Medford Housing Authority's 200-Unit High-Rise Modernization Clears First Commission Hurdle

MEDFORD -- November 2, 2022, Medford Conservation Commission continues hearing on the Housing Authority's Salt and Saul Building gut modernization. The commission heard a full presentation from the Medford Housing Authority's project team, led by Director of Modernization and Procurement Gabe Chicarello, on the planned comprehensive renovation of the 200-unit, 11-story high-rise at 121 Riverside Avenue, a building that has not been updated since its original 1963-to-1965 construction. Civil engineer Steve Sawyer described stormwater improvements that would replace a system currently discharging untreated runoff directly into the Mystic River with two infiltration basins, deep-sump catch basins, and a particle separator, achieving full compliance with state standards. Commission members pressed the team on multiple technical issues, including an error in the stormwater report that incorrectly classified the project as not a redevelopment project and a possible miscalculation of required water-quality volume given the site's sandy soils. The hearing was continued unanimously to November 16, with a second filing, a gas line crossing beneath the Mystic River on Winthrop Street, also set for that date.