Charles Gaeta, executive director of the Lynn Housing Authority and Neighborhood Development (LHAND), is taking steps to rekindle the plan and transform the strategically-located area that has potential to link the waterfront to Sagamore Hill.
Working with the non-profit Neighborhood Development Association (NDA), formerly the city’s Community Development Housing Corp., Gaeta and the association have been quietly taking control of properties on Washington, Sagamore, Suffolk and other streets.
The idea is to form an expanse of contiguous lots or buildings that can be redeveloped in accordance with the Sasaki plan and ultimately strengthen the entire neighborhood.
“We have been working closely with the NDA Board of Directors,” said Gaeta. “We’re land-banking whatever we can, but we can’t buy everything. This whole neighborhood has to co-exist, so the overall plan is for mixed use, which includes businesses and affordable homes.”
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The NDA has already purchased the former Smuggler’s Cove Pub, a landmark brick building at the corner of Washington and Amity streets, as well as the vacant lot behind it. Other vacant lots were purchased in the triangle formed by Sagamore Street, Suffolk Street and Suffolk Court.
“That piece is key,” said Peggy Phelps, LHAND assistant director of neighborhood development, referring to the triangle. “It’s the first phase of the whole project.”
Dymes Redemption Center at 780 Washington St. is also part of the plan and city officials have approached the owner with a purchase offer, according to Gaeta and Lynn Economic Development and Industrial Corp. (EDIC) Executive Director James Cowdell.
The bottle-and-can redemption center has long attracted a customer base of barrel-pickers and street people who can be frequently seen walking to the nearby bars to spend their proceeds. Cowdell, Gaeta and others have been trying to change that situation.
“The Dyme’s building is a true non-conforming use,” said Gaeta, noting that the EDIC has been negotiating to buy it.”
The Dyme’s building would likely be demolished if purchased because it serves no purpose in the overall neighborhood redevelopment plan, he said.
Washington Street is also home to the Sand Bar, the Blue Note, Fran’s Place and the Pelican Pub, establishments with no redeeming architectural value. The former Smuggler’s Cove Pub is the exception.
“Smuggler’s is a brick, flatiron building similar to the Four Stories flatiron building at the corner of Washington and Broad streets,” said Phelps. “It has historic value and isn’t in too bad condition, so it makes sense to save it.”Gaeta said the building could serve as an anchor for neighborhood redevelopment.
“We aren’t talking about doing this 20 years down the road. It’s something attainable within the next few years,” he said.The entire lower Washington redevelopment area is framed by the Lynnway and Broad, Newhall and Washington streets. It ties directly into the Sagamore Hill neighborhood, where the quasi-city agencies have land-banked additional parcels.
“Most of the old rooming houses on Newhall Street have already been updated,” said Gaeta. “We want to get grants to improve the facades of other buildings in the neighborhood. The more we do, the more the value of what’s there increases.”
Gaeta noted that the NDA pays taxes or makes payments in lieu of taxes on all the properties it acquires.
“The gateway plan is really a partnership that involves various city agencies, area businesses and residents,” said NDA Chairman Christine Newhall, noting that the association is applying to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for a planning grant to help identify additional sources of funding.
The NDA over the past two years has purchased a Sagamore Street parking lot,a waterbed factory at 99 Sagamore St., property at 826 Washington St., and the former Smuggler’s Cove Pub, for a total expenditure of $1.7 million. The association also paid for administrative fees and property cleanups.
Two modest homes were constructed on Amity Street near Dyme’s by a private contractor. Gaeta said additional private investment will be made if the neighborhood is upgraded.
Mayor Judith Flanagan Kennedy agreed. “I think Washington Street is one of the easier stretches of road we can beautify, and it is truly a gateway from the waterfront. Right now there are only three or four parcels of land down there in question,” she said. “It will be a pretty road, with the relatively new college campus on one side and new retail buildings lining the other. That will encourage development of Sagamore Hill as well.”
Sagamore Hill, located roughly across the Lynnway from the two yacht clubs, overlooks Lynn Harbor and Broad Sound.
“Once this project is completed, lower Washington Street should be a mirror image of Market Street,” said Phelps, referring to the commercial corridor that also helps link the downtown to the waterfront. “And it will be a gateway.”
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