Malden Planning Board Clears Bread of Life Permit, Rejects Nine-Story Office Tower

MALDEN -- December 18, 2020, Malden Planning Board unanimously grants Bread of Life a renewed special permit and recommends the City Council reject a nine-story downtown office tower. The board voted at its December virtual meeting to approve a new special permit for 54 Eastern Avenue, allowing Bread of Life Inc. represented by Executive Director Gabriella Snyder-Stelmack, to demolish its existing building and construct a three-story facility housing a food pantry, meal program, offices, and 14 affordable studio apartments managed by Metro North Housing Corp, with total project funding of approximately $8.2 million and demolition targeted for April 2021. The permit, which expires December 31, 2022, carries 19 conditions including a cardboard baler, no overnight outside storage, and a public pedestrian easement along a new walkway honoring Governor John Volpe. On the same night, the board voted unanimously to advise the City Council to deny a special permit for a proposed 188,076-square-foot, nine-story office building at 11 and 17 Dartmouth Street, with member Eric McCush citing the project's size as contrary to the public interest.