Image courtesy of Samuels & Assoc.

Samuels & Assoc. and Lynn Mayor Jared Nicholson are seeking approval of a development agreement for an 850-unit apartment complex on a gateway waterfront parcel.

Boston-based Samuels proposes a 900,000-square-foot project on the South Harbor site at 830 Lynnway, which has been a longtime focus of the city’s efforts to revitalize its industrial waterfront with housing and commercial space.

The Lynn City Council is scheduled to review the development agreement at tonight’s meeting.

The project is not subject to Lynn’s inclusionary zoning ordinance, but Samuels & Assoc. is offering to include a portion of income-restricted units in each of the three proposed buildings. Under the proposed development agreement, the developer would include 8 percent, 10 percent and 12.5 percent income-restricted units in the three phases respectively.

The income-restricted units would be reserved for households earning a maximum 60 percent of area median income. The project also includes 26,000 square feet of commercial space.

Local community activists rallied at Lynn City Hall on Wednesday to protest the tax increment financing proposal and demand deeper affordability guidelines, The Daily Item of Lynn reported.

A copy of the proposed TIF district was not available from the mayor’s office this week, but the community group Lynn United for Change said the agreement equates to a $45 million tax break for developers.

Under the proposed development agreement submitted to the City Council, Samuels & Assoc. agrees to repair the 60-year-old bulkhead on the property’s coastal side and construct new roads and parking, some of which would be located on adjacent parcels owned by the city and the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation.

The project also would convert 8 acres of privately-owned waterfront property into a public park.