Chelsea Council Takes Next Steps in Affordable Housing Project

After releasing a request for proposals (RFP) for the development of affordable housing the Chelsea property at 1155 Old Manchester Rd earlier this June, Chelsea City Council has since received a recommendation from the Housing Commission. According to Community Development Director Paul Montagno, eight firms submitted proposals for the property, and from the three that were then selected and sent to the Housing Commission, the one chosen as the final recommendation was Spire Development.

“The intent of the RFP was to find a developer that would create a development on this site that serves a housing need at household income levels that aren’t currently being met in the city,” Montagno’s agenda item submission for the June 28 meeting reads.

Spire Development addressed the importance of affordable housing as a major goal in this project, along with other objectives listed in the city’s RFP, at the June 28 meeting.

“We put a lot of thought into this proposal,” Spire’s vice president of development Sean McMickle said. “We wanted to make sure that we were taking all as many identified objectives as we could. We put a lot of thought towards connectivity. There’s a covered bus stop integrated into the site plan, which is important for this population. We have a stubbed road that could service potential future access to Main Street. We’re going to be building some sidewalk infrastructure on the front of our site along Old Manchester.”

McMickle also emphasized the long-term commitment to the property and the community that Spire Development will bring to the table.

“Part of the funding requirements require the property to remain affordable for 45 years,” he said. “So there’s an initial compliance period of 15 years, and then we add another 30 on top of that, and there’s a restrictive covenant placed on the deed that we have to comply with. So there’d be no risk of us saying one thing and doing another.”

City Council passed the motion to approve the agreement with Spire Development unanimously. The company hopes to begin construction in Oct, 2025 depending on certain grant applications.