Special Permit Granted For Underground Mall Project

ORLEANS – The developer looking to bring 29 units of housing to the site of the former Underground Mall was approved for a special permit from the zoning board of appeals last week, bringing the much anticipated project one step closer to fruition.

The zoning board unanimously voted Feb. 21 to issue the special permit for the project, which calls for developing the units across five buildings and repurposing the existing mall structure on the 3.6-acre site.

“Thank you very much, gentlemen,” board chair Gerald Mulligan said at the conclusion of the hour-long hearing. “It was a good, full presentation…and I think it’s going to be a project that helps the need in this town for affordable housing.”

Chris DeSisto of Maple Hurst Builders purchased the property in July 2021. Initially proposed at 43 units, the project was scaled back to 29 due to issues with financing and situating a septic system on the property. He plans to finance the project independently.

DeSisto plans to sell 12 units across three two-story buildings fronting Route 6A as condominiums, with the remaining 17 units rented as workforce housing in the remaining two three-story buildings at the rear of the property. The plans also include a community room and space for an office and apartment for an onsite superintendent.

Of the 17 rentals, three would be rented as affordable to tenants who make up to 80 percent of the area median income in Barnstable County. DeSisto estimated the cost of an affordable rental to be about $1,800 a month for a two-bedroom unit.

DeSisto estimated that a 1,000-square-foot, two-bedroom condo on the property might sell for about $600,000.

“We’re going to detail them well,” he told the zoning board. “We come from a custom building background, so there will be a lot of custom touches.”

Sales from the condos would be used to help subsidize the cost of developing the rentals and keeping them affordable for the area’s working population, DeSisto said.

“We’re not 100 percent committed to doing it just yet, but we want that flexibility,” he said.

The project also calls for the existing underground mall structure to be used for parking, with about half of the proposed 88 parking spaces to be housed within open, concrete domed structures in the mall. DeSisto plans to use the top of the mall structure as green space for passive recreation, and solar panels also could potentially be installed.

Some zoning members questioned the amount of parking and asked if there were plans to reduce the number of spaces. In December, Assistant Town Planner Michael Solitro said during the site plan review committee’s review of the project that only 64 spaces are required.

“The underground parking seemed like a very good use of that space to me, and reducing the amount of service pavement with parking spaces seemed a better approach,” board member Lynne Eickholt said.

Derek Bloom, the project architect with Bloom Architecture, said there are areas where surface parking can be cut back. But board member Martin Szeber said with 50 bedrooms across the 29 units, he's comfortable with the 88 parking spaces as proposed.

“You’re going to fill this place up,” he said. “If you have this place fully occupied, I think you’ll use every space.”

But DeSisto noted that plans to accommodate parking inside the existing mall are dependent on the structural integrity of the dome coverings.

“There’s an off-chance you might see us back with a revised parking scheme if this doesn’t play out like we think it might,” he said.

But board members spoke favorably of the project which has also won approval from the site plan review committee, the architectural review committee and the board of health. Mulligan spoke in favor of the vegetated berm planned to help screen the property from Route 6A.

“I think a berm with some foliage along that stretch would be a big pickup for the town,” he said.

The zoning board is in the process of drafting its decision, which will be followed by a 20-day appeal period. In an email following last week’s hearing, DeSisto said he is in the process of drawing up construction plans and securing financing for the project. He did not estimate when the project might be ready to break ground.

Email Ryan Bray at ryan@capecodchronicle.com