A local developer has plans to convert a sprawling 100-year-old home on Garden Street into a 10-unit condominium complex and is seeking Select Board support for using a state program to facilitate the project.
Michael Tedoldi’s Fuller Brook Ltd. is eyeing purchasing the home at 193 Garden St. and replacing it with the Gardeners Nest project — five duplex condominiums on the 30,000-square-foot lot located directly across from the Needham Bank office building near the corner of May Street.
The project is proposed to be done via the state’s Local Initiative Program. In return for providing three units of affordable housing and giving the town control over some financial aspects, LIP status will allow the project to go through a streamlined town review despite its noncompliant status as a multi-family use in a single-residence zoning district.
The state’s Executive Office of Livable Communities guidelines require a project to demonstrate clear local support, including submission of a formal letter from the chief executive officer of the municipality.
In Needham, that would be Town Manager Katie King in coordination with the Select Board.
That support seemed highly likely to be forthcoming during a half-hour presentation at the March 10 Select Board meeting as all four members present reacted favorably to the proposal, though no action was taken.
Georgia Giunta Jr., the attorney for Fuller Brook, offered a brief history and overview of the property and the plans, which call for five separate duplexes with four-bedroom units between 3,000 and 3,500 square feet. The three units designated as affordable would likely be available to individuals at 80% of Area Median Income (AMI).
Giunta emphasized that the Garden Street neighborhood, while zoned for single-family use, is already home to several multi-family residences as well as commercial operations.
“So it’s in a single-family residence B district, even though it is across from the Chestnut Street business district and the Garden Street overlay, which allows for pretty dense development.
“And further down Garden Street, just a couple of houses down, there are multiple two-families on that side of the street.”
Giunta said those who wish to have a sense of what the project will look like can view the five Miller Green Condominium units at 90-98 Dedham Ave., another property developed by Tedoldi in 2008.
“That concept — having the units kind of face inward with a common walkway in a vegetated garden area — is the idea here.”
Select Board weighs in
LIP projects can be built as rental properties or for home ownership. When asked by member Marianne Cooley if apartments had been considered instead of condos, Tedoldi said apartments were the wrong path.
“It’s very challenging to do a four-wall apartment complex,” he said. “It just becomes cost prohibitive. It financially just doesn’t make any sense.”
Tedoldi said initial planning indicated a capacity for 12 units, but the aesthetics were not satisfactory. “I grew up in the town,” he said. “We love the town and we care about how things turn out. We don’t try to include the most (units) that we can.”
Members Kevin Keane and Josh Levy asked if outreach to neighbors, while not mandatory in the LIP process, was planned. “I’m thinking maybe the neighbors should have a bite at this apple, too,” said Keane.
Tedoldi said he had plans in the works to meet with neighbors, perhaps as soon as this weekend.
Vice Chair Cathy Dowd stated the project filled a town need.
“We really need different types of housing,” she said. “We have a lot of one type, but we’re looking for different types. I think this fits in Needham.”
And Cooley volunteered that the neighborhood is single residence by zoning, but less so in practice. “It’s really not an SRB neighborhood and I think it’s important to recognize that.”
Speaking to the Observer following the meeting, Tedoldi said the project is not the product of longstanding plans.
“The project came on the market in January so we started our process then,” he said of the parcel, which is listed for $2 million and has not yet been sold.
He said he will use the same approach he has used over a long career in development.
“I’ve been building for almost 50 years, so I’ve had plenty of experience with zoning, planning and the process in general. We don’t go in trying to maximize anything. We try to find a balance up front.”
He said this is his first foray into the LIP process, which allows some regulatory steps to be skipped — such as asking the Planning Board for zoning relief — but still allows for most standard town departmental reviews. Its final destination is the Zoning Board of Appeals.
Significantly, it does not eliminate reviews for wetlands or stormwater concerns that are likely to arise.
Tedoldi was satisfied with the Select Board appearance.
“They seem very supportive, which is encouraging to me,” he said.
“They seemed to recognize that we do what we say we’re going to do,” he said. He did not think the Select Board members would hear much pushback from Needham residents. “They’re not going to get screamed at when they go to parties on the weekends.”
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