Work to begin on million-dollar condos in Danversport

tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27117877.post-86373553916750701862008-07-01T12:17:00.002-04:002008-07-01T12:21:02.690-04:00Work to begin on million-dollar condos in DanversportEthan Forman Staff writer Salem News Published: February 27, 2008 07:47 am DANVERS — A luxury condo project in Danversport that's been stalled for two years showed its first sign of progress yesterday when a barge began dredging the waters where private slips will be built at the Riverview Marina. The 13 contemporary waterfront townhouses at 56-58 River St. being developed by Harborview Properties Inc. will involve the construction of four separate buildings on 2 acres at the end of a peninsula in Danversport. They're priced at $850,000 to $1 million each. The project, first pitched in 2004, could break ground in June, said Katharine Phillips, who is developing the condos along with her husband, Ronald. Each condo will have its own private boat dock for owners only, Katharine Phillips said, reducing the number of slips at the former marina from 96 to 13. This should take some pressure off the at-times-congested Porter River during the boating season. The Phillipses, who live next to the project at 57 River St., had planned to have the river around the slips dredged by now by piggybacking on the town and state's $1.7 million dredging project. However, a mishap on Feb. 5 resulted in a barge dumping 2,000 cubic yards of river mud on the floor of Beverly Harbor, and the cleanup delayed the project. In the meantime, the Phillipses managed to win permission from the state DEP and the Army Corps of Engineers for an extension to dredge no later than March 2, Katharine Phillips said. Instead of Cashman, Burnham Associates of Salem will do the dredging, she said. Last year, Burnham had unsuccessfully protested the bid when Cashman was awarded the town's dredging project. Burnham's dredging platform could be seen floating on the Porter River on Monday, Phillips said. This dredging project is much smaller than the town's and will involve scooping up 3,100 cubic yards of river bottom in loads of 600 cubic yards. Unlike the dredging that wrapped up earlier this month, the Burnham crew will work three hours a day at the outgoing tide, Phillips said. The project should take about five days. The Phillipses started permitting the condo project in September 2004, and it at first drew the ire of 50 neighbors opposed to traffic and the project's density at a Zoning Board of Appeals hearing. The Phillipses have since scaled back the original 24-unit, 84-slip concept. The final plan, which was approved in April 2006, includes combining four lots into one, and it calls for continued public access to the river. Katharine Phillips said that because it's taken so long to get the project off the ground, they'll have to appear before the Zoning Board on March 10 for a six-month extension of their variance. Dredging mishap During a dredging project in the Crane and Porter rivers, a worker on a barge in Beverly Harbor accidentally opened the doors under the barge and dumped 2,000 cubic yards of river muck into the harbor, Town Manager Wayne Marquis said. Danvers, the Army Corps, the state Department of Environmental Protection and Beverly officials were all notified of the Feb. 5 spill, Marquis said. It does not appear that Jay Cashman Inc., the dredging company, will face penalties for the mishap, DEP spokesman Joe Ferson said. "They took additional time to scoop the material, and they will submit additional information on the pickup," Ferson said. The project wrapped up Feb. 14, successfully removing 50,000 cubic yards of sediment from the rivers.Danvers Harbormasternoreply@blogger.com