Developer seeks 752 apartments at former Armstrong site; planning board continues hearing amid traffic, river-access concerns

The Town of Braintree Planning Board on Aug. 12 heard a detailed presentation from Trammell Crow Residential proposing a two‑phase, 752‑unit apartment development at 10 Plains Street, the former Armstrong factory site, and continued the public hearing to Sept. 9 for further review and peer comments.

The applicant described the project as a by‑right redevelopment under the town’s MBTA Communities multifamily overlay. Frank Marinelli, attorney for the applicant, said the proposal would create “752 luxury class a apartment homes with 58% open space and substantial amenities,” demolish existing industrial buildings, and add walking connections to the recently completed boardwalk and fish ladder on the Manatequid River.

The developer’s submission shows two phases: Phase 1 would build 427 units in five four‑story buildings and surface parking; Phase 2 would add 325 units in a four‑story building with an integrated parking garage. The site team described about 58% open space (roughly double the local minimum), roughly 1,129 parking spaces proposed (1.5 per unit zoning requirement noted in materials), electric‑vehicle charging capacity and staged “EV‑ready” spaces, and multiple stormwater infiltration systems designed to treat runoff that now flows untreated to the river.

Why it matters: the site is large (about 30.55 acres in the presentation), sits adjacent to the newly restored river and public boardwalk, and the proposed scale would materially change traffic patterns,…