Westwood Station

[bostonman]

$1B-Plus Westwood Station Moves Forward
By Beverly Ford Email this story | Printer-friendly | Reprints

WESTWOOD, MA- The first phase of a 4.5-million-sf, mixed-use project here will get under way today when demolition begins on the 260,000-sf General Motors Parts Distribution Center on Blue Hill Drive.

Testa Corp. of Lynnfield will raze the property, and eventually 11 other buildings along Blue Hill Drive and University Avenue, as developer Cabot, Cabot & Forbes clears the way for Westwood Station. The development is one of the largest mixed-use ventures to be built in the Boston suburbs in years.

?For us, it?s become a grand starting point to show the business community that this is real,? Jed Raymond, project manager on the Westwood Station project for CC&F tells GlobeSt.com.

Raymond says the demolition, which should continue through the winter, will open the area for the construction of 1.25 million sf of retail at the $1.5-billion Westwood Station project. Construction won?t actually begin until CC&F receives a special permit from the town, which should take five to seven months, Raymond says. Once construction is completed on the retail portion of the 130-acre site, located adjacent to Route 128 and the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority's Route 128 station, the offices and residential units will follow.

?The heart of the mixed-use will go in first,? says Raymond, noting that plans call for a pedestrian friendly, transit-oriented environment that will create residential units over storefronts to evoke a village atmosphere. The project?s office segment will be developed based on market demand, he explains.

Raymond says much of the materials from the 12 demolished buildings will be turned into crushed aggregate material which will be used in the new construction, probably in roads and walkways. ?We?re going to look at ways to make this an innovative and sustainable project,? he says. ?This will really establish a pattern as to how the rest of the project will proceed.?

During the demolition, both Testa Corp. and CC&F will work with a designated community liaison to remain responsive to community concerns, he adds.

[palindrome]

cool beans.

[palindrome]

Anyone been by recently? Has any progress been made? I would go myself, but i am at college and lack access to a car.

[z-money]

I was by the site in December... The site had been cleared and construction fencing was up... Big Site.

[DudeUrSistersHot]

I live down the street... there's a big swath of land that's completely clear now. nothing's gone up yet. The master plan was filed in december. We desperately need this development. The residential tax base isn't growing fast enough and class sizes have gone waay up in the last few years. This year we're looking at the prospect of a 3 million dollar override (huge for a town where this year's education budget was $27 million) that probably won't pass. If it doesn't pass, we have to continue down the path we're going - $300 athletic fees, $350 high school parking fees, $1500 full day kindergarten fees, etc. People who join volunteer clubs that don't even use faculty are now required to pay $100. This is why we're pushing this through the approval process, and why every town in the state should do what they can to do the same.

About 3 or 4 of the classes I was planning on taking this year were cut before I even had a chance to apply for them, and now I'm stuck with shitty classes.

[palindrome]

westwood has been a great example of how a city should streamline its development processes. i cannot wait until this project is complete.

[Roxxma]

It seems that there are similar plans in the works for Northwest Park (http://www.northwestparkburlington.com/Kit.html) in Burlington as well.

[Ron Newman]

But since Burlington has no train tracks at all (and never has), how can anything like this work there?

[Roxxma]

What do train tracks have to do with anything regarding this? It is a comprehensive redevelopment of a 1950s era office park into a denser mixed use development. It is about 1/2 mile from the Burlington Mall, 128 and US3 and has frequent MBTA and LRTA bus service very close by, some of which could easily be rerouted to serve the new development. The plan is a huge improvement over what is there now. More coverege in these articles from Burlington Times-Union here (http://www.townonline.com/burlington/homepage/8998962113879736316) and here. (http://www.townonline.com/burlington/homepage/8998962095307358207)

[Joe_Schmoe]

When I look at the Northwest Park master plan, all I see are the large number of huge parking lots.

[palindrome]

thats the first thing i noticed as well. What a let down.

