40B Project

Developer Eyeing Spot on Major Watertown Intersection for 40B Housing Project

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An image from Google Maps showing the proposed site of a 113 unit 40B housing project at the corner of Coolidge Hill Road and Arlington Street. A developer has started the process to build a Chapter 40B residential project on a major intersection in East Watertown. Under the state law to encourage the building of affordable housing, 40B projects do not have to comply with many local zoning rules. The project is proposed for 19 Coolidge Hill Road, on the former E.H. Hinds Atlantic Plant property. The proposal, according to information submitted to the MassHousing Partnership (which oversees 40B projects), would have 113 rental units on the 0.9 acre lot, and would have 28 affordable units.

101-103 Morse Street

Community Meeting on Proposed Apartment Building Conversion on Morse Street

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The developers of a proposed project that would turn the building at 101-103 Morse St. into an apartment building will host a community meeting on the Southside property. The meeting will be held at the property on Morse Street on Monday, June 24 at 7 p.m. on the site of the building, 103 Morse St. in Watertown. This is not the first proposals to convert building into residential units.

Arsenal Yards

Council Has Mixed Views on Requesting More Liquor License, Most Eyed by Arsenal Yards

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The Town Council voted to send a request to the State Legislature to allow Watertown to have 15 more liquor licenses, most of which would be taken up by tenants in the Arsenal Yards development. But the vote was not unanimous. The request for the additional licenses came from the developers of the retail/residential/office project at the former Arsenal Mall. Town Council President Mark Sideris said the situation is not unlike the project at Assembly Row in Somerville. “The project became much more than they thought it would be,” Sideris said.

Community Development

Council Questions Staffing Level of Planning Department With All the Development in Town

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Watertown’s Town Hall. With all the development going on in Watertown, and some recent controversial projects, the Town Council wondered whether the Community Development and Planning Department has the enough staff to handle it all. The questions were posed to Director of the Community Development and Planning Department (DCDP) and Assistant Town Manager Steve Magoon during the department’s budget hearing on Monday night. Development

Development has increased year after year over the past several years, and last year was the busiest, Magoon said. His department dealt with a record high 1,396 permits in 2018, up from 1,167 in 2017.

Business

Major Property on Galen Street in Watertown Sold

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The property where the the Colonial Buick/GMC dealer had been locate had been sold to a developer. The lot is located at 66 Galen St. in Watertown, just across the bridge from Watertown Square and next to the MBTA bus depot. The property was sold to the Boston Development group for $7 million, according to a story on NEREJ.com. The developers are interested in building a 100,000 sq.

Development

Subcommittee Recommends Adding 15 More Liquor Licenses, Most at Arsenal Yards

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Up to 15 restaurants will be opening at Arsenal Yards, but the Town does not have enough liquor licenses for all of them. A Council subcommittee recommends that the Town of Watertown seek to add 15 more liquor licenses, but could not agree on whether to waive the license fee for restaurants if they will not open for more than a year. The Rules & Ordinances Committee met on April 17 to discuss a request from Arsenal Yards to add more liquor licenses for anticipated tenants of the project on the former Arsenal Mall site. Developers also asked for fees to be delayed until the year in which the establishment opens. Additional Licenses

Andrew Copelotti, project manager for Arsenal Yards, said that the new project has signed, or expects to sign leases with more than a dozen restaurants or other businesses seeking liquor licenses.

Around Town

Nationally Famous Pizzeria Coming to Watertown

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The sign outside the original Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana in New Haven, Conn. Watertown residents will be able to get pizza from one of the most famous pizzerias in the nation when it opens at the new Arsenal Yards project. Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana recently signed a lease to open at the new development on the site of the former Arsenal Mall, according to Andrew Copelotti, project manager for developer Boylston Properties. Frank Pepe’s was founded in New Haven, Conn., in 1925 by Frank Pepe, who emigrated from Italy’s Amalfi Coast. The pizzeria is considered by some to make the best pizza in the United States, including being ranked No.

Arsenal Park

Town Looks to Team With Arsenal Yards Developers to Fast Track Arsenal Park Improvements

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An illustration made by developers of Arsenal Yards of what how the redeveloped Arsenal Mall could interact with next door Arsenal Park. The final buildings and park design, however, will not look like this drawing. A portion of the Arsenal Park renovations may be fast-tracked if the State Legislature allows the Town of Watertown to team with the developers of Arsenal Yards on the design and construction of the East End park. Town officials have been discussing how to renovate and upgrade Arsenal Park for a few years, but progress has not be fast enough to keep pace with the work at the next door property – Arsenal Yards. Developers of that project, Boylston Properties, approached the Town to see if they could speed up work on the east side of the park if they are able to provide funding and construction crews, said Assistant Town Manager Steve Magoon.