By Josh Resnek
the former Stop and Shop site. (Photo by Wil Vasquez)
Dozens of pieces of heavy construction equipment and hundreds of excavation experts, foundation professionals, cement pourers and pipe and drain layers, are working furiously on tight schedules preparing two major building sites on the Revere Beach Parkway for another 1,400 units of upscale apartment housing.
The twin developments represent about $750 million or more in new construction worth tens of millions in new tax revenues, hundreds of millions in wages paid and goods purchased, with the final result, another major league addition to the city’s housing stock.
Thousands of new units have been here during the past decade, with the bulk of the new construction coming during the past five years.
The new construction has changed the face of the city.
It has modernized the city’s aging housing stock dramatically, so much so, that some projects, especially along the Parkway, have reinvented the city as it faces a bold new era.
The past is prologue in Everett during this decade.
The profusion of new capital being invested here in housing has turned the image of the city upside down.
There are an estimated 3,000 -5,000 new residents living here as a result of the building development boom.
The city has transformed from a literal kingdom dominated by two and three family homes and older smaller apartment houses with 20-40 units in recognizable neighborhoods inhabited by old time Everett families to a new metropolis.
There does not appear to be an end in sight, except the end will comes when there is no available land remaining to develop.
With the 95 acre Exxon Mobil site still up for grabs, there remains plenty of developable land to place thousands more units of housing as well as commercial development.
A developer is bound to purchase this site, to remediate the severe pollution of the land, and to ultimately build out a new Everett in this formerly industrial wasteland of train tracks and oil tanks.
In addition, the industrial wasteland across from the Encore Boston Harbor Casino and Hotel is undergoing a transformation in the next 2-3 years with Encore’s ambitious expansion plan.
This might also include larger investments by the Kraft Group for a soccer stadium where chimneys and old generators now stand.
With this incredible spate of new developments all over the city have come increased inconvenience with added traffic and difficulties parking.
Also, a number of larger commercial interests have either sold their land and closed their operations or left the city, leading to a bump of sorts in tax income.
As larger commercial interests leave, the commercial tax base shrinks and the residential tax base incurs a larger burden for the monetary needs of the city government budget to be met.
However, as development continues – that is – if it continues, the tax situation will even itself out over time.