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Developers present plan for 45 apartments at former industrial site; commission signals support for incentive housing overlay
Summary
A development team presented a preliminary plan to reuse a blighted building at 245 East Elm Street for about 45 apartments under an Incentive Housing Overlay; presenters said a $1M brownfields grant funded environmental cleanup and proposed at least 20% of units be restricted as affordable for 30 years.
A development team presented preliminary plans Nov. 17 to use an Incentive Housing Overlay at 245 East Elm Street to convert a formerly blighted industrial building into a roughly 45‑unit mixed‑use project. Marty Connor, a certified planner working with the owner, and architect and engineering team members presented concept elevations, site layout, and a timeline for environmental abatement funded by a 2022 brownfields grant.
Connor described the IHZ mechanism as a tool to encourage adaptive reuse and affordable housing: "The incentive housing zone basically says, look ... the developer gets a benefit of having more units than he would ordinarily get and the commission gets more authority over architectural review," he said. The team proposed that a minimum of 20% of units be subject to an affordable housing restriction for 30 years and that qualifying households have incomes below 80% of area median income. Team members said the city received a $1,000,000 brownfields grant in 2022 and that a remediation plan allows capping of some contamination with parking above the cap and interior abatement of hazardous building materials.
Engineer Ron Wolf described a preliminary site layout with 71 parking spaces and reduced curb cuts to a single access point; architect Peter Amara said the three‑story design would include studios, one‑ and two‑bedroom apartments and amenity spaces. Staff and the commission discussed life‑safety access, dumpster location, ADA accessibility, timing for second‑ and third‑floor abatement (contractor expected by April; abatement 45–50 days), and potential DECD Community Investment Fund grant applications.
Commissioners expressed general support for continuing the application process, asked staff about statutory changes that may affect by‑right development, and requested the applicant proceed to a formal overlay zone application and subsequent site plan and public hearings. The preliminary presentation did not constitute formal approval; next steps will be a zone‑change/overlay application, public hearing, and detailed site plan review.
