TeleCom City Agency Looks to Develop Housing on Adjacent Parcel

EVERETT, MA-Despite the fact that the slowing economy has delayed the groundbreaking of TeleCom City, the 200-acres of industrial land located in Everett, Revere and Malden that is to be developed into office space for the telecommunications industry, the agency created to oversee its development is looking to develop housing on an eight-acre site that borders the massive project.

“We’re trying to come up with a conceptualization process as to what kind of density project would be most efficient and most attractive to neighbors,” Peter Hollands, project director of TeleCom City, tells GlobeSt.com. The idea to develop housing near the project evolved from a study done at Northeastern University supported by a grant from Fannie Mae that examined the impact TeleCom city would have on the area housing market. The study concluded that the area would need 525 more units to accommodate the influx of new employees once TeleCom City was developed.

Everett city planners, says Hollands, suggested that this parcel next to TeleCom City was an “area in transition” and could possibly be used as a site for housing. A team of consultants have started gathering data about the site. “It’s an intensive process, trying to understand what might fit there,” points out Hollands. Ten different private owners own the site.