The Marblehead Housing Authority met on Monday, Nov. 4, to discuss plans for the $67 million Broughton Road redevelopment project. Currently, there are 62 units, some as old as 75 years.
The proposal is to renovate 44 units and replace another 18. A new building will house an additional 60 units.
The MHA has hired a consultant to oversee design aspects of the project. SV Design Principal Stefano Basso updated the MHA with feedback gathered from Broughton Road residents.
Basso shared a conceptual drawing of the property, explaining the design aspects pre-construction.
MHA member William Kuker urged Basso to consider moving the project’s largest new building off Humphrey Street.
“I’d like to see it go down at the end closer to the Rail Trail and that way you would be tearing down two less buildings,” Kuker said. “It’s not the wise thing to put a big in your face project right there on Humphrey Street where everybody’s gonna see it.”
Different unit plans and ideas were discussed in the meeting, including preserving existing brick façades to maintain the neighborhood’s character.
Plans for the addition of second bathrooms in multi-bedroom units and possible storage options are being considered to improve functionality and space.
Other ideas included prioritizing community areas like playgrounds and adult gathering spaces.
For sustainability, the project is focusing on high-energy efficiency with geothermal studies and electric vehicle parking.
“They’ve [WinnDevelopment] discussed being very committed to being as sustainable as humanly possible. They have a whole division within their organization that kind of manages that aspect of design. And in the conceptual plan they submitted, they did discuss at length their commitment to it. I think that that’s definitely something that we should communicate and be sure that that’s considered one of the higher priorities in everything that we’re discussing.” said Terri Tauro, MHA vice chair.
The MHA will meet again today, Nov. 5, at 4p.m., to hear more community feedback gathered by the WinnDevelopment Team.
To find meeting information, visit the Housing Authority website at https://marbleheadha.org/. To find more information on the Broughton Road project, visit https://www.broughtonrd.com/.
