In Everett, Leaders, Developers and Architects Address Housing Crisis Head-On

With a strategic plan to boost economic outlook and reimagine land use, Everett is creating a vibrant community where residents can live, work, thrive, and age safely. This transformation is being achieved by accelerating mixed-use, transportation-oriented development and increasing the availability of affordable housing, with a significant shift towards mixed-income, sustainable multifamily projects.

Thanks to an ongoing concerted effort involving local officials, real estate leaders, and innovative public-private partnerships, underutilized parcels are being transformed at a rapid rate. The Architectural Team (TAT), an award-winning architecture, interiors, and planning firm, has designed over 2,200 units of new housing, revitalizing this former industrial center just minutes from Boston.

“Everett has been lauded for building more new housing in the past five years than almost any other municipality statewide, and this growth trajectory is a remarkable case study in what becomes possible when key decision makers commit to a shared goal and invest resources well,” says Tom Schultz, AIA, NCARB, CPHC, Principal at TAT. “The remarkable result of these efforts is the creation of dynamic new living destinations with walkable streetscapes, expanded green spaces, new retail options, and community services for residents.”

“Mayor Carlo DeMaria is dedicated to dense mixed-use, transit-oriented zoning and the transformation of derelict brownfield sites,” continues TAT’s Schultz. “This enthusiasm has inspired developers and their design teams to build innovative projects that benefit residents across a broad range of income levels and stages of life. Everett is truly a textbook model for other cities to follow.”

Schultz also credits a series of forward-looking regional initiatives including successive Housing Production Plans — community and data-driven efforts to plan for growth in a way that meets economic development goals while explicitly seeking to minimize displacement — as well as critical state and federal incentive programs such as low-income housing tax credits (LIHTCs), which have made many of these projects possible.

Underscoring the city’s ongoing transformation, a series of significant new mixed-use and multifamily housing initiatives throughout Everett, ranging from creative senior living hubs to brownfield redevelopments and affordable apartment complexes intended for families, highlight the breadth of TAT’s innovative design solutions and emphasize the diversity of housing types that are essential in addressing the overlapping supply shortage and affordability crises. These projects — described in detail below — include:

• Therese, a mixed-income complex with 6 affordable townhomes and 77 age-restricted apartments helping Everett’s seniors age in place.
• 25 Garvey Street, a 125-unit midrise apartment community directly addressing the city’s shortage of housing affordable for low-income families.
• Artemas,the transformation of another derelict former industrial site into a 396-unit, transit-oriented, mixed-use apartment community.
• Anthem,a mixed-use development bringing 450 mixed-income apartments, community-focused retail, and public realm improvements to Everett’s commercial triangle district.
• SKY Everett, a 21-story mixed-use tower anticipated to be Everett’s tallest building with 384 apartments and a hospitality venue billed as “New England’s highest rooftop restaurant” in the media.

“We’re proud to support the City of Everett’s commitment to creating high-quality, accessible housing for all its residents,” says TAT principal James Szymanski, AIA, NCARB, LEED AP, “Everyone deserves to live in an inspiring and supportive community, and it’s exciting to be a part of the solution, watching this city become reinvigorated in real time.”

These significant projects add to thousands of TAT-designed housing units currently under construction or soon to break ground in cities across the Eastern Seaboard. Recognized as a national leader in multifamily and historic adaptive reuse solutions that revitalize communities in partnership with preeminent developers and influential public agencies, TAT is led by a team of trusted experts who can serve as valuable sources for the media on topics ranging from tax credit and financing strategies to the latest design solutions benefiting livability in diverse urban settings.

TAT’s portfolio of current projects includes a broad range of affordable, mixed-income, and market-rate housing — including the adaptive reuse and residential conversions of 150-plus-year old historic landmarks, the design and development of large-scale affordable multigenerational housing campuses, and the creation of innovative Passive House apartment communities.

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About The Architectural Team, Inc. (TAT)

The Architectural Team, Inc. (TAT), Is an award-winning architecture firm that has been recognized for its thought leadership and diverse portfolio in architecture, interior design and master planning. Creating lasting transformation in the communities it serves, since it was founded In 1971, the 100-person firm has earned more than 200 awards for design excellence across a broad range of building types and programs. These include new construction of large-scale urban mixed-use developments, multifamily, commercial, resilient waterfront developments, and hospitality projects, assisted and senior living facilities, and community centers.

TAT holds a national reputation in the areas of historic preservation, rehabilitation and adaptive reuse with hundreds of projects that have transformed neighborhoods across the United States, artfully restoring and reimagining neglected buildings for new uses while simultaneously preserving history. Building on its established reputation as a trusted partner in design, The Architectural Team looks forward to future decades of design innovation, client service and creative collaboration.  For more information, please visit architecturalteam.com.