Zoning board approves La Colaborativa training center at 50 Hertz Street, citing workforce goals and flood‑resilient design

The Chelsea Zoning Board of Appeals granted variances and a special permit to La Colaborativa for a new education and workforce training center at 50 Hertz Street, authorizing a multi‑story building with specified reductions in setbacks, frontage and lot size and increases to lot coverage and floor‑area ratio. La Colaborativa — which operates workforce, English and social‑service programs in Chelsea — said the center will house workshops and classrooms for trades and other job training and will be free to low‑income Chelsea residents.

Alex Train, chief operating officer for La Colaborativa, described the project as a response to space constraints at the organization’s existing survival center and economic development programs. Architect David Gamble presented design drawings showing a south‑facing plaza between the new building and La Colaborativa’s existing campus, a stepped massing to reduce impacts on neighbors, a vegetated 8‑foot wall to buffer adjacent properties, and a stormwater approach that combines green infrastructure with an underground detention basin and a pump that routes water to Heard Street during extreme events. Gamble said the project reduces impervious cover and intends to improve localized flooding on the block.

Supporters told the board the center will expand local workforce pathways in high‑demand trades. Jamil Nieves, a program participant, said the training had helped him find work and urged approval; State Representative Judith Garcia and multiple city councilors also spoke in favor. Supporters emphasized programs for HVAC, weatherization, carpentry and other trades, training infrastructure (shops, ventilation and lab space) and evening class hours so working residents can attend. La Colaborativa said the site would be used primarily by Chelsea residents and that the organization had a separate long‑term lease for roughly 170 parking spaces across Route 1 to accommodate needed vehicle access.

The planning board recommended approval with conditions. The conditions the zoning board recorded include the standard zoning conditions as applicable, a required design review with the Department of Permitting and Land Use Planning and consultation with the Chelsea Historical Commission, use of a white or green roof, a construction‑period rodent control plan, and removal of tables and benches from the parking area in front of the main building (per the planning board request). The board found the variances met the standard four‑part test because the property’s narrow, sloped lot and existing conditions made strict compliance infeasible, and because the project advances clear public benefits in workforce development while offering buffering, landscaping and design measures intended to limit neighborhood impacts.

Board members discussed hours, occupancy and program scale: La Colaborativa said the facility would generally operate Monday–Friday, with typical program hours roughly 10 a.m.–8 p.m. and peak occupancy during late‑afternoon and early‑evening classes. The organization said it expects the facility to support roughly 100–150 people at full occupancy across classrooms and workshops, and that many classes would be smaller. Staff and program support will be based across La Colaborativa’s existing campus; the project will add 8–10 jobs to the nonprofit’s current staffing levels. The board recorded the planning department’s recommendation and voted to approve the variances and special permit with the stated planning conditions.

The approval requires La Colaborativa to return with final design and construction documents for design review and to implement the stormwater and landscape plans described at the hearing. The project proponents said the design intentionally reduces impervious cover, adds native plantings and a flood‑ready plaza, and will use full‑cutoff, low‑glare lighting and enhanced wall construction and glazing to limit sound transmission to neighboring homes.