By Seth Daniel
On Monday, the Chelsea City Council passed a unanimous vote to approve an eminent domain action on the former Salvation Army Store located on Broadway, a move that City Manager Tom Ambrosino has been advocating for months.
The Council approved a 10-0 vote to authorize the taking of the property at 440-448 Broadway by the Legal Department, and also approved a 10-0 vote to allocate $1.34 million from the Free Cash account for the acquisition of the site.
““The City strongly recommends the City Council approves this Eminent Domain taking,”,” Ambrosino said on Monday. ““The building is in a critical location in terms of our efforts to revitalize the Broadway corridor. It’s been a blighted area for some time. That has not improved now that it has become vacant.””
Ambrosino expressed his hope that the taking would officially proceed in order to address the issue of blight in the area.
Following a fair market value appraisal last month that estimated the property at $1.34 million, Ambrosino decided to move forward with the action, a decision that was supported by the Council on Monday.
Eminent domain cases are often challenged in court, with sellers frequently appealing the compensation offered, which can lead to either an increase or decrease in the final price. This process is typically lengthy and complex, but there is no indication that the new owner, believed to be the owner of Rainbow Fashion, will contest the price.
Ambrosino aims to develop the site into a mixed-use building featuring retail space on the first floor and residential units, including affordable housing, on the upper floors.
On the same day, Ambrosino also presented the Council with a proposal to utilize a new state law that would allow the City to designate Broadway as a “Development District.”. This designation would bring with it a “Development Plan”, similar to the concept of an Urban Renewal District.
The initiative is intended to support the City’s efforts under the Chelsea Prospers program and the Re-Imagining Broadway infrastructure project, with one of the main benefits being the ability to streamline the process of acquiring blighted properties.
““At this time, there is no specific target of property acquisition in the Downtown beyond what has been previously present to the Council (Salvation Army Store),”,” he wrote. ““However, the ‘Development District’ designation provides the flexibility to engage in that process, with Council approval, if the need arises in the future.””
Another advantage of the designation, Ambrosino explained, is the opportunity for the City to use the innovative infrastructure funding tool known as the District Improvement Financing (DIF) tool. Although there are currently no plans to implement DIFs, Ambrosino noted that having this tool available could be beneficial for future developments on Broadway.
He also mentioned that the designation would provide the City with a better chance of securing state and federal grants for infrastructure projects in the Downtown area.
Ambrosino stated that the details of the Development Program, which would accompany the designation, would be worked out over the summer and likely presented to the Council in the Fall.
The matter was placed on file and will be reviewed when the Council reconvenes in September.