The Melrose Messenger

Modified Plans for Chipman Ave VFW Building Under Review

By Ellen Putnam

This week the Planning Board reviewed modified plans for a mixed-use residential building to replace the current VFW building at 14 Chipman Ave in the Melrose Highlands.

Plans for a five-story, 40-unit building that would include a meeting space for the Sgt. Harold O. Young VFW were previously approved in 2022. But since then, that VFW post has made the decision not to maintain their meeting space. (Melrose’s other VFW post, the Lt. Norman Prince VFW, will continue to operate their building on Main Street without change.)

And now a new developer - Bob Johnson, who recently developed the “Ella” building at 453-463 Franklin Street and is currently working on 521-529 Franklin Street, above the T’ahpas 529 restaurant - has submitted modified plans that include more resident parking and restaurant space on the first floor.

Because the previously approved plans are currently in effect, the Planning Board is deliberating only on whether to approve the proposed modifications, which include the restaurant space, reconfigured and expanded parking, and a courtyard between 14 Chipman Ave and the “Ella” building that could be used as outdoor seating for the restaurant.

“It’s not a question of if the VFW building gets sold,” explained the current Sgt. Harold O. Young VFW post commander (who also lives on Chipman Ave), “it’s a question of when and how. Staying there is not tenable. So the question for us was, are we going to have someone who’s a partner and is invested in the community work with us, or are we going to sell to the highest bidder? And Bob Johnson has been a partner.”

The building would have 9 one-bedroom units, 26 two-bedroom units, and 5 three-bedroom units. Six of the units would be affordable, bringing Melrose slightly closer to the 10% affordable units needed to no longer be subject to state housing law Chapter 40B.

Similar to the current VFW building, the proposed building would span the block from Chipman Ave to Marvin Rd, with the Marvin Rd side at a lower level than the Chipman Ave side due to the hilly terrain. The restaurant and garage parking would be on the ground floor, accessible from Marvin Street, and residential units would be on the upper four levels. There would also be a small surface parking lot on Chipman Ave, where the parking lot for the VFW building is currently located.

The modified plans would include one parking space for each unit, which is a higher ratio than most of the buildings currently planned or being built in the Highlands.

Lack of parking is an issue that is often raised during the development review process for buildings in the Highlands, with some residents concerned that, because essentials like groceries are not within easy walking distance and the only public transportation available in the Highlands is the commuter rail and the infrequent 131 bus, new construction with insufficient parking will either flood the neighborhood with new residents’ cars or increase traffic from rideshare and delivery vehicles.

While City Planner Lori Massa noted that, so far, the municipal parking lot behind La Qchara has not seen a significant increase in applications for overnight parking permits, only the 21 units of the ‘Ella’ have so far been occupied, with 34 units (and 21 parking spaces) at 521-529 Franklin Street and 60 units (with 45 parking spaces) at 554-556 Franklin Street still to go online. (Another approved project at 28 Greenwood Street has 24 units with 26 parking spaces, and other projects in the neighborhood have been either rumored or have plans that are currently inactive.)

But while the ratio of one parking space to one unit is likely to mean less demand on parking in the neighborhood, those additional 40 cars will add to traffic in an already congested area, which is already seeing a steady increase in traffic as the 259 units at the development at Weiss Farm in Stoneham are occupied.

Planning Board members and residents who spoke during public comment were all generally pleased with the idea of a new restaurant, but they wondered about logistics, including how trash and deliveries would be handled.

One resident, who lives immediately adjacent to the site on Marvin Rd, noted that when Franklin Market receives deliveries a few times per week, the presence of the delivery truck makes it difficult to maneuver the narrow street. The neighboring streets are also quite narrow and steep, and part of Chipman Ave is a private way, which means that it is not maintained by the city.

While some Planning Board members and residents were pleased with the proposed design, others felt that it did not fit in with the neighborhood as a whole, including with Johnson’s other two buildings that are immediately adjacent to the Highlands train station: the recently completed “Ella” and the building currently under construction at 521 Franklin Street.

Planning Board member Carla Morelli reflected, “I’m genuinely mystified about the care that went into the crafting of the “Ella” - the materiality, the labor that went into that - and then you’re placing this building directly adjacent to it. I think the “Ella” is very successful, what some people would call a “Melrose building.” Something about it hearkens back to the older buildings in town. Then there’s a completely different design vernacular at 521 Franklin Street - those proportions are very tall and vertical. And this building is a completely different, third look, and I wonder whether we shouldn’t be trying to blend these together more.”

“This new building is directly abutting a single-family residential neighborhood,” she went on, “which none of your other buildings are - so of all your projects, I would think this would be the one where you would take the most care in reducing the proportions and being more mindful of the architectural context around it.”

Johnson expressed his willingness to alter the building’s design to fit what Planning Board members want to see, as he has previously done with the “Ella” and with 521 Franklin.

Community members also spoke positively about the use of the outdoor space between the proposed building and the “Ella” and expressed appreciation for the addition of a “pocket park” on one side of the building, which will be open to members of the public. However, they also questioned whether more green space could be included in the project, and lamented the loss of trees that currently screen the VFW building from some of the houses farther up Chipman Ave.

Plans for 14 Chipman Street will be discussed at the Planning Board’s next meeting, on May 18th. Members are expected to vote on the modifications to the project at that meeting.

Posted April 28th, 2026