LYNN — Ward 5 City Councilor Dianna Chakoutis will host a neighborhood meeting to give people the opportunity to ask questions and offer feedback on a proposed 10-story building on Munroe Street that would include 189 apartments and up to 20,000 square feet of commercial space.
The meeting is open to the public and will be Wednesday at 6 p.m. in the community room at the Lynn Housing Authority & Neighborhood Development, 10 Church St.
The Procopio Companies is proposing a 10-story building that will also include 46 underground parking spaces and a roof terrace. The land, currently owned by the Hall Company, sits between Munroe and Oxford Streets and is open space, part of which is used as a community garden.
“I look forward to presenting this project to the community,” said Chakoutis. “We have an active neighborhood group in the downtown and I’m anxious to get their feedback.”
The Z-shaped building would include 108 one-bedroom units, 45 one-bedroom units with den and 36 two-bedroom units. It would also feature 30,000 square feet of amenities, including a fitness center, golf simulator, theater space and 24-hour concierge. The plans call for a restaurant and other commercial development on the first floor, with a groundbreaking scheduled for either late 2018 or early 2019.
Developers Mike and Kevin Procopio, from the Saugus-based company, will attend the meeting. Mike Procopio said the development hopes to attract young professionals who may be priced out of the market in Boston. He said he expects the Munroe Street units to have average monthly rents in the mid-to-upper $2,000s.
The $90 million development is in compliance with existing zoning laws and does not need a special permit, according to James Cowdell, EDIC/Lynn executive director. A tax incentive plan will be brought before the City Council for approval this summer.
The Housing Development Incentive Program (HDIP), authorized by the state, provides Gateway Cities with a tool to develop market rate housing while increasing residential growth, expanding diversity of housing stock, supporting economic development, and promoting neighborhood stabilization in designated areas.
Under the plan negotiated with the developers, the commercial portion of the project would be taxed fully from the beginning, while the residential portion would be taxed starting at a rate of 15 percent of assessed value in FY 2020 and increasing yearly until it reaches 100 percent in FY 2027. Cowdell noted that the property currently brings in approximately $3,000 in annual taxes. The total amount of taxes paid over the seven years of the tax incentive plan would be almost $5 million. The projected annual tax revenue starting in FY 2027 is $1.35 million.
“This is an historic project for the downtown,” Cowdell said.
The Procopio Companies built the 42-unit Needhams Landing on the Saugus River in 2016 and currently has the 100-unit Ironwood development under construction on Fairmont Avenue in West Lynn.
