By Adam Swift
The city council opened the public hearing on the Fitzpatrick-Prattville Smart Growth Overlay District on Monday night.
The proposed 40-R Smart Growth district is one of the first steps to pave the way for the public-private partnership that will see the redevelopment of the Fitzpatrick and Prattville Chelsea Housing Authority (CHA units in conjunction with major infrastructure improvements and market rate residential development on the property.
The CHA has teamed with the JJC Company and John M. Corcoran and Company on the project. It is the same project team responsible for the Innes redevelopment and Duo project on Central Avenue. As with that project, all the residents living in the current Fitzpatrick and Prattville CHA units are guaranteed a place in the newly developed units at the same rental rates. The CHA will also be responsible for moving the residents during the development as needed, at no cost to the residents.
Monday night’s public hearing on the smart growth zoning amendment was continued to a future date until the city receives notification from the state on a preliminary determination on the 40-R district approval.
The smart growth zoning district will help dictate building heights, setbacks and maximums and minimums for parking and unit counts on the parcel to help spur development.
During Monday night’s public hearing, representatives from the CHA, CHA residents, and members of the development team spoke in favor of the zoning amendment and what the project will mean for CHA residents and the city as a whole.
The Fitzpatrick development was built in 1949 and had one upgrade 40 years ago, while the Prattville development was built in 1951 with no major upgrades since then, according to CHA Executive Director Paul Nowicki.
“This project is about the families and the quality of life,” said Nowicki. “The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is over $2 billion behind in deferred maintenance costs and capital improvements. This is why we are doing this … because we can’t do it on our own.
“This will allow us to help our families and redevelop the property in a proper way, and make no mistake about it, this property is a state project, it will be done with prevailing wage.”
Eduardo Martinez said he has lived in the Prattville development for almost 40 years.
“I love the place, but I’ve been there, in August it will be 40 years, and if the development helps to better it, I’m for it,” said Martinez.
Jen Corcoran of the JJC Company said the goal of the developer is to build something that is reflective of the community and the residents who live in the CHA units.
“Keeping the residents who live at Prattville and Fitzpatrick at the center of this is just central to everything that we do, so I hope the council takes that into consideration,” said Corcoran.
Several other members of the project team noted that the 40R zoning is just a beginning phase of a long project that will next move into site plan approvals and other state and local approvals and permitting.
The actual construction is expected to take place in phases from 2029 through 2035.
City Manager Fidel Maltez said that in his two-and-a-half years as city manager, there has been a tremendous amount of engagement with the community and the neighborhood.
“The amount of outreach that this project is having is unprecedented, and I think that we are starting in the right process,” said Maltez. “What is before the city council tonight … unlocks significant state money that is going to be used in this project. I believe that it is going to be around $4 million, which is going to be needed to rebuild sidewalks, replace water mains – and those water mains are almost 100 years old. Regardless of the project, the infrastructure needs in that neighborhood are huge, and it is not something that we are going to be able to do alone.”
District 1 Councilor Todd Taylor said the zoning amendment is important for the project and the city.
“I’ve been attached to this thing, making sure to shepherd the process since the beginning in a way that is going to be beneficial to this city and beneficial, especially to our residents of the housing authority and also the neighbors adjoining the project,” said Taylor. “It is projects like this that make it so important, it is the reason I wanted to get into politics, to help make the lives of our residents better. This is what is all about, things like this and what happened at Duo before.
“Nobody should have been living in those apartments, they were so bad, and the ones here are almost equally as bad and this really gives new life to those residents.”