The dilapidated, former Lee’s Trailer Park on Winthrop Avenue, and the adjacent areas are on the verge of receiving a bolt of architectural and residential elegance pending the project’s approval by the City Council and other local boards. The mobile park has fallen into significant disrepair and the neighborhood has been a hot spot for 911 calls over the years.
Attorney Gerry D’Ambrosio, Managing Partner of D’Ambrosio LLP Counselors-at-Law, and Attorney Nancy O’Neil, an associate at the firm, on behalf of their client, Helge-Gansett, will make a presentation for the construction of a mixed use 250 unit building at the five-acre site located just off Revere Beach Parkway at the Jan. 29 City Council meeting
The six-story building will have 36 studio, 106 one-bedroom, and 106 two-bedroom apartments. While the project is in walking distance of the Beachmont MBTA Station, there will still be parking spaces for 179 vehicles. The mixed-use development will have retail space on the first floor of the building.
Caleb Manchester, President and CEO of Gansett Ventures, said his firm has built other successful projects in Revere, notably Ninety_O, at 900 Ocean Avenue. A new building (to be called Sora, which is a small waterbird) consisting of 114 units on Bennington Street, just south of Beachmont Station and located across the street from the Belle Isle Marsh Reservation, is under construction and expected to be completed in early 2025.
The Helge-Gansett team worked with the former residents of Lee’s Trailer Park to relocate them to affordable housing, while issuing cash-payouts to others that lived in the 75-year-old trailer park. The project will usher in two historic firsts for Revere. It will be the first fully privately developed project in the city that is going to have an affordable housing component, which will be 10% or 25 apartments. Also of note, the project is within a half-mile of the Beachmont MBTA Station, making it a transit-oriented development site that qualifies under former Gov. Charlie Baker’s legislation that allowed for enhanced density near MBTA stations.
Manchester said that with the City Council’s approval and the completion of the conservation process, the team would be “ready to break ground by the middle-to-end of this summer.”
Mayor Keefe, Councillor McKenna Are on Board
Both Mayor Patrick Keefe and Ward 1 Councillor Joanne McKenna say they support the dynamic project.
“The transformation of the formerly blighted property will be a good addition to Revere’s portfolio of housing and commercial development,” said Keefe. “It is a significant investment in Revere. Thankfully between the developer and Ward 1 Councillor Joanne McKenna, we were able to negotiate the addition to much-needed affordable housing units, as this is a key initiative to our residents.”
McKenna is excited about the affordable-housing aspect of the project. “It’s going to be the first fully private project in Revere to have 25 affordable apartments,” said McKenna. “Plus, the developer is going to give $500,000 to get the new Revere fire station up and running. They’re going to clean up Green Creek and clean up the area. We had an abutters’ meeting and the residents did not have a problem with the project. I think it’s a great project for Revere. It’s a ‘win-win’ for the city.”
