ITEM PHOTO BY OWEN O’ROURKE
Revere City Councilor Anthony Zambuto, left, talks with Gov. Charlie Baker after they arrive at the old Shaw’s supermarket site at 205 Revere Beach Parkway to announce a $3.6 million MassWorks Infrastructure Program grant to build luxury apartments and extended stay hotel rooms.
By THOMAS GRILLO
REVERE — The shuttered Shaw’s supermarket on Revere Beach Parkway near the Beachmont MBTA station will soon be transformed into 220 apartments and a 132-room hotel.
The six-acre site, which has been vacant for more than five years, benefited from a $3.63 million MassWorks Infrastructure Program grant to the city to advance the $90 million project that is expected to break ground next spring.
Officials gathered on Wednesday at the abandoned market site, a five-minute walk to the T and Revere Beach, to celebrate the grant that made the development possible with the public infrastructure improvements.
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Among the work to be done includes water, sewer, and utility upgrades, as well as street and sidewalk work, to unlock redevelopment of the commercial property.
Gov. Charlie Baker said Revere competed with more than a 100 other communities for the MassWorks cash. A total of $287 million in requests were received from an allotment of $90 million.
“You should all be enormously proud of the work that was done by the city to make this proposal where we thought the bang for the buck made it stand above the rest,” he said.
The developers, Revere Beach Parkway Partners LLC, comprised of Boston-based Gate Residential and Transdel Corp., closed on the parcel Tuesday for $5 million, according to the Suffolk Registry of Deeds.
The new development at 205 Revere Beach Parkway is located less than one-quarter mile from the Beachmont T stop on the Blue Line.
The public infrastructure funds are expected to improve safety and traffic conditions along Revere Beach Parkway, and enhance pedestrian connections to Beachmont Station and Revere Beach.
“This grant leverages $90 million of private investment,” said Kyle Warwick, principal at Gate Residential. “Without the grant, we are an island here and have no connectivity to Beachmont Station. We will amplify the walkway to the beach with a public linear park.”
Revere Mayor Brian Arrigo said the city is poised to benefit from billions of dollars in investment from the MassWorks grant.
“Much of the economic growth that we’ve seen in the Commonwealth has historically skipped the city of Revere and everyone here knows that’s about to change,” he said.
MassWorks grants fund shovel-ready public infrastructure projects that generate additional private sector investment. It targets investments in roadways, streetscapes, and water systems.
The program provides a one-stop shop for municipalities and other eligible public entities seeking public infrastructure funding to support housing production, economic development, and job creation.
Since its inception in 2011, the MassWorks program has invested $419 million through competitive grant rounds, in 223 projects throughout the Commonwealth.
Thomas Grillo can be reached at [email protected].