Multifamily developer Mill Creek Residential is seeking to expand its portfolio in the Wellington Circle area by replacing a vacant commercial property with a 350-unit apartment complex.
The redevelopment plan at 4000 Mystic Valley Parkway in Medford was paused while state officials weighed and eventually rejected local officials’ argument that the city was exempt from Chapter 40B, the affordable housing zoning law.
Since then, Mill Creek and The Davis Companies have sought approval for a pair of projects under Chapter 40B totaling 639 units.
Mill Creek Residential’s project would replace a vacant 66,000-square-foot commercial building with a pair of eight-story residential buildings totaling 430,000 square feet, including 88 income-restricted units representing 25 percent of the total. Three podium levels of parking would include 396 spaces, according to a submission to the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs.
The project would include a private shuttle for residents to the MBTA’s Wellington station.
Mill Creek also developed the 297-unit Modera Medford complex which opened in 2017 at 5 Cabot Road across from the MBTA station.
The Davis Companies successfully challenged the Medford Zoning Board of Appeals’ determination that the city was exempt from Chapter 40B. The state Housing Appeals Committee ruled that the city had not attained a minimum threshold for affordable housing by percentage of land area.
The Davis Companies is proposing redevelopment of a nearly eight-acre site at 970 Fellsway, which contains a self-storage facility, for a housing development originally proposed as 278 units. A comprehensive permit was approved by the Zoning Board of Appeals in May, and the company submitted plans in November for partial demolition and reuse of the self-storage building.