Lynn Union Hospital Re-Use Planning Study

Lynn Union Hospital
Lynn Union Hospital Re-Use Planning Study

December 2018

City of Lynn Union Hospital Re-Use Planning Study

On the current Union Hospital campus, North Shore Medical Center will build a medical village facility that will include urgent care, lab and radiology services, outpatient psychiatry and a primary care and specialty care practice. The medical village will occupy about 1/4 of the 20-acre campus. Partners HealthCare plans to sell the remainder of the property.

Anticipating the consolidation of North Shore Medical Center hospital facilities and property sale, the City of Lynn has commissioned this study to consider the future of the Union Hospital property. The City of Lynn Economic Development Industrial Corporation (EDIC) engaged the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) to facilitate a transparent and community-based process to consider the potential for new future uses and investment at the Union Hospital property. MAPC prepared information and analyses of the property and presented and invited community feedback at two community meetings as part of this re-use planning study.

Community goals for the property include:

  • Encouraging development that is sensitive to the surrounding context of single family residential neighborhoods and the Lynn Woods conservation area,
  • Supporting new economic opportunities for the re-use of the Union Hospital property to encourage investment in the neighborhood,
  • Creating new housing opportunities while limiting the impacts on schools,
  • Creating new job opportunities to counteract job losses associated with the hospital consolidation,
  • Encouraging uses that would contribute to the City of Lynn’s tax base.

Key zoning recommendations include:

  • Create a new Medical Village (MVD) underlying zoning district to include the entirety of the Union Hospital site
  • The new underlying zoning district is recommended to include two subdistricts (MVD-1 and MVD-2) with complementary provisions that respect the distinct characteristics and opportunities of the Lynnfield Street and Woodland Avenue North parcels
  • The subdistrict at Lynnfield Street, MVD-1, is recommended to allow the following uses by right: assisted living facility, senior living row house, senior living multifamily (less than 100 units), public parks/open space, and general offices, clinic, and medical village. The MVD-1 is recommended to allow the following uses by Special Permit: senior living multifamily (100 units or more), and senior living mixed-use (commercial/retail/restaurant and residential).
  • The subdistrict at Woodland Avenue North, MVD-2, is recommended to allow the following uses by right: senior living one family detached house (standard lot - 10,000 square feet), senior living one family detached house (clustered lot), public parks/open space. The MVD-2 is recommended to allow the
    following uses by Special Permit: assisted living facility, senior living row house, and accessory uses to MVD-1, including parking.
  • Dimensional requirements are compatible with the existing uses and abutting residential areas
  • Some uses currently allowed or available by special permit in the R-1 would not be allowed in the new zone to avoid land use conflicts
  • Existing Parking Requirements are maintained