The city of Salem announced Monday that the public is invited to celebrate the inauguration of Mayor Kimberley Driscoll and the Salem City Council with an “open house” at the city’s newest mixed-use development, 135 Lafayette Street.
The event will take place on Sunday, Jan. 26, from 12 to 2 p.m. and is free of charge.

“I greatly look forward to welcoming my fellow Salem residents to this open house,” Salem Mayor Kimberley Driscoll said in a release. “The start of a new year and a new term affords us an opportunity to showcase a signature project that is helping to define our City. 135 Lafayette Street will provide fifty-one units of workforce housing, beautiful retail space, and a community room right at the doorstep of the Point neighborhood. This development is just one piece of a larger initiative to catalyze positive change for the Point, bringing new jobs, housing, economic opportunity, and open space to one of our most vibrant and densely populated neighborhoods.”

The “open house” concept was first used by Mayor Driscoll in 2006, following her first election to the Mayor’s office. Rather than hold a traditional inaugural party or ball, an open house was held at the then newly finished Derby Lofts building.

Derby Lofts today holds 54 market-rate condominiums.

At the street level some of Salem’s most popular retail and dining establishments lease storefronts, including R.A. DeFillipo Antiques, Engine House Pizza, Rouge Cosmetics, Two Girls Shop, and A&J Artisan Bakers.