NEWBURYPORT — As Mayor Sean Reardon continues to scrutinize three proposals to turn the former Brown School into senior affordable housing, the City Council could learn his favorite by the end of the month.
“We can pick apart all three projects forever,” he said. “But I think I do have enough information to make a recommendation to the council.”
The Brown School was most recently the home of Newburyport Youth Services, which had to move out after the heating element was deemed unusable in fall 2021.
NYS has since then become the Recreation and Youth Services Department. Earlier this year, Reardon submitted a $6.5 million to $7.7 million plan to build a recreation center at 59 Low St. to house the department.
But the mayor has also made it very clear that he hopes to turn the Brown School into affordable senior housing while possibly keeping its gymnasium as a community space.
In June, the city issued requests for proposals (or RFPs) from contractors to see what they might be able to do.
Boston-based Zeta Insite, CSI Support and Development of Warren, Mich., as well as YWCA Greater Newburyport, all submitted plans.
CSI wants to build 56 affordable housing units for low-to moderate-income seniors above age 62 earning between 30% and 80% of the area median income of $127,306.
The company has also proposed a pair of site plan alternatives, the first of which would keep the school’s gymnasium intact. But it also maintains doing so would force construction of an underground parking garage that would make the building four stories tall.
The other alternate site plan CSI prefers would demolish the gym to make way for vehicular access off Lime Street, accompanied by an outdoor parking plan.
Zeta Insite hopes to build 29 senior housing units. But only eight of those would be considered affordable to households at 80% of area median income. The ZETA proposal also keeps the gymnasium, turning it into a community center.
The YWCA has offered to build 43 affordable senior housing units. The local proposal includes replacing the gym with a new addition, while also offering a separate community oriented shared indoor space.
In an effort to have more community involvement on which project makes the most sense, Reardon recently formed the Brown School Advisory Group.
In addition to himself, the group includes Planning Director Andy Port, Special Project Manager Kim Turner, Mayoral Chief of Staff Andrew Levine, Ward 1 City Councilor Sharif Zeid, Ward 2 Councilor Jennie Donahue, at-large Councilor Heather Shand, Affordable Housing Trust members Madeline Nash and Andrew Shapiro, as well as former Ward 2 Councilor Jared Eigerman.
The board, Reardon said, last met on Friday, Oct. 4, focusing on which developer might provide the most flexibility, when it comes to offering more affordability or building less units.
“I don’t think there’s a perfect plan there, but I do really like some of the developers that have submitted and I do think they’d be great to work with,” he said. “A lot of that stuff can get more flushed out through the council process, once we’ve narrowed down who we want to work with.”
When it comes to which contractor he will go with, Reardon offered no hints.
“I haven’t made up my mind completely,” he said. “This past week was more just about seeing which developer has the flexibility, whether it’s more affordability or less units.”
The former elementary school is located on Milk Street in the city’s Ward 2, represented by Donahue.
Donahue, as well as Ward 1 Councilor Sharif Zeid recently hosted a pair of separate community meetings on the matter. Many of those who attended voiced concerns about density in the tight, residential neighborhood.
Reardon said he understands their concerns but added density is often required to build affordable housing.
“You need to be able to put enough units in there to make up for the money that it takes to do affordable housing,” he said. “Right now, the area is zoned for 20 units. So that’s kind of where you need to start.”
The further the proposal gets away from 20 units, Reardon said, will need him to get eight city councilors on board to approve the zoning change.
“Where’s the compromise that we can get eight councillors behind on a sensible development there, that’s not going to overburden this really dense, really tight neighborhood?” he asked.
No project, according to Donahue, would be financially viable at 20 units or under.
“The 20-unit count in current zoning is outdated and unrealistic,” she said. “These organizations and companies have funding mechanisms that only work if they can make their money back. They have to break even.”
Donahue also said the three potential developers have to keep the state happy with its own mandated unit count requirements.
“But that doesn’t have to be more than 40,” she said. “That’s the compromise we have to come up with to make one of the proposals work.”
Zeid, in a statement, said he hopes to find a compromise that works for everyone.
“The goal for the Brown School remains the same, to move the property forward with a development that is fair to the neighborhood and balances with our needs for affordable housing,” he said.