Chelsea plans to redevelop old Buchanan Building in downtown

The Buchanan Street Building will be getting a new life — but what that new life will be is too early to tell.Chelsea’s city council just put out a request for proposals for the building, formerly the city’s police and fire headquarters. It’s part of the city’s planned project to consolidate its services under one roof. The city brought its police department from the Buchanan Street Building into the expanded City Hall, leaving the Buchanan Street Building empty. It’s served as storage, training space and other ancillary uses for the past few years, says Chelsea City Manager John Hanifan.”Obviously, the city wants it to be put back into a positive use again,” he says. “The RFP is general enough to allow the private sector to be creative.”Its redevelopment potential is limited only by what developers have in mind (and, of course, what the city approves), he says, without discounting a light industrial or mixed use. The city council plans to look at RFPs by early August.The city has held town hall meetings for gathering resident feedback; more are forthcoming, Hanifan says.Source: John Hanifan, city manager for ChelseaWriter: Kristin Lukowski