Urban Design & Development will seek new city permits for the $100 million project known as Forbes Park in the next month. The Somerville-based developer wants to build a windmill on the Chelsea property and nearly double the number of eco-friendly lofts in its original proposal.
A Somerville developer that is transforming an industrial waterfront site in Chelsea into 225 eco-friendly lofts wants to nearly double the number of units and build a windmill on the property.
Urban Design & Development will seek new city permits for the $100 million project known as Forbes Park in the next month, according to Blair Galinsky, a partner with the Somerville-based firm.
Forbes Park will include a mix of condominiums and 20,000 square feet of commercial space located on an 18-acre site that was once home to the Forbes Lithographic Co.
The developer received approval to build the first two phases of the project, 140 units, according to Chelsea Planning Director and Conservation Agent John DePriest. The firm now wants permission to build up to 400 units to offset higher-than-anticipated costs associated with the project.
Galinsky said the environmental cleanup costs of the property – around $7 million – and the cost of granting a conservation easement to the city, building an underground parking garage and providing public facilities such as restrooms, parking and classroom space, are pushing the firm to go through a re-permitting process.
“Increasing the unit count will help us do some of these things,” said Galinsky.
Forbes Park has been praised by Chelsea officials for its environmentally friendly “green” features and its amenities, including open space, a new boardwalk and water taxi that will be accessible to the public.
The developer hired a firm to conduct a feasibility study on whether to include an onsite wind turbine that would supply the majority of the new community’s energy needs. The firm already has obtained permission from the Conservation Commission to work within the wetlands of the property to construct the footings of the wind turbine, according to DePriest.
City officials have been supportive of the project because it involves the cleanup of a contaminated site that has been underutilized for years and provides additional residential units. The creation of the new lofts will help the city reach its goal of creating 1,200 residential units by the end of June 2008.
“It’s the type of project that every city would like to see,” said DePriest, who noted the project’s green features and various amenities.
The developer wants to restore the salt marsh and replace acres of asphalt with plantings of indigenous grasses and shrubs. The goal is to attract wildlife, explained Galinsky.
“What we’re trying to do is attract mollusks and clams, seabirds and fish. The whole idea is that when people come to our site, people that live there, we want them to be delighted when they get there and want them to feel educated and enjoy the experience while they’re there and almost regret when they’re leaving,” said Galinsky.
Only 6 acres will be developed, and about half of the 16 buildings on the site will be redeveloped.
‘Fantastic Plans’
The project comes as hundreds of new residences are in the pipeline in Chelsea. Construction recently started on the approximately 250-unit apartment complex known as Parkside Commons and another project with 160 market-rate rental units in the city’s Admiral’s Hill, according to DePriest.
Chelsea Neighborhood Housing Services and Mitchell Properties are converting the Gerrish Avenue neighborhood, which includes an old mattress company, into a mixed-income community of 120 apartments and condos. A few smaller-scale projects also are opening up, including 36 lofts at 960 Broadway, and a downtown mixed-use project with nine condos.
Meanwhile, Spencer Lofts, a project that involved the conversion of an old textile factory into 100 lofts, came online about three years ago.
“The [housing] market has changed since Spencer Lofts” went online, said Michael Albano, a Boston Realtor who is chairman of Chelsea’s Planning Board. “That [project] was in a better market.”
A total of 185 condos were sold last year, down 35 percent from the 286 condos that were sold in 2005 and 44 percent fewer than the 329 condos that were sold in 2004, according to The Warren Group, parent company of Banker & Tradesman. The median condo price climbed to $237,500 last year from $235,250 the prior year.
But Albano said absorption of condos priced in the $200,000s to the low-$300,000s in Chelsea is pretty solid. “That’s the sweet spot for the market,” he said.
Prices for the Forbes Park lofts, which will range in size from 700 square feet to 1,500 square feet, will start at $240,000 and go up to $450,000. The lofts will feature high-end kitchens, bathrooms, an open floor plan and large windows on opposite ends of the units to offer cross ventilation and to maximize natural lighting. No interior hallways or air conditioning will be included.
“Everything is designed to be sustainable. That means that any given space can be converted for future reuse as either office or residential,” Galinsky said.
The units will share heating systems and buildings will be constructed with thermally massive materials, which are more energy-efficient and healthier. In addition, the community will feature a storm-water canal system, which can retain over 1 million gallons of rainwater that will be used for flushing toilets and irrigating the landscape.
“Our performance objective is to reduce utility bills in half for homeowners,” Galinsky said.
The developer plans to include a fleet of fuel-efficient cars that can be shared by the Forbes Park residents. And the firm also wants to construct a $1 million wind turbine to provide the majority of power for the community. A feasibility study on the windmill will be finished at the end of the month and Urban Design & Development is hoping to receive a grant from the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative to pay for part of it.
Urban Design & Development has spent the past 18 months demolishing buildings, cleaning up the Forbes Park site, constructing a temporary bridge to the property and building model units that are expected to be finished in March.
“They have fantastic plans for the site and we’d love to see it come to fruition,” said DePriest. “It’s going to be very innovative.”
When asked whether the city would be supportive of re-permitting Forbes Park for additional units, DePriest said that the city would not “look at it negatively.”
Albano said he is sure the city will be “sympathetic’ to the developer’s request. “I know that I would be,” he said. “Obviously I would need to hear more about the proposal.”
Still, while local officials point to the new residential and commercial development as promising signs for the city, Chelsea continues to struggle with crime and poverty.
According to the latest statistics available through the Massachusetts State Police, the number of violent crimes, including murder, rose 8.5 percent to 434 in 2005, from 400 the prior year. The city’s crime rate was considerably higher than that in Everett – a nearby city comparable in size – where a total of 76 violent crimes were reported in 2005.
