Chelsea will receive $6,325,000 in state grants from the latest round of the Community One Stop for Growth program, according to the award spreadsheet the state published with Governor Maura Healey’s October 1 announcement. All five grants went to the City of Chelsea, and $5 million of the total is for one street.
| Project, as the state lists it | State program | Award |
|---|---|---|
| Spruce Street Improvement | MassWorks Infrastructure Program | $5,000,000 |
| CHA Prattville Pre-con | Housing Choice Grant Program | $500,000 |
| Prattville Redevelopment | Housing Choice Grant Program | $500,000 |
| Chelsea Teen Center | TDI Equity Investment Program | $250,000 |
| Zoning Rewrite Phase I | Community Planning Grant Program | $75,000 |
| Total | $6,325,000 |
Spruce Street
The spreadsheet describes the largest award only as “Spruce Street Improvement.” It comes from the MassWorks Infrastructure Program, which gave out $105,110,000 to 59 projects statewide this round. The city’s draft capital plan for fiscal 2028, in the packet for tonight’s council meeting, separately sets aside $220,000 in retained earnings for “Spruce Street utility design.”
Chelsea won the same amount from MassWorks last year: $5 million for water, sewer and drainage work at Park and Pearl Streets. That project is the largest in the draft capital plan, at $11.31 million.
Prattville
Two $500,000 Housing Choice grants are for the Fitzpatrick-Prattville public housing, which the Chelsea Housing Authority and a private partner plan to replace with mixed-income housing. One is labeled “CHA Prattville Pre-con,” the other “Prattville Redevelopment.” According to council records, the project would replace 198 state public housing units built in the 1940s and 1950s. In March the Planning Board voted 7-0 to recommend a 40R Smart Growth overlay for the roughly 23-acre site, which allows buildings of 90 feet and 160 feet at the Revere line.
Teen center
The $250,000 comes from the TDI Equity Investment Program, run by MassDevelopment. In December the city told the council it had picked the Boys & Girls Club of Boston to run a teen center at 440 Broadway, and in March the council moved $625,000 left over from a dropped City Hall attic project to pay for building out the space. The opening was targeted for 2026.
Zoning
The smallest grant, $75,000, pays for the first phase of a rewrite of the city’s zoning ordinance. The spreadsheet gives no other detail.
How it compares
This is the second year in a row Chelsea has topped $6 million. Last year’s round brought $6.5 million: the $5 million for Park and Pearl Streets, $800,000 for infrastructure at the first phase of the Veterans Home redevelopment, $500,000 for 115 Park Street and $200,000 to the developer Pennrose for the Veterans Home. In the six rounds since fiscal 2022, projects in Chelsea, including grants to La Colaborativa, HarborCOV, Roca and Bunker Hill Community College, have received $18,652,098.
This round, Revere received $4,512,000 for three projects, most of it $3,750,000 for regional wastewater work. Everett received $1,700,000 for three projects.
Statewide, the Governor’s office said the round awarded $330 million to 403 projects in 207 communities, the largest in the program’s history.
Graphic: chelseamass.net.