Image courtesy of Hacin
Newly submitted development plans would replace one of Winchester Center’s prominent landmarks with a 37-unit condominium building.
Cambridge-based Urban Spaces is proposing the project at 10 Converse Place, a 4-story office and medical building.
The property was acquired through foreclosure by The Savings Bank of Wakefield in August for $6.8 million. A previous development team, Gillespie & Co. and Ad Meloria, acquired the property in 2020 for $7 million but failed to complete its permitting for a 46-unit condominium project.
Urban Spaces CEO Paul Ognibene presented scaled-down plans to the Winchester Planning Board this month. The new designs by Boston-based architects Hacin reduce the building’s footprint by 33 feet, creating a larger buffer from Mill Pond.
“We’re delighted to be back with the incredible shrinking project,” Ognibene said.
Conservation Commission permits related to wetlands on the property were a sticking point under the previous proposal. Ognibene said a Conservation Commission member indicated support for the redesign.
“Our impression was they were also quite favorable,” he said.
The project would include 32 underground parking spaces. Two ground floor commercial spaces are included, one facing Mount Vernon Street and the other overlooking Mill Pond, along with four ground-floor residential units with individual entrances.
The unit count is projected at 32 to 37, depending upon market conditions, Ognibene said.
Year-to-date, median condo sales prices in Winchester are $887,000, according to data compiled by The Warren Group, publisher of Banker & Tradesman. That represents nearly 16-percent increase from the previous year.
Some public comments on the previous project supported redevelopment of a building considered an eyesore, but other residents objected to the height and massing of the building. The current proposed height is just under 72 feet.
The board continued a public hearing on the project until Sept. 16.
Urban Spaces’ previous projects include the BRIX condominium development in Salem and the First Street Corridor mixed-use project in East Cambridge.
Photo by Steve Adams | Banker & Tradesman Staff
