Gloucester City Council Unanimously Approves 40-Unit Mixed-Use Project on Main Street

Select Board · Meeting of July 28, 2026

Gloucester City Council unanimously approves 40-unit housing project for vacant Main Street bank site. The council voted 7-0 Tuesday to grant a special permit to Gloucester Maine LLC, doing business through Fox Creek Capital of Ipswich, to redevelop the long-vacant former Santander Bank building at 150 Main Street into two mixed-use buildings containing 40 residential units and approximately 3,500 square feet of ground-floor commercial space, with four units deed-restricted at 60 percent of area median income. Attorney Deborah Ellison of Ellison Law Office noted the project had already cleared unanimous votes at the Zoning Board of Appeals, Historic District Commission, Planning Board, and Planning and Development Committee before reaching the full council.

The unit mix is 60 percent two-bedrooms, 30 percent one-bedrooms, and 10 percent studios, with all 34 underground parking spaces accessed from Hancock Street to keep Main and Middle streets pedestrian-only. Councilor Jason Groh praised the affordability commitment, saying "80% is really just market rate, frankly, for most people in Gloucester," while Mayor Paul Lundberg, speaking remotely, called the developer's multi-board engagement process "a model for what we hope in the future." The council also received a staff briefing on a planned expression-of-interest process for the city-owned I4C2 waterfront parcel, expected to open in September, as well as a 7-0 vote to withdraw without prejudice an ordinance that would have banned the sale of miniature single-use alcohol containers.

In the full story:

• Background and stakes
• The question before the body
• Substantive content
• The deliberation
• Procedural steps and outcome
• Implications and what is next
• The complete report — 3,288 words

Source: the Select Board meeting of July 28, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.