Walnut Street could become the city’s next subdivision for $400,000 homes.
“My goal is to create a nice, quiet neighborhood,” developer James O’Donnell said. “I grew up around the corner, my parents still live there and I want to do something my family would be proud of.”
MGN Walnut LLC, an entity managed by O’Donnell, will seek Planning Board approval to build nine duplexes. The committee meets on Tuesday.
While final plans for the 18 units have not been finalized, O’Donnell said they will each feature three bedrooms, one bath and perhaps a garage.
“I could go for a variance for a 140-unit multi-family dwelling,” he said. “But I’m not doing that. I’m trying to do a nice, modest development.”
More than 100 years ago, the parcel was a family farm, O’Donnell said.
“My father still talks about the cows that roamed the land,” he said.
If approved, construction could start by the fall.
The new homes come at a time when the median price for a single-family dwelling in Lynn increased by more than 18 percent to $335,000 in June, up from $283,000 for the same month last year.
Real estate agents say the lack of inventory has driven prices up to record levels, forcing frustrated buyers to compete for any new home that comes on the market.
The MLS Property Information Network, the Shrewsbury-based listing service, had about five dozen single family homes for sale on Wednesday. That’s very low, agents say, in a city of more than 90,000.
The lowest price home on MLS is an 832-square-foot cottage on Vermont Avenue for $175,900. At the other end of the market is a 9-room Victorian on Tudor Street for $639,000.
