Permits OK'd for 218-unit apartment project on Shrewsbury Street

WORCESTER - The Zoning Board of Appeals unanimously approved two special permits Monday for a 218-unit residential project on Shrewsbury Street. 

Lundgren Equity Partners of Auburn is proposing to build an approximately 205,000-square-foot, seven-story building at the rear of a shopping plaza at 225 Shrewsbury St. and fronting Albany Street. The proposed building will have approximately 50 studio and 50 two-bedroom apartments; the remainder will be one-bedroom apartments.

The plaza currently includes Mexicali Cantina Grill and InHouse Coffee. At one time the building was home to Lawless Cadillac Pontiac.

An existing industrial building at 68 Albany St. is proposed for demolition and conversion to a surface parking lot of 100 spaces. An additional 178 spaces will be on the Shrewsbury Street property.

The proposed building, which reaches 79 feet tall, required a variance to exceed the district’s 50-foot maximum height restriction. But the project team noted that the proposal is similar in height to other area buildings such as the Mount Carmel Apartments and is also at a lower elevation than many of the surrounding streets.

“I’m not much concerned with the height of the building because I know what’s behind it - the train tracks,” said ZBA member George Cortes.

The project also required a variance to allow two parking spaces for box trucks rather than four loading spaces.

And after the developers committed to moving the dumpsters away from Shrewsbury Street, the ZBA voted unanimously to grant the relief.

The application now goes to the Planning Board for site plan review and a requested parking variance.

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