Politics & Government

Cafe, Apartments Planned to Replace Former Church

A cafe is planned to go in a new building planned for Holten Street.

A former church on Holten Street is planned to be replaced by a new building with a cafe and six apartments.

The building at 78 Holten St. dates back to 1857 and was mostly recently used by Yellow Jackets Gymnastics but it has been empty for the past few months.

Danvers resident Peter Pantazelos bought the building in December. The plan to tear down the building has already been reviewed by the Preservation Commission, which gave its OK.

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The plan needs an OK from the Zoning Board Appeals because of the mix of retail and residential use in an industrial zone. It will also have to go before the Planning Board.

The yet-to-be named cafe on the first floor will have 35-40 seats and serve breakfast, lunch and dinner. James Cote, the attorney working on the project, told the Zoning Board that it may also seek a liquor license.

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Above the cafe the new building would be home to six apartments on the second and third floors. Each unit would have two bedrooms and be about 1,000 square feet. There will be 12 parking space for the units in the 35 space parking lot, with five spaces under the building, Cote said.

The existing building, which sits across the street from McKinnon's Market, is unsafe and needs to be town down. The new building will look very similar to the existing building, and be 51 feet tall, about two feet shorter than the existing building. The building will not be as deep as the existing building.

This week, the Zoning Board made no final decision about the project and is seeking feedback from the Planning Board, mainly about the density of six units on the property, which is just under a half acre.


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