— Photo courtesy of Google Street Maps.

By Eileen Qiu

New retail spaces, restaurants and other commercial spaces are all on the table for a residential and commercial development on Elm St. and Porter St.

Earlier in October, the Urban Design Commission hosted a meeting and heard Mouhab Rizkallah lay out his plans for a development on Elm St. and Porter St.

No votes were cast at the meeting, but Rizkallah presented his updated plans at a neighborhood meeting hosted by Ward 5 Councilor Mark Niedergang on Tuesday, December 14.

Hosting a neighborhood meeting provides the applicant with an opportunity to engage with the public, Sarah White, Senior Planner from the Office of Strategic Planning and Community Development said.

Rizkallah estimated the frame of the structure would take a couple of months to establish and he would have to scaffold the sidewalk for a couple of weeks. The noise from construction should die down once the frame is finished, he said.

The new designs would make three different buildings look like one cohesive structure with outdoor space and room for five commercial properties, Rizkallah said. The housing units would have large bedrooms with connecting bathrooms.

Not a lot of small retailers do well in the area since Porter Square is down the street, Rizkallah said. He wanted input from the neighborhood concerning what commercial retailers they would like to see.

Niedergang said restaurants might be nice, not during the pandemic, but when people can eat out without fear again.

Rizkallah said he would love to add more affordable housing spaces but was confronted by systemic hoops. If a developer puts in plans for affordable housing, the process for development is supposed to get expedited, he said. However, it took six months for him to get a reply about his plans. The building he is developing does not fit into the city’s interpretation of what a three-unit building is.

Ultimately, the project would be pushed forward and the next steps would be for the Planning and Zoning boards to attach conditions, Niedergang said.

Something the Planning Board takes very seriously and something they will spend a lot of time considering are what conditions can be attached to the site, White said.

For instance, the Board cannot impose conditions that are not rational or proportional to the design. It would not make sense to impose 3000 square feet of landscaping on Gilman Square, she said.

“I think everyone in this zoom room and everyone in the city would like to see more housing,” Rizkallah said. He found himself getting “tossed around” at the Urban Design Commission meeting, and his projects are getting held up, he said.

The next step would be for Rizkallah to submit a final package for the Planning Board to review, White said. She said she understands staff might be on vacation, and gave a tentative time of next February to roll the project along.