National Grand Bank Buys Former Y Site for $1.25 Million

 Bank paid GVW Construction of Swampscott $1.25 million for the land where the YMCA building on Pleasant Street once stood. The bank will pave and landscape the site for bank employee parking, ending GVW's plans to build 17 condominiums in a four-story building.

“It is a great deal for the bank,” said James Nye, chairman of the National  Bank. “It was a tremendous opportunity for the bank to acquire a prime downtown location. We'll be here for another 100 years.”

He said the “timing was perfect.” GVW, which is owned by George Wattendorf, had acquired all of the permits and was preparing to start construction on the now vacant lot. GVW demolished the old Y building over the winter.

“We approached them,” Nye said. “If we had waited a few more weeks, construction would have started and we would have missed the opportunity.” 

Patricia Brogna, who owns , was so happy with the bank's decision she offered to buy Nye's lunch on Monday.

“The bank made a very wise investment,” she said. “The town needs it.”

She said she would have been happy if the condominium building had been built. But she said making the site a parking lot will benefit the whole town.

Asked if he thought the purchase was good for the town, Nye, who is also chairman of the Board of Selectmen, said, “It is just another use of that site.”

GVW had a substantial investment in the site. It paid $800,000 for the property, demolished the building, hired an architect to design a new building, paid for traffic and drainage studies and paid for an attorney to help win approval for the building through the Planning Board.

The site was designated a Smart Growth development area, which added more town restrictions on the property and required more public hearings.

Heidi Wattendorf with GVW did not return phone calls from Marblehead Patch.

The site is across Pleasant Street from the bank's headquarters and adjacent to the Veterans Memorial Park. Nye talked briefly Monday night with Recreation and Parks Superintendent Brendan Egan about working together to coordinate a landscaping plan for the parking lot and the park.

By the time the Planning Board approved the building on Feb. 1, most town officials and neighbors agreed that the building would be an attractive addition to the area.

The neighbors opposed the new building primarily because of the anticipated increase in parking demand for the limited number of spaces along Pleasant and Essex streets in the Five Corners area.

Chet Strout, who owns in Five Corners, said the new parking lot “can't help but help the situation.” He said the new condominium building would have eliminated three parking spaces on Essex Street and would have increased demand by residents and visitors to the building for parking spaces now used by customers of the local businesses.

Plans for the new building called for one-and-a-half parking spaces for each unit, including two-bedroom units.