SWAMPSCOTT — MassHousing did not approve the proposed Chapter 40B project at 54 Foster Road/0 Archer St. titled Atlantic Bay View Residences, suggesting that the developers need to reevaluate their proposal.
MassHousing has notified the Town of Swampscott that it decided not to issue a Determination of Project Eligibility for the proposed Chapter 40B project at 54 Foster Road/0 Archer St., said Marzie Galazka, director of community and economic development, at Wednesday’s Select Board meeting.
“At this time, MassHousing requested the development team to reevaluate their proposal,” Galazka said.
She had reached out to the project’s legal team, said Galazka, and the developers were evaluating what their next steps would be. If they were to reapply with MassHousing, the process would start anew. The town would receive notification about the application and would have 30 days to submit its comments. There would also be another site visit.
“Anything that comes back here that is not incredibly different and smaller, I am guessing, would be met with even louder opposition from the board and others, and they should expect it to be a long, hard path in discussion,” said Peter Spellios, Select Board member, in reaction to the news. “It is time to be realistic and respectable.”
Select Board member David Grishman said that, in his opinion, there shouldn’t be any kind of development on that land.
MassHousing is a state-subsidizing agency that is responsible for ensuring Chapter 40B projects are compliant with affordability and profit-limitation restrictions. The agency issues Determination of Project Eligibility that developers need to apply for a comprehensive permit with the local Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA).
Atlantic Bay View Residences submitted a pre-application to MassHousing on Nov. 24, 2021. The developers were looking to build a five-story building on a 4.8-acre wooded plot of land at the end of Archer Street with the main access through 54 Foster Road.
The apartment-style rental development would have consisted of 160 units and have 243 parking spaces in two enclosed garages under the building and open-air lots. The project would have created 40 affordable-housing units for households earning 80 percent of the Area Mean Family Income adjusted for the household size.
In order to provide MassHousing with comments on the proposal, the Select Board held a public meeting on Jan. 19, where residents expressed concerns about the size of the project, road safety, increase in traffic, flooding of the area and stone blasting that the project would require to prepare the site for construction.
The land between Eureka Avenue, Archer Street and Foster Road is owned by P&K Funding Trust, which belongs to Peter Pantazelos and Kostas Pantazelos. They have been trying to develop it since 2012.
Their previous plans foresaw construction of a 55-plus living facility with 15-22 units in partnership with Ralph DiGiorgio and DiGiorgio and Messina Construction Co., Inc. Over the years the project was stalled by a lawsuit and a ZBA requirement to create a new access road and eventually was stopped by the Planning Board due to safety concerns.
