Tarrant Lane Development Project

According to research conducted by Regnante, Sterio & Osborne LLP, the United States government obtained the Tarrant Lane property by eminent domain in the 1950s for use as a United States Army NIKE base. It was later used as housing for United States Coast Guard officers. 

Tarrant Lane is a 3.75-acre area located in the northwest section of Wakefield near the Reading town line. It contains an existing residential development of twelve single-family homes previously used by the United States military. In 2017, DB5 Development Group purchased the property from the U.S. Coast Guard. On October 10, 2018, DB5 Development submitted an application to the Wakefield Board of Appeals to construct development on the property. 

The developer noted that the town had a gap of affordable housing units and does not meet the 10 percent standard under Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 40B. The units designated as affordable in the Tarrant Lane project will bring the town substantially closer to fulfilling these requirements. After an initial presentation from DB5 Development on March 12, 2018, the Wakefield Town Council submitted a letter in support of the development.
 
Tarrant Lane Building ProposalThe property abuts the layout of U.S. Route 128 to the south. The abutting property to the north is an existing fourteen-unit townhouse style 40B multifamily development. Similarly, the abutting property to the north and east is also a multifamily residential 40B rental development consisting of a series of garden-style apartments in two buildings. The properties abutting these two existing multifamily developments, over the town line in Reading, also consists of multifamily townhouse-style and garden-style apartments. 
 
The public hearings on the project were opened on November 14, 2018. At the Board of Appeal’s October 9, 2019 hearing, the Board voted unanimously to close the public hearing and grant a Comprehensive Permit for the Tarrant Lane project.