On October 26, the Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) will open the public hearing on the Northland Charlemont 40B proposal to construct a nine-story mixed-use building with 410 residential units, ground-floor retail (6,639 sq. ft.) and restaurant space (132 seats), a 471-stall parking garage, and 15 surface parking stalls. The petitioner is applying for a Comprehensive Permit under the State’s Chapter 40B program, which allows affordable housing developments with at least 20-25% of the units dedicated to affordability restrictions to bypass local zoning to obtain a permit from the local ZBA. The project will include103 affordable units, all proposed to be affordable at 80% Area Median Income (AMI). It is located east of the Northland Newton Development, which will include 800 units of housing (140 of which will be affordable), 180,000 square feet of office space, and 115,000 square feet of commercial space. The hearing will be both in-person (Council Chamber) and virtual (Zoom link) at 7PM (see agenda).
This will be the second request for a Comprehensive Permit heard by the ZBA this month. Last week, the ZBA opened the public hearing on the West Newton Armory proposal (PDF), which proposes to renovate the historic armory and construct 43 affordable units — 28 units for residents with up to 60% of the AMI and 15 units for residents with up to 30% of AMI.
