Trammell Crow residential redesigns facades, but traffic and phased access keep project open until November

Trammell Crow Residential returned to the Braintree Planning Board on Oct. 14 with revised architectural drawings and site adjustments for the proposed 752-unit redevelopment of the former Palmer-Armstrong parcel at 10 Plains Street.

Attorney Frank Marinelli summarized changes since the board’s September hearing and a Sept. 25 staff work session: the project now preserves about 58% open space, divides a previously long Building 4 into two smaller buildings, opens a view corridor into an east courtyard for Building 5, and replaces a concept for a rotating food-truck area with a permanent playground and family amenities.

Architect Steve Shetler said the team moved away from flat-roof, institutional massing toward a residential vocabulary of gables, dormers, brick-first stories and balconies. “We think this is substantially improved, in terms of the impression,” Shetler told the board, adding the team introduced bay windows, clipped facades and porches to break long elevations.

Traffic peer reviewer Greg Lucas (T.Y. Lin / Stantec reviewer) and the developer’s traffic engineer, Andy Arsenault (MDM), described progress on traffic-review comments. Lucas said many of his earlier questions had been addressed; outstanding items center on site circulation details and verification that the proposed reserved-parking approach will function (reserve spaces reduce overall parking density to ~1.5 spaces per unit). Arsenault said the applicant is prepared to retime signals and install detection improvements at Plain Street intersections; he also proposed two radar speed-feedback signs on Maher Highway.

Board discussion focused on access and phasing. Under the applicant’s planned phasing, Phase 1 (the four buildings closest to Plain Street) will be built first with Plain Street serving as primary access for that phase. The Maher Highway connection that will provide a second public access is part of Phase 2; the applicant said it expects to close on the second parcel within 12 months of Phase 1 closing, and that site-work and a construction schedule will govern when the Maher access is completed. Several members urged the developer to prioritize or otherwise plan for earlier provision of the Maher access to reduce concentrates of traffic on Plain Street.

Public commenters raised traffic and pedestrian-safety concerns at several nearby grade crossings and intersections, including the Plain Street/Washington/Hancock and Maher Highway corridors. Residents asked whether the MBTA grade crossings and pedestrian access will be safe; the applicant said it is coordinating with the MBTA and that formal DTR/MBTA review of crossings and any permitted pedestrian access is ongoing.

The board continued the public hearing to Nov. 12 to allow outstanding peer reviews — civil/site, water/sewer and fiscal — to be completed and to give the project team time to provide updated site-plan sheets addressing circulation and queuing. A motion to continue passed unanimously.