PEABODY — Once again the city’s local hospital, the JB Thomas site, has become a battleground between the developer who wants to build a residential project, and city officials and residents who oppose construction.
The project’s fate rests in the hands of the Massachusetts Housing Finance Agency (MHFA), with agency officials reviewing Hemisphere Development Group LLC’s proposal seeking state “40B” status for the project that could quickly propel it through the local review process in the name of creating affordable housing.
Mayor Edward Bettencourt forwarded petitions signed by 380 residents opposed to Hemisphere’s King’s Residences to MHFA Relationships Manager Michael Busby last month, stating city opposition to the project.
Top city concerns, Bettencourt said, include “… added strain on our municipal infrastructure, including water and sewer, and road and sidewalk; congestion, public safety concerns and a reduction in overall quality of life in the King Street neighborhood.”
Hemisphere insists it has done its own neighborhood surveys of “… hundreds of residents who want more affordable housing in the city — many as high as 25 percent affordable on any project.”
Boston-based Hemisphere in January proposed a 133-unit residential project and said the plan follows city Housing Production guidelines.
“We remain committed to creating quality new residential choices with Affordable Housing to transform the former JB Thomas Hospital site while helping to address the housing crisis experienced locally and throughout the region,” the company said in a statement on Monday.
Bettencourt, in his letter to MHFA, said Peabody is committed to affordable housing creation with the Housing Authority, as well as nonprofit housing organizations drawing up plans for housing and building new housing.
He noted how the city housing development incentive plan crafted in 2016 provides housing growth opportunities. Paired with the city inclusionary zoning ordinance, Bettencourt said the incentive plan encourages market-rate and affordable housing opportunities.
He said the city’s $1.7 million contribution to the Tannery II project “preserved 284 affordable residential units.”
In letters to MHFA, state Rep. Thomas Walsh and the City Council also insist Peabody is committed to creating more affordable housing. But they argue the King, Lowell and Endicott streets neighborhood cannot absorb potential added traffic from King’s Residences and potential enrollment impact on Center Elementary School.
A statement drafted by Councilor-at-large Anne Manning-Martin and forwarded to Busby makes the city’s case in stark terms.
“The City of Peabody will never recover from the resonating damaging effects felt throughout the city caused by a project of this density at this densely populated and over stressed location,” the statement reads.
Hemisphere said in its statement it is awaiting confirmation from MHFA, in the firm’s words, “underscoring the need for new housing variety and affordability in the Peabody community.”
