Early this evening, Essex North LLC, Ara Afandilian, principal, received a green light from the Historic Preservation Board for a Certificate of Appropriateness for New Construction for five (5) India Street. The site is in between the former Grand Trunk Railroad Office building and the pumping station. Adam Wallace, Kaplan Thompson Architects, gave an overview of the project with Afandilian filling in details as needed.

The proposed development is expected to be a four-story, mixed-use structure with retail and residential services on the ground floor and 24 apartments on the upper three floors. Unfortunately, it projects beyond the face of the Grand Trunk Building by about 8 feet, which one member of the HP Board objected to. She felt it would obscure the face of the GT Building. There will be a brick walkway between Five India Street and the Grand Trunk building with both parties (Gorham Savings Bank) agreeing to maintain together.

The building features brick at the ground floor level and natural slate on the upper floors. All of the windows are vertically aligned. The building site is part of a larger property owned by Essex North LLC that ‘wraps around the historic Grand Trunk building….The applicant’s property, which has been subdivided, includes three other planned or complete structures on the block bounded by india, Thames, Hancock and Fore Streets,” according to a memorandum from Deb Andrews, Historic preservation Program Manager to the HP Board.

HP Board liked the architecture overall and it was passed unanimously.