Local Developer Plans Apartments on St. Stanislaus Church Campus

One piece of the old St. Stanislaus Church campus on Chestnut Street is on the development block before the City’s Zoning Board of Appeals next week, with a local developer proposing to rehab two buildings into rental housing.

Gerald Sneirson has proposed a 35-unit apartment complex within the old convent and school at St. Stanislaus, located at 179-187 Chestnut St. The old church and rectory will not be part of the project and will remain as is for the time being.

The project will go before the Zoning Board on July 12th at City Hall.

Sneirson didn’t return a phone call from the Record in time for this article.

In documents submitted to the City, the project is described as market rate rental apartments in a campus-style development. The existing buildings will remain and will be rehabilitated.

Apartments will be located on three floors and in the basement. They will range in size from 440 sq. ft. to 840 sq. ft.

There will be 19 off-street parking spaces associated with the project. The flow of traffic is proposed to enter on Chestnut Street and to exit behind on Cherry Street.

Sneirson is not the first developer to give it a go at the St. Stanislaus site.

In 2005, the Archdiocese of Boston sold the school and convent to the Chelsea Residential Group for $945,000. Plans for the project were put together, but shovels never hit the ground.

That group sold the property at a loss in 2008 to Tom Truong of Real Estate Center LLC for $800,000.

Sneirson purchased the property last year at foreclosure for $400,000.

*In other business before the Zoning Board on July 12th, a tanning salon in Prattville is looking to change over to a liquor store.

Kokopelli Tanning owner Michael Zullo is proposing to change his 1,500 sq. ft. storefront into a liquor store due to intense competition in the tanning booth business.

“The tanning business is off due to the emergence of booths in all the gyms like Planet Fitness,” he wrote in a submission to the Board.

Zullo is in a 5-year lease with building owner Dimitrious Meletlidis and indicated he wanted to put something in the space that will be profitable through the end of his lease.

If granted the change of use, he predicted it would take another six months to a year to try and obtain a package store liquor license.

The store is located at 363 Washington Ave.

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