By Christopher Haraden

Nearly five months after presenting plans to redevelop the Paragon Boardwalk property to the select board, the developer will formally ask the zoning board of appeals for a height variance on June 6.

The Procopio Companies of Middleton submitted plans for a 75-foot-tall building with 142 residential units, as well as a three-story commercial structure and an attached one-story deck. The maximum allowable height in the Nantasket Beach Overlay District is 40 feet.

In January, Procopio presented a $75-million Paragon Dunes development plan to the select board that calls for a six-story, 142-unit residential building and two levels of commercial space – 26 units larger and one story higher than the previous proposal for the property by current owners Chris and Diana Reale of Hingham.

Click here to read the application submitted to the zoning board of appeals.

Click here to view the site plans and renderings submitted with the application.

The commercial building would be on the site currently occupied by Dalat restaurant and contain 25,762 square feet in three stories. The six-story residential structure is proposed for the area now containing the arcade building and miniature golf course and would contain 141,145 square feet. The submission accompanying the variance application to the zoning board of appeals references 142 units, but the breakdown of their sizes in the paperwork shows only 140 – 103 one-bedroom, 19 two-bedroom, and 18 studio units.

According to the application, filed on Procopio’s behalf by Hingham attorney Adam J. Brodsky, “anything below 142 residential units makes the project financially unviable as currently designed.”

In January, Bryan Vitale of Procopio and Boston architect Monte French informally presented the proposal to the select board for member feedback. They detailed the vision for the middle section, which is now an outdoor beer garden, as a raised platform with commercial units on the first floor and an open roof deck. Part of the area would be designated a park with public access. The ArtWalk, which runs behind the property across land owned by the neighboring Horizons condominiums, would not be affected by the development.

In 2021, Reale withdrew his application for a smaller Dunes project at 189-197 Nantasket Ave. that was to include 116 residential units in a five-story building adjacent to the Boardwalk, along with limited commercial space.

During the January meeting, board members asked the developer about including affordable housing or a boutique hotel in the plans. The current proposal does not contain either of those elements.

Vitale said it would be difficult “to get the economics to work” for affordable units, he said at the time.

The developers said the buildings will comply with flood insurance regulations, and the required 159 parking spaces will be provided on site, both under the taller structure and in the section of the former railroad bed owned by the developer that used to contain Paragon Park’s Turnpike Cars ride. The site is within the Nantasket Beach Overlay District, established by town meeting in 2013 to encourage mixed-use developments along the beachfront.

The board of appeals hearing is scheduled to begin at 7:15 p.m. at town hall on Tuesday, June 6, during which the public may comment on the proposal.

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