346-348 Main Street, Park Realty Trust
Listen to this articleReading, MA — After discussion, the Community Planning and Development Commission (CPDC) continued the public hearing on a proposed development at 346-348 Main Street on Monday. Park Realty Trust, owner of the property, proposes to demolish the current three-story office building on the site and replace it with a four-story mixed-use development, with commercial space on the first floor and fifteen residential units on the upper three floors.
Boardwalk Real Estate, situated in the current building, will occupy the new commercial space once completed. James Joly, owner of Boardwalk Realty, explained previously that the real estate business model has changed over the past few years, with more employees working remotely, negating the need for the amount of space available in the current building.
Speaking for the developer, Attorney Brian McGrail presented the changes made to the site plan since the commission’s October meeting. He shared improvements to the dumpster layout, an electric scooter enclosure, and an additional parking space added on Park Street, with all three spaces moving off the road and further onto the site. There are twenty-two total parking spaces planned for the site, nine in a garage, eleven in the open, and now three on Park Street.
Architect Peter Sandouse continued, pointing out that utility rooms have been added to the interior of the building using some of the space previously dedicated to basement storage and some of the first-floor office space.
McGrail also noted that the building adheres to many of the design best practices outlined for South Main Street, including using step-backs on the Main Street side to reduce massing and increase visual interest, along with no vehicle entrances to the site on Main Street. “[The building] is warm, it’s welcoming,” McGrail added.
CPDC chair John Weston opened his comments with concerns that the applicant has provided few of the criteria needed for issuing a special permit. He also noted that the zoning bylaw requires that twenty-five percent of the total livable area in the building needs to be available for commercial usage. He shared that using the basement storage area to qualify for the commercial percentage and not using it to satisfy the parking requirement was “disingenuous.”
“Either [the basement space] counts, or it doesn’t count,” Weston suggested.
Weston also shared concerns regarding space for turning movements and a lack of clarity regarding requested waivers. CPDC member Thomas Armstrong added concerns regarding snow storage, and member Hillary Mateev noted that the elevator lobby seemed, to her, to be “restrictive.” She also questioned how the proposed balconies on some of the upper levels of the building might function.
CPDC continued the hearing to December 9 and adjourned at 8:30 pm.
