Developer Will Bypass Peabody Zoning Laws For J.B. Thomas Site

PEABODY, MA — City officials will have little say in what happens at the J.B. Thomas site in Peabody, as the developer said Monday its new plan would take advantage of the state's affordable housing laws. Known as Chapter 40B, the rules are aimed at increasing the state's stock of affordable housing and suspends local zoning regulations in towns where affordable housing makes up less than 10% of the total available housing. Hemisphere Development Group LLC, which withdrew a previous plan for the former hospital site, said it is working with MassHousing on the new plan for 133 housing units.

"After cutting the number of units nearly 30%, the community was still opposed to the project," Hemisphere said in a statement to the Salem News, which first reported this story. "Given the site costs and cleanup needed, our only option is to build a multi-residential project of some type."

Hemisphere paid $1.9 million for the property in 2017. Hemisphere scrapped its earlier plan in August after a series of community meetings, where neighbors voiced opposition to the proposal. At the time, Hemisphere said its proposal would have targeted tenants over the age of 55 and would have brought Peabody $500,000 in annual property tax revenue with "minimal impact on the school system to Peabody."