The city’s Zoning Board of Adjustment (ZBA) voted unanimously last November to approve requested variances for the proposed Greylock development in Chestnut Hill but the appeals process is continuing, with the next court date set for Dec. 1.

The developer, Lavi Shenkman, wants to convert the mansion and carriage home into condominiums and construct three new detached buildings – two duplexes, and one triplex. Additionally, the plan would convert the mansion’s gatehouse into two additional dwellings, bringing the total number of units on the property to 15.

During the ZBA hearing process, the Planning Commission recommended that development proceed only within the existing structures on the property. However, the ZBA rejected the Planning Commission’s recommendation, granting the variances needed for the external structures to be built. 

A group of neighbors and organizations including the Crefeld School, Responsible Preservation Inc., and Chestnut Hill Landmarks Committee has since appealed the ZBA’s decision. 

Brad Bank, a member of Chestnut Hill Landmarks, told the Local, “Whatever the Common Pleas decision concludes, the losing party will likely appeal to the Superior Court, and that decision may take an undetermined length of time.”

Bank said his group “maintains that the current easements allow for additional sheds and walls and fences and a pool, but not new residential buildings or substantial increases in the footprint of the development.” 

He added that they “acknowledge that the Greylock easements have already been significantly amended to allow condo conversions of the main house and carriage house. This is a huge concession to facilitate restoration of the property.”

If the ZBA’s decision is upheld, then the developer still would require an amendment to the easements placed on the property before it was sold.

In a statement to the Local, the Chestnut Hill Conservancy said: “The Chestnut Hill Conservancy holds a conservation easement and a preservation easement on the property, granted by previous owners, which together protect aspects of the property’s historic buildings and landscape. Although these easements allow for some redevelopment of the property, they do not permit the full scope of the proposed project, and implementation of the project would necessitate amendments to the easements.”

The statement continued: “As an accredited land trust, the Conservancy is required to follow federal and state law, along with Land Trust Alliance standards, when considering a request to amend an easement, and such amendments are subject to many detailed legal requirements. The Conservancy will follow these requirements when engaged by the owner to consider any amendments to the easements.”

The historic 18,000-square-foot, 22-room mansion, at 209 W. Chestnut Hill Ave., was built in 1901 and has not been used as a private residence since World War II. Since then, different organizations have used the property, but it has been unoccupied for decades. According to the Conservancy, the last residential tenants were the Missionary Sisters and Servants of the Blessed Virgin Mary, who sold it in 1999. 

Rhombus Properties, led by Shenkman, acquired the property in late 2022.

“It is critical for the public to understand the types of easements on Greylock are among the only effective private instruments to preserve open space and limit development,” Bank said. “If easements such as the ones at Greylock, a keystone property controlled by the Conservancy, are allowed to be substantially altered, it could have devastating effects on existing preservation and conservation easements.”

Tommy Tucker can be reached at Tommy@chestnuthilllocal.com.