[pharmerdave]

Interesting site plan

http://www.architects.org/emplibrary/C1_b.pdf

[vanshnookenraggen]

I like it but lets hope the people in Westwood do too. That is TOD at it's finest; I really like what they did with the creek.

[Joe_Schmoe]

That site plan, like the Forest Hills plan in the other thread, still has megablocks with useless enclosed courtyards where a street should run. And what the fuck are we doing looking to San Jose and Santa Barbara for inspiration!? There's plenty of towns around here that we can model this on--Great Barrington, Northampton, Newburyport, Salem...

[DudeUrSistersHot]

http://www.architects.org/emplibrary/C1_b.pdf

this is not Westwood Station. This is a redevelopment plan for Islington (now a part of westwood)'s existing Town Center.

[z-money]

Westwood Station leasing agent chosen

Richards Barry Joyce & Partners LLC was selected as the exclusive leasing agent of Westwood Station, a mini city planned for the suburbs.

Richards Barry Joyce said it was selected as leasing agent by Cabot, Cabot & Forbes of New England Inc., which is developing the project with New England Development of Newton.

Plans envision turning 130 underused acres near the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority's Route 128 rail station into 1.49 million square feet of office and laboratory space, 1.35 million square feet of stores and restaurants, 1,000 residential units, and two hotels, Richards Barry Joyce said.

Richard Barry Joyce has been selected as the leasing agent for the office and lab space.

The project's early cost estimates have been put at $1.5 billion.

The clearing of the site is underway with the recent demolition of the former General Motors building; more demolition is set for late spring, Richards Barry Joyce said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)
Posted by Boston Globe Business Team at 02:05 PM

[DudeUrSistersHot]

Why is it that Cabot, Cabot and Forbes only does stuff in the suburbs? They produce quality stuff...

http://www.ccfne.com/images/projects/Westwood%20Station/2.jpg

http://www.ccfne.com/images/projects/Westwood%20Station/1.jpg

http://www.ccfne.com/images/projects/Westwood%20Station/13.jpg

http://www.ccfne.com/images/projects/Westwood%20Station/11.jpg

http://www.ccfne.com/images/projects/Westwood%20Station/10.jpg

[palindrome]

I really look forward to this. Has construction commenced/increased? Last time i asked, they had only torn down the old gm building as well as some other office.

[DudeUrSistersHot]

they filed the master plan in december, and have demolished some more stuff. The first building is supposed to open in 2009. they also bought the route 128 offramps so they can improve them. in a week or two, the town is cul-de-sac'ing my street for a while to see how it will affect traffic. construction is supposed to start some time this summer i believe.

[DudeUrSistersHot]

http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2007/04/19/board_election_may_negate_westwood_project_gains/?page=2

Turns out Toffoloni and Walsh were soundly defeated and the project will go on without interruption.

Planning Board - 2 seats up for election

Malster (Incumbent) - 3210
Montgomery (Incumbent) - 2727
Toffoloni - 1693
Walsh - 1798

[palindrome]

sweet!

[pharmerdave]

Crucial vote for Station project
Proposed limits called deal breaker
By James Vaznis, Globe Staff | June 14, 2007

A Special Town Meeting next Tuesday could drastically shrink the Westwood Station project by reducing building height, square-footage of stores, and the number of housing units.


Such a move would bring cheers from neighbors upset about traffic from the project, which they say would amount to a miniature city being built nearby. But town officials and developer Cabot, Cabot & Forbes say the limitations, if approved, could make the project too small to be economically viable.

"There probably wouldn't be a project" if they pass, said Jay Doherty, president of Cabot, Cabot & Forbes. Yet he said he remained optimistic about next week's vote. "I'm not sitting here formulating plan B. I'm very hopeful voters will agree we should finish the work we've started with the Planning Board."

The Special Town Meeting comes as the massive development is in the final stages of Planning Board review for the special permit it needs. The articles to be presented at Town Meeting are widely considered a referendum on the project, which was first pitched more than two years ago, when town leaders approached Cabot, Cabot & Forbes about redeveloping the industrial area around University Avenue.

