For more than five years, a corner lot at Broadway and Clinton Street has remained vacant.
The Zoning Board of Appeals voted down a special permit request on Tuesday evening, ensuring the site will stay undeveloped in the near term. The proposal sought approval for a four-story, 42-unit affordable housing complex at 1001-1005 Broadway.
The timing proved unfortunate, as the project successfully navigated state environmental requirements just a day later on Wednesday.
The Traggorth Companies and The Neighborhood Developers (TND) had partnered on this initiative, which would have included 33 affordable units and nine market-rate apartments in one-, two-, and three-bedroom configurations, plus 1,100 square feet of retail space.
The special permit required four of five ZBA votes to address rear setback, parking, and maximum lot coverage concerns. Board members Henry Wilson and Arthur Arsenault cast votes in opposition.
David Traggorth of the Traggorth Companies indicated uncertainty about what comes next for the property. During the hearing, Traggorth stressed that the TND partnership represented the only viable approach to developing the site with affordable rental housing.
“We don’t have a project,” Traggorth remarked following the meeting. “We weren’t kidding. We have to assess our options.”
The two firms had previously collaborated on the Box District, where Traggorth developed the Atlas Lofts.
Residents raised familiar objections during the public hearing, citing traffic concerns and project scale.
Underneath these typical complaints lay a more fundamental disagreement about whether the city should prioritize affordable rentals or affordable homeownership opportunities. While participants generally acknowledged that affordable housing represents a critical municipal need, they disagreed on implementation strategies.
“We’ve been hearing this conversation about what we are building in Chelsea for a while now,” City Councillor-At-Large Roy Avellaneda stated. Avellaneda noted his record supporting affordable housing initiatives, including sponsoring the Community Preservation Act (CPA) and backing inclusionary zoning.
Yet Avellaneda contended that the city had shifted too heavily toward rental-only affordable units while neglecting homeownership options.
“I am asking the board to say no to this project because it is not an ownership project,” he explained. “Every parcel where we build a rental project is another lost opportunity for home ownership in this city.”
According to Avellaneda, the city constructed 3,500 affordable housing units over the past decade—all rentals.
“Affordable home ownership is being forced out; we’ve built affordable rentals but nothing for affordable ownership,” he noted. “If you get the message out that we want ownership, it’s going to happen.”
Avellaneda observed that homeowners typically dominate civic participation at city meetings, and that Chelsea’s two districts with the highest homeownership rates also show the strongest voter turnout.
Others countered that TND had successfully mobilized renters in community engagement, and that rental units address the most pressing affordable housing shortage.
GreenRoots, a Chelsea-based community organization, backed the Broadway project through Maria Belen Power, its associate executive director.
“Seventy-five percent of people who live in Chelsea are renters,” Power stated. “We need is what the developer is showing.”
City Manager Thomas Ambrosino expressed support as well, observing that during his three years in Chelsea, no other developer has presented a proposal for this vacant site.
“This proposal meets the most critical need in the city, which is affordable housing,” Ambrosino said. “The complaint I hear most often in my office is the lament of the lack of affordable housing, and it is mostly renters who are being displaced. Many of those renters are long-time Chelsea residents.
“If you reject this, you are simply eliminating an affordable housing opportunity, and you are not providing an affordable housing ownership opportunity.”
According to John DePriest, the city’s director of planning and development, the ZBA’s decision may be challenged through either Superior Court or Land Court.