Abruzzi family presents revised Waits Wharf redevelopment to planning board; project cut from prior proposal and adds housing

Representatives for Harbor Realty (the Abruzzi family) presented a substantially revised plan for the Waits Wharf redevelopment, describing a mixed-use project that the applicant said now includes 89 hotel rooms (54 north, 35 south), a restaurant, a wedding/event venue, retail space, marina operations and two new seven-unit multifamily buildings (14 units total). Jay Russell Jackson, counsel for the applicant, told the board the current proposal meets zoning density standards and requires no variances under the new code.

Applicant Tammy Abruzzi read a family statement describing three decades of waterfront ownership and why the family favors a mixed-use hotel-and-marina option rather than luxury condominiums. She highlighted public benefits the applicant plans to provide, including rebuilt ADA-compliant sidewalks, a continuous HarborWalk with recorded easements, kayak storage available through harbor-master lottery, and site resiliency measures. "We are not building a wedding factory," she said, adding the event space would not host multiple events per day and would typically be accompanied by a minimum-stay requirement to reduce peak arrival and departure impacts.

Applicant counsel and experts emphasized reductions from earlier proposals (previously heard by the Zoning Board) — lower room counts, elimination of a prior fourth floor on the north building due to current height limits, reconfigured parking to be internal, and a housing component critics had previously said was missing. The board first considered whether administrative finality (a doctrine that can bar re-filed applications) applied; the city solicitor advised the board that statutory and procedural changes and the difference in review bodies justified proceeding. After several technical witness presentations, the board voted to continue the hearing to the April 7 meeting.