Project critics say they don't oppose having a Westwood Station, but they would like something smaller than what has been proposed: The $1.5 billion project, which would be anchored by an existing commuter rail stop, would create 1,000 housing units, 1.35 million square feet of retail, 1.5 million square feet of offices, and at least one hotel.

Construction would ideally start in the fall, if the developer receives a special permit and site plan approval this summer, with opening two years later.

"It's clearly going to permanently change the character of the town," said John Harding, a Forbes Road resident and attorney who filed eight petition warrant articles related to the Westwood Station project. "You are taking a mini-city and putting it right next to what is essentially a very small town. . . . It already can take you 45 minutes to go a couple of miles in town at the wrong time of day."

In recent days, worry over how much traffic the project would generate has intensified as opponents have circulated a leasing plan, a potential list of stores and restaurants for the project that includes Target, Best Buy, and other big-box retailers. The leasing plan is the first indication of what stores might be part of the project.

Cabot, Cabot & Forbes has declined to identify the retailers it hopes to attract, but opponents obtained the information from the web site of the developer's leasing partner, Robert K. Futterman & Associates, of New York City.

Doherty said the names on the leasing plan are not necessarily those that will be opening doors when the project is complete, and called the plan an "illustrative concept."

He stressed, however, that if a Target or Home Depot is built, it will be of high architectural quality with a parking garage.

"We are not going to build big metal boxes," he said, and later added, "Is a Border s at 35,000 square feet or a Whole Foods at 60,000 square feet a bad thing? Small is not necessarily better in the retail world."

The most controversial articles on Tuesday's Town Meeting warrant include:

Shrinking the number of housing units to a maximum of 500, from 1,000, which town officials say could cost the town $2 million annually in property tax revenue.

Keeping stores and restaurants to no more than 25,000 square feet, as a way to prevent construction of big-box stores, such as Target and Best Buy. However, the developer says large stores are necessary to draw in shoppers, who would then support the smaller stores and restaurants.

Limiting the height of a proposed hotel to six stories and other buildings to four stories. Currently, zoning allows hotels to be 10 stories and other buildings to be about six stories. The developer says tall buildings are necessary near the train stop because residents and workers need to be within 1,500 feet or so of the station to get them to use public transportation.

Other articles call for building an 8 -foot sound barrier and finding ways to prevent residential streets from being turned into short cuts to Westwood Station. The town and developer say they are negotiating those issues with residents, although residents say the talks are not going fast enough.

"I regret the articles became necessary for us to voice our concern," said Jim Fox, a director of the Whitewood Acres Neighborhood Association, a group representing one of the residential areas near the project, "but the developer has not taken one step to reduce the size of the project to retain the character of our small town."

The articles on the warrant are all proposed by citizens. Selectmen originally called the Special Town Meeting so that they could present two Westwood Station articles, to reconfigure a road and relocate a ramp for Route 128, which would connect to the station.

However, selectmen later realized the two articles would not be ready for a town vote on Tuesday and took them off the warrant. By then, it was too late to cancel the meeting because project critics already filed their petition articles.

"I respect what some of the residents are trying to do. I don't agree with it, but they are following the process," said Nancy Hyde, chairwoman of the Board of Selectmen. "I hope the articles are defeated."

The Finance Commission and the Economic Development Advisory Board both recommend votes on the petition articles Tuesday be postponed. The Planning Board will decide its recommendation at a meeting tomorrow evening.

Doherty said his company has been responsive to neighborhood concerns, noting, for instance, that it abandoned plans for a movie theater in light of resident protests.

Town Meeting voters have been supportive of the plan in the past, approving a series of zoning changes in the University Avenue area since May 2005 to allow for a project like Westwood Station.

Aside from the Westwood Station articles, the warrant contains one other article, which seeks an unspecified amount of money to build an artificial-turf field at the high school.

The Special Town Meeting starts at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday in the high school gymnasium.

