PEABODY — Plans to put senior citizen housing behind the Latitude Sports Club being built on Route 1 south have been scrapped.
Robert DeNisco and his company, 194 Turnpike LLC, proposed a development with 40 three- or four-bedroom, two-bathroom apartments that several senior citizens would share with a caregiver. But DeNisco last week withdrew a request that the City Council amend a special permit and lift a residential housing ban on the property.
Jack Keilty, DeNisco's lawyer, said the enthusiasm local elder care service agencies had for the project had waned. Without their participation, the project was not feasible.
"They were not really desirous of moving forward," Keilty said.
The proposed development, called Newbury Village, was dubbed a "multigenerational independent-living facility." The apartments would have included a common space for socializing, cooking and dining. The facility would also have provided training to caregivers and community members who wanted to learn how to care for aging parents.
Councilors acknowledged the need for senior housing and lauded the concept during a public hearing in January. But they stopped short of amending the permit, citing concerns over the development's impact on an area of the city vulnerable to flooding and the lack of detailed plans showing what the facility would look like.
They recessed the hearing so the developer could resolve flooding-related issues with the state and the city's Conservation Commission and generate better plans.
DeNisco last month received approval from the Conservation Commission to build on the site and is looking for another buyer/occupant, Keilty said. An industrial business would not need a special permit to use the property.
The $20 million Latitude Sports Club will be a 110,000-square-foot fitness center. The under-construction facility is designed to stand four stories tall and will include a five-lane pool and sun deck, four tennis courts, four racquetball courts, a four-story rock climbing wall, and a women's-only workout room.
It is scheduled to open in spring 2009.
