Brought to you by Salem News.
Aging Marbleheaders in need of an assisted-living environment may soon have to look no further than the town line if a proposal from a local development team pans out for two old homes in town.
As it stands today, the closest assisted-living facilities for residents are in Swampscott and Salem. A trio of developers, however, under the name Pleasant Street LLC, recently applied for permits to build a three-story, 87-unit facility on Pleasant Street. It will be located across from the Marblehead Inn, where two multifamily homes at 263 and 269 Pleasant St. currently sit atop a hill and contain about 15 apartments. The developers say the buildings aren’t historically significant and will be razed to make way for the new facility.
“This [property] is essentially Marblehead’s last five acres,” said Michael LaFayette, CEO of Pleasant Street LLC. “And in a small town like this, there’s a lack of amenities. Up until a few years ago we had no movie theater, we still have no gas stations, [and] there’s no assisted-living facility.”
