The massive, four-phase Veterans’ Home in Chelsea redevelopment project was before the Zoning Board of Appeals for its initial public hearing for a special permit last week.
The project, which is a public-private partnership between the state and Pennrose, LLC, is scheduled to go before the Planning Board for a recommendation on that special permit on Tuesday, Oct. 24, before coming back to the ZBA for a possible final vote in November.
During the public hearing, many of the questions about the redevelopment of the existing buildings and addition of new space and townhouses were not about the buildings themselves, but about the services which will be provided for veterans.
There will be 241 units throughout the redeveloped property, and Pennrose representatives stated that all 121 veterans currently living on site will be able to remain on the property during construction and will have a place in one of the newly updated units.
Veterans will have 100 percent preference for the affordable units at the redeveloped Veterans’ Home, according to Karmen Cheung, a senior developer for Pennrose.
There will be centralized social services provided onsite provided by Soldier On, a private nonprofit organization that provides veterans services at similar locations, according to Pennrose.
“Pennrose is not only a developer, but we are an owner and operator of mixed-income affordable housing,” said Cheung. “We have an affiliated property management company that we do plan to be the property manager for the Veterans’ Home in Chelsea.”
The development priorities for the project are to have 100 percent veterans’ preference for the entire site, to have a service provision to ensure long-term resident success, to have all existing residents stay on site, to renovate the existing domiciliary buildings into high-quality apartments with private kitchens and baths, to create a diverse unit mix to provide opportunities for veterans’ families, and to create a one-stop resource center for veterans and their families, Cheung said.
Pennrose is preserving all nine buildings that are on the current Soldiers’ Home site, with the only scheduled demolition set for the one-story incinerator building.
The new construction for the project includes 18 units of townhouses, a two-story cafe and community building, and a new building on the east parcel at the corner of Hillside and Crest Avenue.
“Our hope is to provide a more vibrant campus that will serve not only the veterans who will live on campus, but hopefully the surrounding community,” said Cheung. “We’ve tried to create more connectivity, particularly with sidewalks and green space that we hope will also serve the community.”
Some of the amenities Cheung said Pennrose hopes to provide include a veterans’ museum and arts center, a victory garden with a greenhouse, the cafe, and the veterans resource center in the headquarters building.
The project is proposed to be in phases, with the first phase being Sargent, the Laundry Building, the connector building, Williams, and the victory garden.
The priority for the first phase was to renovate the existing buildings that are mostly vacant, so that there would be fewer existing residents as possible moved.
The second phase will consist of the Adams building and the East Parcel, the third phase will be the Sullivan building and the townhouses, and the final phase will be the headquarters building, the power plant, and the Keville Building.
Cheung said there have been concerns raised about parking. The overall plan calls for the creation of a parking deck with 119 off-street parking spots, and the creation of a parking district along Crest Avenue and Hillside which will provide 78 on-street parking spaces for Veterans’ Home residents.
“Our team has listened and tried to make the best compromises we can based on the competing demands,” said Cheung.
The goal is to begin construction on the first phase of the redevelopment around the end of next year, after meeting with neighbors about the construction schedule and plans.
“Our goal is to get to Phase 4 as soon as possible so that residents aren’t living in a construction site for many years,” said Cheung.
She said the goal is to have the final phase of construction completed by 2029.
During the public hearing, several residents of the Soldiers’ Home and nearby residents raised concerns about parking as well as the loss of some green space with the new building on the east parcel.
The biggest area of concern, raised in a letter from City Council President Leo Robinson as well as several others, was the transition in services for the veterans from the current state services to those provided by Soldier On, as well as the cost of living for the veterans.
Robinson noted that veterans on campus are currently provided with three meals per day, and that would no longer be the case under the new plan.
“This is changing the model from a highly supportive living model with three meals per day for veterans who are older and potentially more disabled as they age,” said Planning Board member and School Committee candidate Sarah Neville.
Neville said changing the model will be less supportive for residents who rely on those meals three times per day, as well as other services. She said she would rather see services offered at a tiered level, where current residents can continue to get the same level of care and not be forced into a nursing home or other type of assisted living situation.
Several other speakers noted that while there will be vouchers for the current residents so they will be able to pay 30 percent of their income toward the units, there will be additional costs such as utilities and meals that they currently do not have to worry about.
Cheung said Pennrose will continue to meet and work with its counterparts at the state level, including the Executive Office of Veterans Affairs, to make sure the veterans are supported as the transition is underway.
“All of these are ongoing conversations that the Commonwealth is still invested in,” said Cheung. “Even though we are doing the real estate changes, the Commonwealth is still with us the whole way to make sure that this is a project that serves the veterans.”
Cheung added that many of the aspects of the project being presented are in response to the request for proposals for the redevelopment which was issued by the state.