Developer seeks 60 units of mixed-income housing

A conceptual rendering of the interior courtyard at Oriole Landing.

If residents vote yes at Town Meeting in March, a proposed 60-unit mixed-income housing development would help meet Lincoln’s state-mandated affordable housing requirement for decades.

Civico Development is proposing to build 60 one- and two-bedroom units in two adjacent buildings on Mary’s Way abutting The Commons. Fifteen of the units in Oriole Landing will be deed-restricted as affordable; for prospective tenants to qualify, their household income may be no more than 80 percent of the area median income adjusted for family size. Seventy percent of the 15 affordable units will be set aside for town employees and others who work in Lincoln, current Lincoln residents, and those with children in the Lincoln Public Schools.

Civico is holding a series of open houses (see below) in advance of the March 25 Town Meeting, which will include two measures relating to the project. Voters will be asked to approve a zoning change to establish a North Lincoln Planning Development Overlay District and to approve a preliminary development and land use plan for the project. If it gets those approvals, Civico will later have to undergo a site plan review with details on traffic and environmental impacts and obtain a special permit from the Planning Board, Director of Planning and Land Use Jennifer Burney said.

Company representatives have been meeting since October with town officials including the Housing Options Working Group (HOW), the Planning Board, and the Affordable Housing Trust. The Planning Board has scheduled a February 13 public hearing on the preliminary plan. At its December 12 meeting, the board noted that “the timeline may be aggressive for March Town Meeting” but that Civico could always defer until the special town meeting scheduled for June.

On the affordable housing cusp

The fate of the project is important because if the town doesn’t create more affordable housing by the next census in 2020, it’s in danger of falling below the state-mandated minimum. In towns where affordable housing comprises less than 10 percent of the housing stock, developers are allowed to bypass a number of local zoning restrictions when proposing 40B housing projects (named after the relevant chapter of state law).

In 2017, the Housing Commission estimated that Lincoln’s subsidized housing inventory would fall from 10.9 percent to 9.75 by 2020. As of November 2016, 11.17 percent of the town’s housing units were classified as affordable, Burney said.

The Oriole Landing site just off Route 2 and directly south of The Commons.

When at least 25 percent of a given development’s units are affordable, the state allows all of the units to be counted in the town’s subsidized housing inventory. If Oriole Landing is approved, the additional 60 units will put the town “well above” the 10 percent benchmark, she noted.

“We need more multifamily housing in Lincoln. There are so many seniors who want to downsize, and a lot of young professionals can’t afford houses” in town, said HOW member and former Housing Commission chair Pamela Gallup.

In an effort to create more affordable units in town while avoiding a large single development, residents approved the Affordable Accessory Apartment Program in 2017. That program provides incentives for homeowners to offer affordable rental units attached to their single-family homes. However, the program is still awaiting legislative approval for the tax-exemption portion, Gallup said.

$1 million grant

The Affordable Housing Coalition is supporting the project with a $1 million grant with funds from Community Preservation Act appropriations, Phase 2 of The Commons, and a bequest from the late Florence Hollingsworth, whose will required that some of the proceeds from the sale of her Twin Pond Lane home be used for affordable housing in town, she said.

The six-acre parcel on Mary’s Way was formerly Oriole Farm, a working farm owned for decades by the Morrissey family. The property includes a house (part of which was built in 1865 and is on the Historic Register) plus several smaller buildings. Civico will go before the Historic District Commission tonight (January 16) to discuss demolition or other measures.

When the Morrissey property went on the market in 2016, several 40B developers inquired about the site in hopes of building anywhere from 125 to 250 housing units, “but we were able to say no to them” because the town was above the 10 percent affordable-housing threshold, Gallup said. Oriole Landing “is small in comparison with that a 40B developer would put there,” she added.

Civico’s plan has itself gotten smaller. The company initially proposed 72 units on four floors but scaled it back to 60 units on three floors (with a 40-foot height maximum) in two separate buildings after getting feedback from town officials. The current proposal also calls for underground parking for each unit with additional parking along the perimeter; a community building with a fitness center, office space and meeting area; and a community garden and public outdoor gathering space.

Public meetings

The Housing Coalition and Civico will hold an informational meeting on Wednesday, Jan. 31 at 7 p.m. in the town office building. The developer has also created a web page to solicit feedback and will hold open houses in the Lincoln Public Library where residents can drop and learn more about Oriole Landing on the following Thursdays:

• January 25 from 2–4 p.m.
• February 8 from 6:30–8:30 p.m.
• February 15 from 1–3 p.m.
• February 22 from 6:30–8:30 p.m.

“As developers, we want to work in communities that are creative and open to providing a diversity of housing types, and the town of Lincoln has a history of being resourceful in this aspect,” architect and Civico head Andrew Consigli said in an email to the Lincoln Squirrel.

If all goes as planned, construction could start as soon as fall 2018 and would take about 14–16 months, with occupancy beginning in the spring of 2020, Consigli said.