LYNN — Boris Kuritnik, owner of K&K Development, is planning to transform the top two floors of a North Common Street commercial building into 16 residential units.
Kuritnik, who owns Jamaica Plain’s Greenville Real Estate Group, received approval for the project from the City Council Tuesday night.
He plans to convert the vacant medical offices on the building’s two upper floors to eight residential units each. The first floor of 189-191 North Common St. would maintain its current use as an adult daycare center.
The property’s current zoning is for business, which required Kuritnik to seek a special permit from the council for a residential use, according to his attorney Vincent Phelan.
“Housing in the city of Lynn is a priority,” said Phelan. “We think this is a great fit for the community.”
The units would be mostly one-bedrooms, with a few two-bedroom apartments. The rents will be market-rate, but the majority of the units will be rented through subsidies, which Kuritnik said will address a void in the city’s real estate market when coupled with other factors driving down the cost.
“(Building) residential on an existing shell is more affordable than a downtown high-rise development,” said Kuritnik, noting that developers often include higher rents to offset the cost of development.
“Here, rents would fall in line with where more affordable rents are. It’s really adding housing stock in that medium affordable range.”
Kuritnik said he’s worked on similar developments using old buildings throughout the state. He was unsure when construction would start on this project, but anticipated it would be an eight-month to a year-long process.
