The Planning Board unanimously recommended approval of a major rehabilitation project for an 18-unit Single Room Occupancy building at 165 Hawthorne St. at its regular meeting next week.
Rick Costa, the prospective owner of the building, will be back before the Zoning Board of Appeals later this month for final approvals of a special permit and variance for the project.
Currently, the building has 18 single-room occupancy units on the top floors with communal bathroom and kitchen spaces, and a retail produce shop occupies the front space.
Costa is seeking to renovate the 18 single room occupancies and lowering the number of those units to 12 by adding private bathrooms and small kitchen areas. He is also seeking to replace the retail area on the first floor and add six small apartment units.
Costa noted that the management of the building is currently less than ideal, with rooms rented daily or by the week and a transient population. He said he will make sure the rooms are of a higher caliber, and that there would be improved maintenance and management of the units.
“I believe it is a better use of the building,” said Costa, who has renovated and upgraded several other rooming house properties in the city.
Costa noted that the city’s community development department recently raised concerns about the displacement of current residents at the address. However, he said the building is currently operated more like a hotel, and that by the time construction begins, he does not expect there to be a high occupancy rate in the building. Costa also noted that his management company might be able to provide some assistance to residents who have legitimate concerns about being displaced.
Costa said his property management company is located in Chelsea, and that he will offer security cameras, 24-hour maintenance service, and clean buildings. He said the building is currently being mismanaged and that there are issues with bedbugs, rodents, and other problems that are not immediately addressed.
“I like this project a great deal,” said Planning Board member Mimi Rancatore.
Planning Board members did raise some questions about the design of the first floor, and requested that Costa work to make a more appealing entrance area on the ground floor with a new door and transom windows.