Zoning Board Approves Residential Tower for Booming Triangle Area

The Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) on Monday night approved SkyEverett in the Commercial Triangle area with a unanimous vote – marking the first residential tower to be approved for that area and a further remaking of what has long-been cast off industrial property.

The SkyEverett is a 21-story residential tower from V10 Development – made up of John Tocco and Ricky Beliveau – with a rooftop restaurant and a new look for an area that is booming and already has 3,000 units in the queue. It marks what ZBA members have said will likely be the first of more towers to come for the area as it grows in density and the uses change dramatically.

“We are humbled and grateful for the vote of confidence from the Zoning Board of Appeals,” said V10 in a statement. “A lot of work remains but this vote of support gives us the confidence to continue this journey and deliver a project to the community that we can all be proud of. None of this could have happened without the vision and leadership of Mayor Carlo DeMaria and his team who spent several years rezoning and laying the foundation for spectacular things to happen in the Commercial Triangle.”

The ZBA had reviewed the project once prior at the April meeting, and Tocco said they chose to go with height to mix up the products offered in the Triangle. He said most of the units in the area are donut-style buildings – with residential buildings that serve as walls to the community surrounding a courtyard, hence the “donut” term. With height, he said, they were able to offer something new and different and include a public amenity like the restaurant, which would be the highest active restaurant in New England.

At Monday’s meeting, there was little discussion about the project as many of the questions had been answered previously in a much longer meeting in early April.

However, the ZBA had asked for a peer-reviewed shadow study and a study of what the views towards Boston would look like from vantage points around Everett.

The shadow study produced nothing substantially new, with all shadows being contained within the Triangle area and in step with other new developments. Meanwhile, the study of the new “skyline” from various vantage points was quite interesting. Perhaps the most striking change in view was from Everett Stadium where the SkyEverett and the neighboring Market Forge building substantially change the view from that area.

However, what was feared was that the SkyEverett project would be prominent from residential areas like Hospital Hill and the hills around Chelsea Street. Renderings showed that the building is visible from those locations, but not really prominent. Renderings were produced from Cottage Street, the CHA Everett parking lot, and the CHA Everett Parking Garage.

Chair Mary Gerace had asked for the renderings as part of the Board’s due diligence and said they were just what she was looking for. She said she was reassured by them, and was ready to vote.

That moved into a 5-0 vote in favor of the project.

The proposal at Spring and Second Streets includes 366 residential units, with 5 percent affordable, a significant contamination clean-up of the former industrial property, and a noteworthy rooftop restaurant brought by the well-known Varano restaurant family.