Image courtesy of Bargmann Hendrie + Archetype
Texas multifamily firm Criterion Development Partners is asking Medford officials for permission to replace a former KISS 108 radio studio with a large apartment complex.
The Dallas-based firm, previously active in Greater Boston, has filed plans for a 276-unit rental project on 4.5 acres at 99 Revere Beach Parkway, next to Wellington station on the MBTA’s Orange Line. The firm successfully petitioned Medford officials to rezone the parcel from industrial to commercial in 2023, and much of the surrounding area was also upzoned for housing to comply with the MBTA Communities law.
Criterion’s project has already secured city Conservation Commission approval, meaning the project only needs site plan review by the Medford Community Development Board, according to a filing written by Nutter attorney Valerie A. Moore. Moore is representing an affiliate of Criterion in the permitting process.
Plans call for 158 one-bedrooms and “junior one-bedrooms,” plus 46 two-bedrooms, 24 three-bedrooms, 22 one-bedrooms with dens and 26 studios across five stories.
The building will be built to Passive House standards without pursuing certification, Moore’s filing states, will follow the Massachusetts stretch energy code and have all-electric kitchen appliances.
Amenities will include a structured parking garage integrated into a single-story podium and a single-story basement with 234 spots, 20 percent of which will be wired for electric vehicle chargers. The building’s two fire-rated indoor bicycle rooms will include electric bicycle chargers.
Other amenities noted in plans filed with city officials include an amenity courtyard with pool, a “lounge/cafe” connected to a “bar/game room,” a gym, a “library/reading” room, a coworking area and a single, 1,900-square-foot retail space.
Criterion also plans a 1.75-acre, public waterfront park facing the Malden River and connecting to an existing riverfront trail that leads to the Rivers Edge development to the north and the Station Landing development to the west. Renderings appear to suggest the radio broadcast tower currently on the site will be decommissioned.
The parking lots on the east side of the MBTA’ s Wellington station property are in line for redevelopment. City officials received eight responses to a 2022 RFP for the 28-acre site, including offices, lab space, hotels and up to 1,450 housing units, along with a new bus garage for the T.
However, the T recently bought a former Anheuser-Busch plant nearby to redevelop into a new bus garage. The transit agency has planned a large expansion of its bus fleet, but it’s not immediately clear if its latest acquisition obviates the need for a garage on the Wellington property.
