DANVERS — The last piece of the puzzle for the redevelopment of the former Danvers State Hospital may come in the form of a 120-bed nursing home, according to records on file with the Zoning Board of Appeals.
Hathorne Hill Development LLC is proposing a 75,000-square-foot, two-story nursing home with living and dining areas, a chapel, and rooms for physical therapy.
"The applicant has designed the Sunbridge at Hathorne Hill Nursing Home to provide services in a peaceful, attractive and beautifully landscaped setting while being close to needed medical services," reads the project's application.
If approved, the nursing home would be built on 9 acres that form what are called the hospital's Lowlands. It's a parcel that once contained several hospital buildings but has yet to be redeveloped.
Before the plan can move forward, however, the developer must get a variance from requirements that limit density on the Danvers State site.
Most of the 75 acres that the state sold to redevelop the former mental hospital on Hathorne Hill have been transformed in recent years.
Avalon Communities built a massive, 433-unit apartment complex on the Highlands that incorporated portions of the historic Kirkbride building, with its spires and Gothic architecture.
Next door to that is the 71-unit Aria at Hathorne Hill, a senior condominium development under construction.
Nearly three years ago, Beverly Hospital built a nearly 100,000-square-foot Beverly Hospital at Danvers Medical and Day Surgery Center.
Avalon Communities, in the form of Avalon Lowlands LLC, paid the state Division of Capital Asset Management $2 million for the 9 acres in December 2005 as redevelopment of the entire site moved forward. The developer has a purchase-and-sale agreement to buy the property from Avalon, town records show.
Danvers attorney Nancy McCann said the construction of a nursing home on the Lowlands, across from a medical facility and down the hill from senior condos and residential apartments, makes sense.
"I think it ties everything together quite nicely up there," said McCann, who said it will also add skilled and unskilled jobs, though she could not say how many.
For the nursing home plan to move forward, the developer needs a variance from zoning of the Hathorne West Zoning District. The district was set up in 1999, in advance of the state selling 75 acres for redevelopment. The district acted as a road map to development. The zoning district's so-called "floor area ratio" attempted to keep the site from being overbuilt.
Based on what has been approved so far, only another 12,000 square feet of buildings can be constructed under the zoning. However, the applicant is proposing 75,000 square feet.
The Zoning Board of Appeals plans to hold a public hearing on the variance request on Sept. 20 at 7 p.m. in Town Hall, 1 Sylvan St. If the Zoning Board grants the variance, the plan would need site plan approval from the Planning Board, McCann said. She did not know when the nursing home might break ground if it gets the nod.
Staff writer Ethan Forman can be reached at 978-338-2673 or by e-mail at eforman@salemnews.com.
development at Danvers State
433: Apartments at Avalon Danvers
71: Proposed age-restricted condos at Aria at Hathorne Hill
98,850: Square footage of the Beverly Hospital at Danvers medical center
120: Number of beds in a proposed Sunbridge at Hathorne Hill nursing home
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