Gloucester Birdseye Property Request for Residences, Retail, Hotel & More

The Gloucester Times is reporting that developer Mac Bell has filed a zoning request that would open the door to developing the 3+ acres of Fort land that include the historic, but decaying, former Birdseye factory (shown above), to a mixed-use project that could include a hotel, medical center, condominiums, windmill, assisted living apartments, a small farm and recreation hall in addition to the marine industrial uses already allowed.

Bell, who purchased the property in 2009 for $2.25 million and envisions an eco-friendly urban development, with ground-level retail markets topped by residences and bolstered by commercial work space, maintains that only with broad zoning flexibility would any project be economically viable.

According to Reporter Patrick Anderson’s article, the zoning proposal is based on the concept of "planned unit development," a progressive tool included in state zoning law meant to encourage mixed-use projects on large properties by freeing them of restrictions if they are approved as a master plan.  The zoning freedoms of the planned unit development would be contained in an overlay district with the new permissible uses (residential, medical, etc.) pasted on top of the current marine industrial zoning.

In addition to all of the possible creative uses for Birdseye, the zoning proposal would open the door to a development overview written by architect Richard Griffin of Salem, which includes a number of "green" components including "net zero energy use."  A combination of solar power, wind power and energy efficiencies such as a "solar chimney" to cool the building, would have the complex create as much electricity as it uses.  Tenants of Birdseye apartments would be able to forgo gas-guzzling cars and use a fleet of plugged-in electric vehicles provided by the development.

Read the entire Gloucester Times article.