Hill To Downtown Phase 3 Moves Forward

The final leg of Randy Salvatore’s three-part plan to build hundreds of new apartments along with storefronts on vacant Hill property got its final needed zoning approvals Tuesday night.

The approvals came at a meeting of the Board of Zoning Appeals at 200 Orange St.

The board voted unanimously to approve relief in two areas of the zoning code regarding a glass facade and a proposed canopy for Salvatore’s development of a 223-unit apartment complex with 202 parking spaces, 3,825 square feet of retail space, two outdoor terraces which will include a swimming pool and two rooftop terraces at 9 Tower Lane.

The project is set for land next door to the Tower One/Tower East senior living complex.

Salvatore has already been building similar projects a block away in the first two phases of his contribution to the broader ​“Hill to Downtown” plan to knit back together the two neighborhoods.

Salvatore was seeking relief that allows 24.4 percent of clear glass facade for a building wall facing Church Street South where 60 percent is required. And he also sought relief for a canopy that would extend two to three feet into a 15-foot setback.

Attorney Danielle Bercury, representing Salvatore and his RMS Companies, told members of the BZA Tuesday that the relief was needed as a function of meeting some of the requirements imposed by the city as part of the deal it struck with Salvatore to finally revive a long defunct land disposition agreement.

Bercury said that canopymeets design guidelines imposed by the city and that meeting the glass requirement given the just over 385 square feet of facade along the Church Street South side of the future building along with meeting architectural and parking requirements made meeting the standard unattainable.

Wilfredo Rodriguez, a senior designer for Lessard Design Inc. told members that, in fact, the project would have much more glass than is required but the plan is to use it in places that made more sense such as the proposed retail space.

Bercury noted that the first phase of the project — a four-story, 110-apartment, mixed-use development at Gold Street — is nearly complete. The second phase, which will create 104 residential units and include amenities such as a gym, studies, lounges, a roof garden, and 52 parking spaces, is underway.

The Hill to Downtown plan also calls for 30 more apartments on Prince Street and a six-story residential building that will be home to another 90 apartments and another 45 parking spaces on Congress Avenue.

She said the last phase still must go before the City Plan Commission for site plan review.