A whole lot of residences proposed for former Weylu’s web site
Native Information
The 40B growth faces an uphill battle because the city pushes for Protected Harbor standing, which might give the native zoning board larger management.
Builders are eyeing the long-vacant web site of the previous Chinese language restaurant Weylu’s on Route 1 in Saugus for a 300-unit rental advanced, however the proposal could face a major roadblock.
The city lately surpassed the state threshold of 10% inexpensive housing, making it eligible for “Protected Harbor” — a standing that might give native officers the ability to disclaim or cut back so-called 40B initiatives that might in any other case bypass zoning guidelines.
If Saugus secures Protected Harbor, the Zoning Board of Appeals may block the challenge regardless of the broad authority of Chapter 40B, a legislation initially designed to spur inexpensive housing building throughout Massachusetts.
On the Board of Appeals listening to in late January, the city’s counsel learn a letter explaining that Saugus had simply 6.8% inexpensive housing in 2017.
However after a number of new initiatives, the Government Workplace of Housing and Livable Communities notified the city that as of Nov. 7, 2025, Saugus now exceeds the state’s 10% threshold, reaching 11.22% inexpensive housing.
Legal professional Paul Haverty of Blatman, Bobrowski, Haverty, and Silverstein LLC, representing the proprietor on the listening to, famous that they plan to enchantment to the EOHLC.
Nonetheless, if denied, it may not make sense to maneuver ahead, Haverty mentioned.
“There’s no sense within the applicant losing cash and the board losing its time conducting a peer evaluate if this challenge isn’t going to ultimately transfer ahead,” mentioned Haverty.
The proprietor is an entity registered to Joseph DiNanno in Malden and Republic Actual Property Advisors in Florida.
The proposal consists of 4 separate buildings, every with 300 items, starting from 1 to three bedrooms. There could be a separate amenity constructing with a pool and 475 above-ground and storage parking areas, all on a 7.28-acre web site.
On the listening to, residents have been vocally against the challenge, saying it could deliver visitors to a small residential space if the builders constructed entry to a neighborhood residential road, and that their historic properties could be affected by blasting on the web site.
“There’s going to be numerous homes destroyed,” mentioned Tom Whittredge, a close-by resident.
Whittredge mentioned he knew this present day was coming when the builders purchased the property over 10 years in the past.
“They didn’t purchase it to be a very good neighbor,” Whittredge mentioned. “They purchased it to have entry to Hood Avenue.”
The Zoning Board voted unanimously to invoke Protected Harbor and to proceed the listening to to March 26, because the state enchantment course of begins.
An attention-grabbing web site historical past
The house owners demolished the as soon as opulent 1,500-seat restaurant in September 2015. The Boston Globe beforehand reported that the restaurant, which thrived within the Eighties and Nineties, featured an indoor waterfall, hand-painted Chinese language vases, and an escalator as much as the second ground.
The restaurant went out of enterprise in 1999, when the Financial institution of China foreclosed on the property, the Globe reported.
Whereas a number of different companies opened within the house, all of them failed. By 2009, the property had been deserted and was in disrepair.
The property was purchased by the present house owners in 2013 for $4 million, based on assessor information.
Weylu’s was one in every of many well-known eating places on Route 1 to shut previously few a long time. The house owners of Kowloon, the strip’s different iconic Chinese language restaurant, lately introduced plans to knock down the construction to make approach for residences and a smaller model of the eatery.
One other is the previous Hilltop Steak Home, recognized for its large cactus signal and herd of plastic cows, which closed in 2013. The Ship Restaurant in Lynnfield, which was a duplicate clipper ship, was demolished in 2017.
In 2024, the Continental Restaurant, one of many oldest eateries alongside Route 1 in Saugus, introduced its closure.
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