Image courtesy of David Choi Architect
A local developer is seeking city approval for a mixed-use building in downtown Chelsea.
The San Angel Group, based in Saugus, has proposed a 6-story structure with 120 apartments and seven small retail spaces for a site at 105-115 Park St. that’s currently home to single-story retail buildings.
The site is dominated by a drive-through restaurant building that was formerly an outpost of Guatemalan fast-food chain Pollo Campero. The restaurant burned down in January 2019 and has sat vacant and fenced-off since then.
According to documents filed with the city, the building will be dominated by small one-bedroom units – 95 in total – averaging around 450 square feet. The remainder of the unit mix will be 15 two-bedroom and 10 three-bedroom units, and 18 of the 120 units in the building will be set aside as affordable housing.
No amenities are be included in the design other than a roofdeck and a ground-floor playground in the building’s rear intended to meet city open space requirements. Fifty enclosed parking spaces for renters, retail tenants and retail customers will be included in an above-ground garage built into the building’s podium, and will be leased separately from the rental units.
Residents will not be eligible for city on-street parking permits, but the site is very near the intersection of two heavily used MBTA bus lines, the 111 and the 116, plus the MBTA’s new 104 bus route connecting Logan Airport, Everett and Malden Center via Chelsea’s Market Basket-anchored Mystic Mall.
Developer Hector Angel’s representatives told the Chelsea Zoning Board of Appeals on Feb. 11 they expect very few of the one-bedroom renters to seek parking spaces in the all-electric building.
Developers are seeking minor relief from zoning setback requirements to enable the large number of small retail spaces requested by city officials, project representatives said.
The building will not need relief for height, but will be subject to site plan review by the city’s Planning Board and a special permit for providing less than the 221 parking spots mandated by Chelsea’s zoning code, and a narrower lane in its parking garage than required.
The Chelsea Planning Board is scheduled to hear the project Feb. 25, and the ZBA is scheduled to take public testimony on the project March 11.
