$40M housing project OK’d
Coalition for a Better Acre to break ground in spring 2028
A rendering of the Phase 1 development at 463 Moody St., at the corner of Aiken Street and Father Morissette Boulevard in Lowell. The existing eight buildings of 75 housing units will be redeveloped into a four-story building consisting ort 100 one-bedroom senior-restrict affordable housing units. COURTESY ICON ARCHITECTURE
By Melanie Gilbert
LOWELL >> A $40 million housing project cleared an important hurdle when the Historic Board approved a historic permit for the Coalition for a Better Acre’s application for its North Canal project.
The Coalition for a Better Acre is a membership-based community development corporation dedicated to resident empowerment and sustainable community revitalization. It provides affordable housing to at least 1,600 people in 529 rental units, develops veteran housing and offers foreclosure, financial and workforce development training.
New North Canal LLC, in partnership with the CBA, plans to convert 116 units of affordable housing into 160 units of new construction affordable housing at 281 Moody St. and 463 Moody St., the first two phases of a three-phased development in the Acre neighborhood.
“I’m excited to see this project,” Assistant City Manager and Director of Planning and Development Yovani Baez-Rose, who is also a member of the Historic Board, said during the June 8 meeting at City Hall.
“The last iteration that CBA did was done well and (those buildings) lived their life and it’s time for something else,” Baez-Rose said, adding that she lived at North Canal when it was known as “Cement City.”
In the 1980s, residents at North Canal learned that a developer planned to demolish the property, forcing them from their homes to make way for new construction.
Instead of accepting displacement, the residents, with the support from community organizer and CBA founder Charlie Gargiulo, fought for more than five years for control of the property. In 1989, the CBA residents purchased the expiring U.S. Housing and Urban Development property, preserving 267 units of affordable housing.
The North Canal properties were constructed in the 1960s during urban renewal, but in its application, CBA and its property management company, Maloney Properties, said that though they have worked to maintain the complex, the properties “were built with poor design and materials and have not stood the test of time, limiting what we can achieve for residents’ quality of life.”
Over the past three years, in partnership with the North Canal Tenants Council, CBA and its property management team determined that the best way forward is a phased full redevelopment of North Canal that preserves affordability, as well dramatically improving living conditions.
The project already received site plan approval from the Planning Board, which reviews the creation of developments with more than three residential units. The project also received variance approval from the Zoning Board for parking.
Because the development is located within the Downtown Historic District, the building, materials and color palette required the review and approval of the Historic Board.
The applicant’s attorney, Catherine Flood, of Flood Law Offices, said the project meets the city’s goal to increase its housing stock.
“The project seeks to modernize an aging affordable housing site with energy efficient construction,” Flood said.
Phase 1 at 463 Moody St., at the corner of Aiken Street and Father Morissette Boulevard, currently consists of eight buildings with 75 housing units. It will be redeveloped into a four-story building consisting of 100 one-bedroom senior-restricted affordable housing units.
Phase 2 at 281 Moody St. currently consists of 41 affordable housing units and will be redeveloped into one five-story building with 60 affordable housing units and garage parking under the building. The building will consist of one-, two- and three-bedroom units and will house income-restricted families.
The project will create additional green space, incorporate outside services such as playgrounds and outdoor fitness areas, with internal services including community programming spaces.
A parcel located at 150 Father Morissette Blvd., across from the new five-story Freshman Academy at Lowell High School, was not part of the application heard, but is a future and final build in the three-phased housing project that was presented in its entirety to the board for context.
No members of the public spoke for or against the project.
CBA Executive Director Dan Rivera attended the Historic Board meeting, but did not speak, but he previously told the Planning Board that the nonprofit coordinates the moving process during construction to comply with state law.
“We have to hire a consultant for the relocation process,’ Rivera said during the January 22 meeting. “Every family (will have) a plan so the reconstruction and development has the least impact on families.”
After a spring groundbreaking in 2028, CBA expects the Phase 1 and 2 construction to be completed by spring of 2030.