A developer proposed housing in Peabody. To stop it, the city bought the land.
The city will pay $7.2 million for the 80-acre parcel, with plans to maintain it as an open space, instead of allowing a large-scale housing develo...
The city will pay $7.2 million for the 80-acre parcel, with plans to maintain it as an open space, instead of allowing a large-scale housing development to move forward. For decades, rumors had swirled around an 80-acre patch of land in South Peabody. The land, a hilly, wooded stretch that has long sat untouched, was owned by a local developer, and residents feared a housing development could crop up there — a big one. It nearly happened late last year, when the developer, in a private meeting, presented city officials with site plans, some of which laid out hundreds of apartments.