By Adam Swift
The developers of the former West Revere Health Center at 133 Salem St. are looking to increase the number of affordable condominium units at the 72-unit development.
The City Council initially approved the special permit, which included seven affordable units, for Broadway Capital in the spring of 2022.
Monday night, the developer was back before the council seeking support for an increase in the number of affordable condo units to 18. One of the 72 units is a commercial office space, and the remainder are residential.
The request has the support of the city’s planning and community development department, and several city councillors spoke in favor of the increase in affordable units at Monday night’s meeting. However, the request will have to go to a zoning subcommittee before the council can take a final vote.
“This does not look substantially different from what the City Council passed previously,” said Tom Skwierawski, the city’s planning and community development director.
The request from Broadway Capital is in part due to discussions it has had with MassHousing, which is helping fund the project through its Commonwealth Builder Plan and is looking for a greater commitment to affordable units.
On the city side, Skwierawski said the creation of the affordable home ownership units would substantially increase Revere’s stock of affordable home ownership units, which currently stands at one.
“So this is a significant opportunity to expand,” he said.
As part of the increase in affordable units, the developer is also seeking some relief from payments into the city’s Community Improvement Trust (CIT) fund.
Ward 6 Councillor Richard Serino said the CIT relief is something that can be discussed further in subcommittee.
Otherwise, Serino said he is supportive of the request.
“It does not increase the amount of units and does not change the plan,” said Serino, adding that he prefers to see owner-occupied affordable units in the city.
Mikael Vienneau of Broadway Capital said there will be preference given to Revere residents through a local lottery for the affordable units.
Councillor-at-Large Anthony Zambuto said he supported the project, but also said he did not believe the city ordinances would allow the council to waive any of the CIT funding the developer is due to pay.
