Newburyport waterfront plans soon to resume

Karp's group expects stalled project to move forward

NewburyportNews.com

By Katie Lovett 

NEWBURYPORT — As the bleak economy starts to brighten and a resolution nears on long-debated flood maps, representatives of developer Stephen Karp's Newburyport Development are optimistic that stalled waterfront plans are about to move forward again.

Ann Lagasse, the retail leasing director for Karp's local entity, said yesterday the company was told an appeal filed on new flood maps will be resolved by the end of the month.

The maps and the weak economy have been the two most recent roadblocks for the development of Waterfront West, Lagasse told attendees at the North of Boston Convention and Visitors Bureau Annual Tourism Conference in Peabody.

Waterfront West, as it is known, is Karp's 8-acre plot of land from the Black Cow Restaurant to the Route 1 bridge along the Merrimack River.

Since Lagasse and her husband, Chuck, partnered with Karp in 2005, the city has speculated as to what sort of development would be built on the valuable, treasured waterfront.

The remaining undeveloped land on the waterfront is public property, managed by the Newburyport Redevelopment Authority.

Newburyport Development, the local arm of Karp's New England Development, worked with the city to rezone the waterfront land to allow for construction of a mixed-use project. The move allowed for the creation of different types of development, including housing, offices and retail establishments.

The zoning changes also cleared the way for a hotel on the waterfront, Lagasse said.

As Waterfront West currently boasts marinas and restaurants, any future development will keep that feel, she said. There will not be any boat storage facilities on Newburyport Development's property.

"The key to the success of Newburyport is our mixed uses," Lagasse told the conference audience at the Boston Marriott Peabody hotel.

In response to a question from program moderator, Peter Milano, a senior regional director for the Mass. Office of Business Development, on how far along the Waterfront West development is, Lagasse was optimistic that plans would be progressing soon.

Newburyport Development is now feeling a change in the economic climate, Lagasse said. Hotel companies have also reached out and started to express enthusiasm, she said.

"There's a light at the end of the tunnel," she said.

In 2009, the Federal Emergency Management Agency unveiled new flood maps depicting changes in the base flood elevation, which can change up to 6 feet depending on which flood zone the property is located in.

Waterfront West falls almost entirely in a new high-risk zone. The new rules, slated to take effect June 1, would significantly impact plans for the development. The city filed an appeal of the flood maps on behalf of Karp and his company.

"We're in the process of evaluating where we can build," Lagasse said.

Once the flood maps are resolved, the developer will go back to the city's Planning Board to discuss the plans for Waterfront West.

"The key to our success will be working with the city," Lagasse said.