A look back at the year makes it easy to conclude 2016 set the stage for significant economic development in Lynn and surrounding communities in 2017.
By rejecting a concerted effort to bring slot machine gambling to Revere, Massachusetts voters provided a green light for the city to expand Ocean Avenue development to Suffolk Downs and the former Wonderland Greyhound Park.
By helping developers interested in building on Route 1 in Saugus, town officials primed the pump for transformative development along the roadway. In Lynn, a major waterfront residential project offers the possibility of sparking additional development in 2017. In Swampscott, two new housing complexes are planned for former public school sites.
The common thread tying these development proposals together from Route 1 to Lynn’s waterfront is the willingness on the part of developers to spend money locally. That confidence is rooted in an improved economy as well as receptive attitudes on the part of city and town officials to help development proposals proceed smoothly.
The upcoming year will see housing and commercial projects take shape on Route 1 and bring jobs to formerly iconic locations along the roadway. Projects planned this year and reviewed by town officials have the potential to bring new jobs to Saugus and spur other developers into looking at Route 1 for its development potential.
Swampscott’s Machon School and Greenwood Avenue housing proposals will ultimately be welcome additions to the town. Both projects have a ways to go before Machon is converted to senior affordable housing and the former middle school site on Greenwood Avenue becomes residences.
The apartment complex proposed for the former Beacon Chevrolet site opposite North Shore Community College’s Lynn campus is large enough to be a template for Lynn’s waterfront revival.
City officials and longtime city residents have heard and read about “waterfront revivals” throughout past decades without the big talk turning into big construction projects. But the Beacon project has caught the attention of city, state and federal officials and developers who are looking to build on the Lynnway’s Saugus River end.
New housing on the waterfront can spark imaginative ideas for providing pedestrian access to the waterfront and even expanding Seaport Marina.
Cynics are quick to dismiss plans and talk about big projects but substantial work undertaken this year to make development a reality is poised to bear fruit in the new year.