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IPSWICH — Following an agreement reached at the Massachusetts Housing Appeals Committee, the town’s zoning board of appeals (ZBA) is set to make a final vote on a proposal to build 214 apartments on Essex Road.
The owner, John Bruni, an Ipswich resident, first proposed a mixed-use 40B project with 194 apartments and commercial space in and around the Bruni Marketplace in 2018. Five lots at numbers 26-44 Essex Road will be combined to make a 13.3-acre parcel.
The application was made under the state’s affordable housing law, Chapter 40B, which lets builders bypass local zoning if less than 10% of a community’s housing stock in on the state’s subsidized housing inventory. Ipswich’s number is 9.48%.
After the project is approved, Ipswich’s SHI figure will be 12.92%, making it safe from 40Bs for the foreseeable future.
In return, the developer must make one quarter of the units affordable to people making no more than 80% of the area median income. For a single person, that limit is $92,650. It is $132,300 for a family of four. The formula says tenants should pay no more than 30% of their income on rent and utilities.
History
Bruni’s first hearing with the ZBA was on April 15, 2021. Over the following three years, a number of contentious hearings were held during which neighbors railed against the project, its density, traffic impacts, and its appearance.
At the final 2021 hearing, the ZBA approved a mixed-use project with 151 apartments and 7,900 square feet of commercial space. Bruni appealed to the Housing Appeals Committee (HAC).
There was an additional complication in 2021, when it was found that the wetland delineation had moved. After redrawing the boundaries, Bruni hiked the apartment count to 214 and dropped the commercial aspect.
Since this was a “substantial change” under HAC rules, the application was sent back to the ZBA in August 2023. However, the remand order limited the board to reviewing the changes only.
On April 2, 2024, the board approved the project with conditions. The board did not specify an apartment count at that time but dealt with building size, the layout of the buildings, and other aspects of the project.
A few days after the decision, Bruni appealed to the HAC again.
On July 25, 2024, Bruni entered into a purchase-and-sales agreement with AvalonBay Communities Inc., “a leading multi-family real estate investment trust (REIT) focused on developing, redeveloping, acquiring, and managing distinctive communities in select U.S. markets.”
After the appeal, the town and Bruni entered into negotiations. In an order dated August 11, the HAC said the ZBA must now vote on the agreement reached a few days prior.
That ZBA meeting will be held September 4.
AvalonBay
Terms of the proposed sale were not disclosed in the HAC decision.
With 2024 revenues around $2.91 billion, the company held 284 apartment communities with 86,111 apartment homes in 11 states and the District of Columbia.
Listed on the New York Stock Exchange and based in Arlington, Va., the company’s 2024 annual report said, “Heading into 2025, we expect to benefit from favorable apartment fundamentals, particularly in our established regions. We plan to increase our investment activity, headlined by $1.6B of projected new development starts.”
AvalonBay also planned $900 million in acquisitions for the year.
“Our coastal, suburban-focused portfolio continues to benefit from limited amounts of competitive new supply and steady demand,” its report said.
