Lynn City Hall. File Photo
By Leah Dearborn
LYNN — It’s onward and upward for the Gateway Residences on Washington after a joint meeting of the Lynn City Council and City Planning Board on Tuesday.
Both the Planning Board and City Council approved the project’s application, which Thomas J. O’Malley, development consultant with AFL-CIO Housing Investment Trust, said deals with city taxes and urban redevelopment.
Peggy Phelps, director of planning and development for Lynn Housing Authority & Neighborhood Development, said the application was the final remaining hurdle standing in the way of construction on the project, which now may begin as early as mid-September.
“I think it’s a great step forward,” said O’Malley about the Gateway project. “It shows the seriousness of the intent in including all people and demographics in the revitalization of Lynn’s downtown.”
In May, Gov. Charlie Baker said the Gateway Residences on Washington will be the first housing development to benefit from a $100 million fund to create workforce housing.
The Department of Housing and Community Development for low-income units is also set to contribute funding to the project.
When completed, the development will consist of a five-story building with 71 rental units and 2,000-square-feet of retail space on the first floor.
The 2.5-acre parcel of land in question sits at the intersection of Washington, Sagamore and Suffolk Streets.
Phelps said that once construction begins, it will continue on an 18-month timeline.
The joint meeting included a public hearing, during which several speakers took the floor to voice their excitement about the project.
“Today I feel like an uncle and we’re having a baby delivered,” said Lynn resident Calvin Anderson, who spoke during the hearing about the beneficial development of the Washington Street area.
