Melrose Board Approves Subsidy Deal, Advances Two Major Housing Projects

MELROSE — November 17, 2022 — Melrose Select Board clears path for two multi-family housing projects and approves QuikTrip fuel station. The board voted unanimously Tuesday to approve a business subsidy and development agreement with Riverside Development Group LLC for a 29-unit mixed-use building at the former Craft site, including $643,000 in state fire remediation grant funds and tax increment financing at 90 percent of increment over 12 years at 7.75 percent interest, with a deferred loan of approximately $275,000 to be forgiven if development terms are met. The board separately approved a terms letter with Granite City Real Estate Partners LLC for a proposed 72-unit building on Railroad Avenue West, backed by an estimated $2.348 million in TIF assistance, and called a public hearing on creating TIF District No. 13-1 for February 16, 2023; city engineer Dave Blommel put public infrastructure costs for the Railroad West project at roughly $1.8 million, not including electrical work. A conditional use permit passed unanimously for a QuikTrip 9,200-square-foot convenience store and 10-pump fuel canopy on the former U.S. Bank site, with the company projecting 25 to 30 permanent jobs and a $500,000 annual payroll. The board also accepted the resignation of council member Mark Bunker Hill, appointed Dr. Denison Gillen as ambulance medical director, and retroactively raised economic development consultant Tracy Ryan's monthly rate to $4,500 through December 2022.