Select Board approves Seabeds Way PILOT and permit‑fee waiver to advance preservation project

The Needham Select Board on Tuesday approved two items to help advance a preservation project at Seabeds Way: a tax agreement (PILOT) and a waiver of building‑department permit fees tied to the Needham Housing Authority’s planned rehabilitation of 46 affordable units.

Town staff described three paperwork needs for the housing authority’s HUD submission: a CPA grant agreement reflecting the May 2025 town‑meeting appropriation of $3.2 million, a request to waive future building permit fees for the project, and a formal pilot agreement covering Seabeds Way and Captain Robert Cook Drive. Staff said archival records showed payments had been made historically but no formal pilot agreement was on file for the site.

Needham Housing Authority Chair Reg Foster explained the pilot reduction will increase the authority’s borrowing capacity and help close the financing gap for a roughly $20 million redevelopment that preserves the units. "The benefit is the housing authority," Foster said, describing how preserving cash improves the authority’s permanent financing to renovate kitchens and other building systems.

A board member asked about operating impacts and whether the town would need to replace revenue if the prior informal payments were discontinued; town staff said the payments were not part of the town’s regular revenue assumptions and the reduction would not require additional levy funding. The board voted to approve and sign the tax/PILOT agreement and to waive building permit fees (building, plumbing and electrical) for the Seabeds Way preservation project.

Town counsel said the CPA grant agreement in the packet was consistent with other agreements and that the draft pilot mirrored a recent pilot agreement for Linden/Chambers. Board members voiced strong support, noting town meeting’s prior direction and the project’s importance to preserving long‑term affordable housing in Needham.