McDonald family proposes six‑story, 58‑unit building at Willard/Quarry; neighbors press for historic preservation, traffic fixes

The Quincy Planning Board on March 19 heard a site‑plan application from 622 Quarry LLC (Greg McDonald and partners) to demolish existing structures at 86 and 92 Willard Street and 135 Robertson Street and build a new six‑story, 58‑unit multifamily building with two levels of structured parking (105 spaces total).

Attorney Edward Fleming, representing the applicant, described a C‑shaped building with two independent parking levels entered from Quarry Street and Willard Street. Architect David Seibert of BKA Architects called the project a “4 over 2” — four residential levels over two parking levels — and said typical units would be one‑ and two‑bedroom apartments with a mix of amenities, including an interior amenity level and an exterior roof/terrace. Civil engineer Carlos Sculte of Civil & Environmental Consultants (CEC) said the design includes stormwater chambers and deep‑sump manholes to provide water‑quality treatment and to detain the one‑inch “water‑quality” storm; he said the system was sized to reduce runoff for storms up to approximately the 2‑year event and to match historic outflows for larger storms.

Neighbors and preservation advocates focused attention on a granite house at 92 Willard Street that multiple speakers said is listed in Quincy's historic survey and on the National Register. Resident Andrew Brown (10 Haviland St.) said the stone house is “the only pure stone building in this city” and urged the board and owner to consider preservation. Architect and resident Maria Mulligan called the house "one of a kind" and urged restoration and reuse — for example as a small museum or community space — rather than demolition. Greg McDonald and developer Mike Kiley said they are exploring ways to reuse stone from the building on site, including in a monument sign and accent walls.

Traffic and parking were recurring concerns. CEC's Carlos Sculte presented a traffic analysis that attributed about 14 new weekday peak‑hour trips to the Willard project (14 net additional trips in the AM and 14–23 in PM peak hours, depending on distribution) and reported the study found those additional trips would not materially change intersection level‑of‑service ratings. Neighbors disagreed, calling the Willard/Quarry/Stedman intersection a longstanding bottleneck and urging short‑term safety improvements. Several speakers asked the city to commit to near‑term traffic mitigation work; City Councilor James Devine and TPAL staff were reported to be coordinating an on‑site review.

Flooding and drainage concerns surfaced repeatedly. Residents recalled past flooding in low‑lying neighborhoods near Furnace Brook. CEC said the proposed stormwater chambers would detain and treat frequent storms and reduce runoff to the municipal drainage system for storms up to the 2‑year event, while larger storms would be matched to historic outflows.

Board action and process: after public comment and a discussion with staff, the Planning Board voted to continue the public hearing to May 21 to allow peer review and departmental review to continue and for the project team to respond to detailed comments. No site‑plan approvals or variances were granted at the March 19 meeting.

Why it matters: the proposal would add nearly 60 rental units and structured parking in the Willard Street corridor; it touches multiple topics neighbors flagged as high priority — historic preservation, traffic and localized flooding — and will require follow‑up peer review and possible zoning relief at the Zoning Board of Appeals.

Quincy officials, applicant and peer‑reviewers will return with written responses and revised plans for the May 21 hearing.