The Marblehead Housing Authority and WinnDevelopment presented a revised plan Tuesday to redevelop Broughton Road, proposing 50 new age-restricted units while preserving all 62 existing family housing units.
The revised concept, presented to the Planning Board on Sept. 8, follows months of feedback from residents, abutters, town officials and other stakeholders.
The proposal calls for either renovating or demolishing and rebuilding the 62 existing units, along with construction of a three-story building containing 50 new senior units. The rear portion of the site would replace existing units with 20 new two- and three-story townhouses.
The redevelopment would also add community and amenity space, onsite management and resident services, additional parking, landscaping and a connection to the Rail Trail.
“We want to make sure that we’re on the same page, and that this development concept is something that people feel they can support and get behind,” Housing Authority Executive Director Cathy Sheehan told the board.
The latest design differs from the original proposal in several ways.
The previous version called for 47 new units, including a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments. The new plan calls for 50 new units, all of them age-restricted, primarily one-bedroom units with some two-bedroom units.
Angela Gile, a senior project director at WinnCompanies, said the shift toward senior housing followed conversations with the community about the need for affordable senior housing and the site’s proximity to the senior and community centers.
Jennifer Schaeffner of the Housing Authority said the message from the community had been clear.
“The overwhelming message we hear from the town of Marblehead is the need for affordable housing for seniors,” she said. “These are folks who are … aging in town and they want to have a place that they can possibly downsize to or move to that’s affordable.”
The new senior building would be located near Humphrey Street and adjacent to the Council on Aging. According to architect Genevieve Frank of ICON Architecture, the building would be approximately 36 feet tall, matching the height of the senior center.
The rear portion of the property would also undergo substantial changes.
The eight existing buildings constructed in the 1980s are in worse condition than the older buildings toward the front of the property, according to the Housing Authority, with significant drainage and water-infiltration problems.
Frank said replacing the buildings would allow the project to address those issues, add accessible units and improve emergency and delivery access at the rear of the property. The project would also add landscaping and reconfigure parking.
Planning Board members generally viewed the revised proposal as an improvement, although some raised continued concerns about the buildings planned for the rear of the property.
Board chair Marc Liebman said he remained uncomfortable with the height of those buildings, particularly because the project would raise the grade in the rear portion of the site by about four feet.
“I’m not quite comfortable with the buildings in the back,” he said. “The height of the building becoming much taller than what’s there, but also raising the grade by 4 feet, which enhances the additional height … that’s going to be a challenge.”
Residents living near that area also raised concerns about privacy, noise and drainage.
Barry Yomtov of Gerald Road said the proposed buildings would be significantly more visible from neighboring properties and questioned where stormwater would go after the site is regraded.
“If you’re raising it four feet, not only is it higher, as you said, but also the water drainage, what’s gonna happen to that water when you have the Rail Trail … where’s that water going to go?” Yomtov said.
Other residents supported the project, citing the need for affordable and senior housing and the opportunity to improve the existing development.
Renee Ramirez Keaney said the project could help provide a way for older residents to remain in Marblehead.
“It’s so important, for the community that I want to live in, that we have a diversity of economic and age in this town, that everyone has an opportunity to stay here,” she said.
The plan also includes 54 parking spaces for the new 50-unit senior building, including five accessible spaces and visitor parking. Across the entire property, the developers said the parking ratio would increase from roughly one space per unit to about 1.13 spaces per unit.
The project remains in the planning stage and is not yet approved for construction.
The development team plans to submit a project eligibility letter to the state this fall as the first step toward seeking a comprehensive permit under Chapter 40B. If that process stays on schedule, the team anticipates receiving the permit in 2027, beginning construction in 2028 and reaching full lease-up around 2030.
Developers said they intend to continue refining the design based on feedback from the town and community as the project moves forward.
