Apartment Building Proposed for Surf Cleaners Building

By Adam Swift

The owners of the Surf Cleaners building at 63 Putnam Street are looking to redevelop the site into a 16-unit apartment building.

The building owner and his development team presented the informal plans to the planning board at its meeting on Monday night. No official application for the project has been filed at this time.

“What is unique about this project is that it is right next to another building, kind of attached to the building, that is also owned by my client, as well,” said project attorney Rebecca Edmondson.

That attached building has a daycare business as well as two two-bedroom apartments.

“What we are proposing is to raze the current Surf Cleaners building and develop a four-story apartment complex with 16 one-bedroom units,” said Edmondson.

As proposed, the apartment building would be compliant with the town zoning ordinance for parking, with 13 spaces where 12 are required.

However, Edmondson said the plan is to merge the new building with the existing attached building which has the daycare and the two additional apartment units.

If the project is approved as a single site, Edmondson said the project would not need to seek parking relief. However, if the town does not consider the two sites as merged into one, she said there would need to be some parking relief granted for the project in the Central Business District.

The project architect noted that the current landscaping on the property would be maintained, and that the surface of the playground at the daycare business would be upgraded. There would also be space for additional plantings in front of the building.

The goal of the new apartment building would be to mimic the existing building on the site, the architect added.

While the project is being developed as an apartment building, the project team noted that it is being designed and engineered for possible future conversion to condominiums.