Image courtesy of Reeves Design Associates
A 60-unit apartment complex is under review for a Winchester property that previously prompted a lengthy court battle with neighbors over plans for a CVS Pharmacy.
Woburn-based Melanson Development Group is seeking to build a 4-story, 51,653 square-foot residential complex on the 1.2-acre site at 278-292 Washington St and 12 and 16-20 Swanton St. under Chapter 40B, the state’s affordable housing zoning law.
Attempts to redevelop the retail properties date back more than a decade. After a 14,360 square-foot CVS Pharmacy was approved, a group of neighbors filed suit in state Land Court. In 2017, the court overturned the approval, ruling that the ZBA exceeded its authority.
In 2021, Winchester Town Meeting authorized the town to acquire the property by eminent domain for $5.27 million.
The town requested proposals for affordable housing on the site. In 2022, Melanson Development offered $4.05 million to acquire the site and proposed 44 market-rate and 16 income-restricted units.
Environmental clean-up costs related to past uses of the site including a gas station are estimated at up to $2.4 million, according to a report by North Andover-based Ransom Consulting.
The town of Winchester’s Affordable Housing Trust has offered to contribute $350,000 toward the remediation work in grant and loan funding. The town also has offered a $125,000 grant from the Select Board Housing Fund.
Winchester’s subsidized housing inventory is 5.5 percent, according to data from the state Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities. Developers that include at least a 20 percent affordable component can pursue Chapter 40B approval in communities with inventories under 10 percent.
The Winchester ZBA began its review of the project in September and recently continued a public hearing on the project until Dec. 10.
In the past decade, Melanson Development’s projects include the 83-acre Foundry Lofts condominiums in Wakefield, the 17-unit Evergreen Meadows condominiums in Bedford and the 91-unit Newbridge condominiums in Woburn.
