A developer has closed on a Lynn waterfront parcel that is approved for a 350-unit, $80 million apartment complex.

Beacon-Bel Realty Trust of Marblehead conveyed the 5.4-acre parcel at 254-258 Lynnway to Lynn Development LLC for $2 million on Monday, according to Essex County Registry of Deeds filings.

The former Beacon Chevrolet dealership site would be the first major development to be built on the city’s waterfront under a new master plan and zoning enacted in 2008. Lynn officials have been trying to encourage up to 5.8 million square feet of mixed-use development on vacant waterfront parcels.

Former West Lynn Creamery owner Arthur Pappathanasi hopes to break ground in early 2017 on the development next to the Lynn commuter ferry wharf, local economic development officials said. The pilot ferry service that started in 2014 has been on hold this year but the city recently received a $4.5 million federal grant to buy a new 149-passenger vessel, U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton’s office recently announced, potentially restarting the service to downtown Boston.

Swampscott developer Charles Patsios acquired the former GE Gear Works property in 2013 and has been preparing plans for up to 1,260 multifamily units on the 65-acre site off the Lynnway.