Trammell Crow unveils 520‑unit plan for Newport Ave Extension; residents cite flooding, traffic and parking concerns as board pushes review to Oct. 14

Trammell Crow Residential presented a large transit‑oriented redevelopment that would convert two office parcels near the North Quincy MBTA station into roughly 520 residential units across four buildings and about 9 acres of site area. Attorney David Mahoney opened the presentation and Kevin Sperko, the developer's director of development, described a mix of five‑story and one six‑story podium building, roughly 540 proposed parking spaces across the two sites, and an approach to stormwater that adds about 1.7 acres of new green space and large below‑grade infiltration systems.

Engineers told the board the design would relocate and replace existing FEMA floodplain storage with compensatory volumes, put finished floors at least two feet above FEMA elevations, and install about 19,000 cubic feet (roughly 146,000 gallons) of underground storage in multiple infiltration chambers. Traffic consultants projected weekday peak‑hour project trip increases of roughly 139 vehicles (morning) and 126 vehicles (evening) and said that, compared with the former office use, the project would produce fewer peak‑hour trips. The team said it is pursuing MBTA coordination and a zone‑of‑influence license tied to track‑adjacent work.

Public comment was extensive: residents and councilors pressed the team on Newport Avenue's existing "sunny‑day" flooding, stormwater and sea‑level‑rise modeling, the scale of surface parking and whether more podium (decked) parking could reduce impervious area, the project's unit mix and family housing needs, and the ability of MBTA and state authorities to approve required rail‑area licenses. Steven Cassello, an abutter, asked the traffic consultants to extend study horizons to the Ponce River Bridge approaches; Ryan Faucette and other neighbors urged less surface parking, more podium parking and larger on‑site open spaces; Councilor Maggie McKee read a constituent letter asking about infrastructure, school impacts and construction mitigation. After reading more than a dozen written correspondences into the record and hearing many speakers, planning staff recommended, and the board agreed, to continue the matter to October 14 to allow more peer review, additional applicant revisions and time to address the volume of public input.