"I do expect the vote to pass, because the Speedwell AvenueRedevelopment has been in the works for more than seven years,"Cresitello says, in a statement. "If we have to wait another week[to vote], it won't make a big difference."

The latest site plan is a slightly scaled back version of anearlier proposal, both designed by the locally based NK Architects.The previous version called for 800 housing units and 75,000 squarefeet of retail space on 12 acres along Speedwell Ave.; Early andSpring streets; and Clinton Place in this city's downtown. The newplan--covered in the proposed redeveloper agreement with TCR--callsfor 650 residences, 35,000 square feet of street-level retail andoffice space and 822 parking spaces on a site reduced by aboutone-third.

Of the residences, the proposed agreement calls for 131 of them,or about 20%, classified as "affordable." Another 25% would bemarket-rate condos and the remaining units as rental apartments.The project also calls for major roadwork involving the realignmentof Speedwell Avenue and Early Street.