The town of Danvers, Massachusetts, is undergoing widespread development and redevelopment ranging from gas main replacement to downtown streetscape work and dozens of mixed-use projects in different stages of planning, design, and construction.
One of the larger, more demanding mixed-use projects in this bedroom community of 28,000 is 152 Endicott Street, which involves redeveloping a declining site with the construction of a four-story, 100-room hotel and an 11,000-square-foot retail building.
General contractor Optimum Construction launched the project with the demolition of several 50-year-old buildings, including a closed Denny’s restaurant and Econo Lodge (Days Inn) motel. The Danvers-based general contractor subcontracted site work to J. Masterson Construction Corporation, also headquartered in Danvers. Masterson’s role in the project proved to be extensive.
The existing 4.3-acre project site was significantly lower than the specified pad-ready elevation. Furthermore, the Waters River runs along the southern boundary of the property, with various locations of bordering vegetated wetlands (BVW), salt marsh, coastal bank, and coastal storm flowage resource areas surrounding the parcel on three sides. Prior to project construction, untreated stormwater simply flowed directly to the BVW.
To remedy these shortcomings, project officials called for raising the entire site and installing a system to handle excess stormwater. The contractor was responsible for replicating any displaced wetlands storage area, to compensate for wetlands lost by a new two-lane access road traversing the site. Replication was achieved by a compensatory wetland finger. Wetland fingers are small artificial ponds that extend into wetlands.
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The Endicott site upgrade turned out to be a 15,000-cubic-yard earthmoving operation, most of it in the form of structural gravel and fill, according to Mike Brown, Masterson’s Senior Project Manager.
“We had to bring the whole site up to sub grade. It was a massive import job,” Brown said. He noted that the demand for borrow was so great that they employed two different suppliers, Caruso and Bentley Warren, to concurrently provide the materials.
To deal with the site’s excess stormwater, engineers specified the installation of a StormTech Chamber System. EJP supplied these underground structures that are designed to manage stormwater in urban areas. Typically constructed from lightweight plastic capable of supporting substantial loads, the chambers are frequently installed under surfaces like parking lots and roads.
“The Danvers StormTech installation was designed as a detention system as opposed to an infiltration system,” said Austin Zannino, Masterson Project Manager. He pointed out that they installed a PVC liner and underdrain as part of the chamber system. EJP also supplied drainage system pipe.
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The site contractor employed a dozen heavy construction machines for the mass earthwork and underground utility excavation. Among the equipment were Caterpillar 308, 315, 323, and 336 excavators, Caterpillar 924 Loader, Caterpillar D6 Dozer, Volvo A25 Rock Truck, several Caterpillar mini excavators, and a Caterpillar 84-inch roller. Masterson reduced the size of demolition debris using a Sandvik QJ341 Mobile Jaw Crusher and brought the fill up to pad-ready elevation for the hotel. Masterson’s crews excavated underground utilities and installed some of them including water, sewer and drainage pipe, and precast concrete manholes.
According to Zannino, they did the excavation for electric and gas lines, but the utility company and electrical subcontractor actually put in the pipe.
Work crews encountered no ledge, and the job required only minimum dewatering. Other work involved constructing parking lots and a large new culvert and making improvements to an offsite road intersection that included new traffic signals, curbs, sidewalks, and paving. Sunshine Paving installed asphalt pavement for parking lots and access road, while Phoenix Precast contributed such concrete products as manholes, catch basins, light bases, and a large three-sided culvert.
“The box culvert came in eight sections and had eight sections of precast footings,” Zannino said. “It was challenging because we had to install it through a live stream.”
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Another major task was the construction of 7,000 square feet of retaining walls using big block from Redi Rock Walls of New England.
The 152 Endicott Street project was launched in spring 2024 with occupancy expected in spring 2025.
The terms “development” and “redevelopment” are sometimes used interchangeably, but they are not synonymous.
Development refers to the process of building something new on undeveloped land, while redevelopment means improving or rebuilding on a site that already has existing structures, essentially repurposing a previously developed area to meet new needs or revitalizing a space. In simpler terms, development is constructed from scratch, while redevelopment is building on something that already exists.
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Some of the other Danvers projects in the planning, design, and/or construction stages are as follows:
- A child care facility for up to 117 children, 23 teachers/staff, and 35 parking spaces
- Maple Square project with substantial underground utility work, including improvements to the water main and underground electrical work
- Proposed construction of a new filling (gas) station and associated site modifications for Costco Wholesale
- A new approximately 39,000-square-foot storage hangar for airplanes and associated site modifications for Beverly Airport applicant Flight Level Aviation
- A mixed-use project with first floor commercial space, and three residential units on the upper floors
- Redevelopment of an automotive dealership with three new dealership buildings and associated site modifications
- Redevelopment of a mixed-use building with first floor commercial space, 22 units on the upper floors, and a multi-family building with eight residential units
- Revitalization of the downtown streetscape including new lighting, an at-gate rail trail crossing, improved sidewalks, and community use areas
- An update to the gas main infrastructure throughout Danvers over the next three years, by the town’s Engineering Division and National Grid
- Owner:Torrington Properties, Boston, Massachusetts; Senior Project Manager, Sean Donahue; Director of Development & Construction, Pete Doucet
- General Contractor: Optimum Construction, Danvers, Massachusetts; Site Supervisor, Ryan Good; Project Manager, Matt Roberts; Project Executive, Ryan Bird
- Site Contractor: J. Masterson Construction Corporation, Danvers, Massachusetts; Project Manager, Austin Zannino; Site Supervisor, Doug Campbell; Senior Project Manager, Mike Brown
