REVERE
Annual Santa Walk photo highlights page 11
ADVOCATE Vol. 27, No. 49
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Friday, December 8, 2017
Revere Lights Up the Season HYM Investment Group
head offers update on Suffolk Downs proposal By Sara Brown
A
LET THERE BE LIGHT! Santa and Mayor Brian Arrigo hit the switch to light-up City Hall plaza during the city’s Annual Holiday Season Parade and Christmas Tree Lighting ceremony on Friday, December 1. See more photo highlights inside on pages 12 & 13. (Advocate photo by Al Terminiello)
City Council debate continues on Revere Beach Blvd. development Traffic congestion, potential school district burden deliberated By Sara Brown
T
he City Council continued its discussion on the proposed development at 320-329 Revere Beach Boulevard. At the council’s Zoning Subcommittee meeting on Dec. 4, representatives for A. Chara Development elaborated on the construction of a mixed-use structure consisting of two commercial units on the first floor and 145 residential units. One of the commercial units would consist of a restaurant that would not be a fast food– type establishment. According to local Attorney Lawrence Simeone, there will be one-, two- and three-bedroom units as well as 188 parking spaces, a shuttle service to the T and Zip Cars. Simeone said when Revere Beach was first being developed, mixed-use was not a concept well accepted but said it is now a way of the future. “Mixed-use is the way to go,” he said. “It allows for vibrant, consistent long-term development.” When the proposed devel-
opment was first discussed last week, one of the main concerns was traffic. A. Chara Development hired a firm to see how much traffic will be caused. The firm said most of their studies are based on suburbs, so their findings are conservative for this type of area. Right now the site generates 12,000 trips per day, and the new site will generate about 2,200. It is estimated that 74 of those trips will be in the morning and 90 will be in the afternoon and 74 will be on Saturdays. The rest will be throughout the day. Ward 1 Councillor Joanne McKenna wondered if they were going to add additional parking for the planned restaurant. Simeone said they weren’t planning on it and patrons will use the street. Ward 5 Councillor John Powers wondered if they conducted a study on how many children will be living in the development, saying the local school system is already overcrowded. “It’s too intrusive into the neighborhood,” he said.
However, Simeone doesn’t believe the development will produce that many children, saying that the target residential demographic would be millennials. “They rent at a higher rate, don’t have a car and have a different lifestyle than the average Revere citizen,” he said. “It’s a different world.” The rent for these units is around $3,500. Councillor-at-Large Anthony Zambuto agreed with the attorney’s assessment. “Most of them don’t own cars,” he said. “This is the way of the future.” Ward 4 Councillor Arthur Guinasso said this development could help bring more millennials and more money into the city. “We have to grow our community,” he said. “I’m worried [we’re] becoming a lower income community.” Since Councillors Patrick Keefe and George Rotondo were absent, the application was kept in committee. It will be discussed and voted on during the Dec. 18 meeting.
t the Dec. 4 City Council meeting, The HYM Investment Group, LLC met with the City Council to discuss the potential future of the Suffolk Downs project and submit a Letter of Intent. Tom O’Brien, the Managing Director of HYM, said that plans are in place to tentatively turn the horse racing track site in East Boston and Revere into a mixed-use development. The site is 161 acres with about 60 percent of it in Boston with the remainder in Revere. Along with the Cities of Boston and Revere, HYM recently filed an application request for proposals (RFP) for Amazon to bring their second headquarters to the site. O’Brien stated that there would be two different proposed projects depending on Amazon’s decision. HYM has also requested Gov. Charlie Baker’s administration to waive any environmental impact study in order to speed up the process, as reported in the Boston Globe this past week. During the Nov. 13 City Council meeting, Councillor-at-Large George Rotondo requested the
developer to meet with the City Council once a month to offer an update on how the project is going and to educate the public. “We are more than happy to appear whenever you want us,” said O’Brien. According to O’Brien, they are planning on having 500,000 square feet of retail space as well as an abundance of open space. “We want it to be … interesting and unique for the people,” he said, and “We want a civic nod to that green space.” Ward 1 Councillor Joanne McKenna thanked HYM for “being good neighbors.” She applauded the developers after pointing out that the Winthrop Avenue fence at Suffolk Downs had needed to be painted and right away it was painted. McKenna also thanked O’Brien for helping obtain a bus route from Beachmont Station to the Target store, which she had been trying to get for the residents for a year. HYM reached out to the MBTA, and there will be a bus route beginning in March. “It was embarrassing the way it looked, so we were happy to take care of it,” O’Brien said
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