Economic Development & Industrial Corporation of Lynn

Transforming the City's Waterfront

April 25, 2017
By Thomas Grillo/The Daily Item

It will take more than shops and high-rise apartments to transform the city’s waterfront, it will require parks and boardwalks.

That’s the word from James Cowdell, executive director of the Lynn Economic Development & Industrial Corp., the city’s development bank.

“You can’t just develop every single inch of waterfront,” he said. “You need to have open space and guarantee that the public will have access, those are state rules.”

Next month, a public hearing will be held at City Hall to share ideas for locating potential new parks, public spaces and a promenade along the waterfront.

While a shovel has yet to get in the ground for any of the proposed projects to bring housing to the Lynnway, Cowdell assured members of the City Council’s Economic & Workforce Development Committee Tuesday that the former Beacon Chevrolet site is ready to go. It will feature 348 apartments with sweeping water and city views. The $80 million development is expected to break ground this year, he said.

“The open space meeting will ask questions like: Where should we put the green space, where is the public access and how will the city guarantee it?” Cowdell said. “It’s a chance for the public to let us know what they would like to see.”

The hearing will be Tuesday, May 2, in the City Council chamber.

Thomas Grillo can be reached at tgrillo@itemlive.com.

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