James Vaznis can be reached at jvaznis@globe.com.

[palindrome]

which they say would amount to a miniature city being built

Isn't that sort of the idea?


This is right next to a highway and has a train station. How silly one would think. Anyways, it will be a true shame if this project is canceled. It is my favorite project in MA outside of Boston.

[czsz]

http://www.ccfne.com/images/projects/Westwood%20Station/10.jpg

^ What the Rose Kennedy Greenway should have looked like.

[ablarc]

What the Rose Kennedy Greenway should have looked like.
Ha!

[palindrome]

Anyone know how the meeting went?

[awood91]

Voters support Westwood Station project
A developer of Westwood Station said that efforts to downsize and delay the project were defeated at a special Westwood town meeting last night by nearly a 2-to-1 margin.

Developers propose to replace the University Avenue industrial park in Westwood with a transit-oriented community with 1,000 residences, 1.5 million square feet of office space, retail shops and restaurants and two hotels; the project is near the MBTA's Route 128 Station.

"Residents voiced their overwhelming support for Westwood Station once again," Jay Doherty, president of Cabot, Cabot & Forbes, a Boston real estate firm, said in a statement.

Besides Cabot, Cabot & Forbes, the project's development team includes New England Development and Commonfund Realty Inc.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

[czsz]

Wow. What rare and excellent news.

[palindrome]

Johnny Drama: Victory!!!!!!

[stellarfun]

Huge development set to get state OK
Westwood Station complex will boast residences, retail

By Thomas C. Palmer Jr., Globe Staff | November 2, 2007

The Patrick administration is expected to give its blessing today to the largest suburban development project ever in Massachusetts, the 4.5-million-square-foot Westwood Station.

The ambitious complex at the corner of Route 128 and Interstate 95 will include 1,000 residences, a hotel, up to 10 office buildings, and popular retailers Target, Eddie Bauer, Barnes & Noble, Coldwater Creek, Chico's, Talbot's, J.Jill, and Aeropostale, according to the developers.

Restaurants will include McCormick & Schmick's Seafood, Italian fare from Brio, a new Japanese concept by Benihana, California Pizza Kitchen, Fleming's steak house, RA Sushi, and the locally based Not Your Average Joe's.

Although some traffic and other issues remain to be worked out, Dan O'Connell, state secretary of Housing and Economic Development, said the issuance of a key environmental certificate "marks another step forward . . . but does so in a way which insures that the project will be accompanied by appropriate mitigation including significant transportation upgrades."

Ramps will be reconfigured at the developer's expense along Route 128 and I-95.

Westwood Station is also considered a so-called transit-oriented project because it is a compact, dense development that takes advantage of its proximity to a major transportation hub - the MBTA's 128 Station, with commuter rail and Amtrak service.

The office of Ian Bowles, secretary of energy and environmental affairs, said it could not confirm that the project will be approved, but executives on the development team said they expected a positive outcome.

Developer John J. Doherty, the president of Cabot Cabot & Forbes of New England Inc., said yesterday the years of planning to turn the 140-acre former industrial property into a lively 21st-century suburban village are nearly over.

One more comprehensive permit from the town of Westwood is expected by Thanksgiving, and then construction on a retail town center with three floors of condominium residences above can begin, he said.

Added Stephen Karp, the president of New England Development, which is handling the 1.3-million-square-foot retail element of Westwood Station: "It's a really great tenant mix, driven by all the great restaurants. We don't think there's anything like this in this part of the country, certainly of this scale."

Doherty said his company, along with partners Commonfund Realty Inc., and New England Development, are getting tax forgiveness from the town of about $20 million over 20 years to help offset the approximately $140 million in road, sewer, and other improvements they will make over the next two years.

The total development cost is expected to be about $1.5 billion over a decade. At full build, Westwood Station will pay about $15 million a year in taxes to Westwood, up from the $1.1 million the land is generating now.

The developers will demolish 1.2 million square feet of existing industrial and office buildings in about six months.

