By MARK SARDELLA
WAKEFIELD — A New York-based real estate investment firm would like to build a 5-story, 124-unit residential building at 10 Broadway, the current location of Mike’s Gym, aka MG Fitness.
Representing KIMCO Realty, local attorney Brian McGrail introduced the the proposal at the Zoning Board of Appeals meeting this week.
McGrail offered a brief history of the property, which was once home to a Stop & Shop store and later an NHD Hardware store before the current use as a gym.
He said that, in accordance with the the town’s inclusionary zoning bylaw, 18 percent of the units in the proposed residential building would be affordable.
McGrail insisted that the proposed project would improve a “tired, blighted property” and help to “jump start” an area on the outskirts of the downtown.
He noted that the odd-shaped 2.28 acre site is presently “a sea of asphalt” located partly in the industrial zone and partly in the commercial district. He described the edges of the property as “blighted,” and said that his client’s proposal represented an opportunity to clean the site up. He said that the plan is also consistent with the town’s transit-oriented housing goals.
McGrail maintained that peak-hour traffic would be reduced under the plan. Storm water management, now virtually non-existent on the site, would also be improved, he said.
McGrail introduced Scott Thornton, a traffic engineer at Vannasse and Associates, to provide details on the traffic impact. Thornton said that the expected traffic reduction is based in part on the site’s proximity to the commuter rail and bus stations. For that reason, he also suggested that the project could get by with fewer than the required number of parking spaces.
John Ogren of Hayes Engineering discussed the details of the site. He noted that most of the ground floor of the proposed building would be covered parking, with additional parking outside the building, for a total of 144 spaces. (Under the town’s bylaws, 189 spaces would be required for the building as proposed.)
Ogren outlined plans to improve drainage on the site and reduce the rate of runoff from the site by significantly reducing the amount of impervious service.
McGrail then introduced Donny Lo, Director of Development at KIMCO, to talk about the proposed building design. He displayed images that showed a long building on the site in a north-south orientation, essentially parallel to Main Street.
ZBA member Chip Tarbell said that he would not support any project that did not meet the town’s parking requirements. He also said that he was not impressed by the building architecture in the images that Lo displayed.
ZBA member Tom Lucey agreed and said that he was also concerned about traffic and parking.
Chairman David Hatfield said that he thought the building seemed too big. He suggested the possibility of two buildings.
The board ultimately assigned board member Jim McBain, a retired architect, to act as a sounding board for the developer to run ideas by in between meetings of the full board.
The hearing was continued to ZBA’s Jan. 25 meeting.