In their place will be: an eight-building town center with condos over retail stores; five more residential buildings as high as 10 floors each; nine office buildings ranging from 125,000 to 200,000 square feet each; eight parking garages with 12,500 spaces; and a Commons, a green space called "The Meadows," and other public areas totaling more than 40 acres.

The development will have direct access to the 128 Station platforms. University Avenue, now a straight-arrow road, will be replaced with a curved Westwood Station Boulevard.

Westwood Station's developers are aiming for a designation for environmentally friendly design and construction from the US Green Building Council, an influential industry group. Located on the site of four groundwater wells for Dedham and Westwood, the development will collect water from roofs and other surfaces to recharge the aquifer, and reuse some for irrigation.
http://www.boston.com/business/globe/articles/2007/11/02/huge_development_set_to_get_state_ok/

[palindrome]

Westwood Station approved by town
Boston Business Journal

The mega mixed-use development called Westwood Station received unanimous approval from the town on Tuesday night.

Developers of the $4.5 million project will begin construction next month.

After three years of planning and permitting by the developers, Cabot, Cabot & Forbes, Commonfund Realty Inc. and New England Development, the Westwood Planning Board voted to approve the master plan special permit needed to build the project. Westwood Station is located on 140 acres of land adjacent to Route 128 and the Westwood Massachusetts Bay Transportation Area commuter rail station.

Earlier this month, Westwood Station received state approval when the Massachusetts Environmental Protection Agency issued a Final Environmental Impact Report. The development is a $1.5 billion project that includes 1.5 million square feet of office, 1.35 million square feet of retail, 1,000 residential units, two hotels and 40 acres of landscaped, green space. In July, the U.S. Green Building Council recognized Westwood Station for its sustainable design by choosing the project for its Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design for Neighborhood Development (LEED-ND) pilot program.

The first phase of Westwood Station, which includes approximately 90 retail shops and restaurants, a 125,000-square-foot office building and 500 residential units, is expected to open in the fall of 2009. Approximately 90 percent of the retail space is committed to high-end retailers and restaurants across the country looking to locate in the new development, which will be a destination for shopping and dining.

All contents of this site ? American City Business Journals Inc. All rights reserved.
Link (http://www.bizjournals.com/boston/stories/2007/11/19/daily36.html?jst=b_ln_hl)

Has it really been three years since first hearing of this project? Man time has been flying by.

[awood91]

ooh, thats a bad typo. They mean its a 4.5 million square foot development, not that its going to cost 4.5 million dollars!

[BostonObserver]

Is it feasable or desireable to extend the Orange Line to this site?

[belmont square]

Everything's feasible, but an extension of the Orange Line to Westwood would be prohibitively expensive given the number of riders it would serve. The MBTA would probably need to purchase at least 5 more trainsets just to provide current headways during rush hour. If you turned some trains around at Forest Hills to reduce vehicle needs you'd just end up losing more of the likely very low ridership to commuter rail (which takes at least 10 minutes less to get downtown and operates at close to 15 minute headways during rush hour).

[whighlander]

Looking at the impressive multimedia website for the Westwood station development www.westwoodstation.com -- it looks like the developer has done at Westwood Station what Station Landing should have done and what Assembly Square, Seaport Square, North Point, Southfield, River?s Edge, etc can still do ? the developer seems to have created what is essentially a traditional New England-style town / village center that is focused on the embedded Rail Station and also takes full advantage of the site?s being adjacent to Rt-128.

However, they should seriously encourage the T to take advantage of the electrification of the Amtrak main line to enable frequent single car self propelled commuter rail from Westwood Rt-128 Station to Back Bay and South Station. Since the ROW is used by Amtrak only about 10X each way per day ? the Commuter Rail shuttle could run about every 10 minutes all day long ? at the same degree of connectivity as the Green Line to North Point.

Westy

[stellarfun]

Looking at the impressive multimedia website for the Westwood station development www.westwoodstation.com (http://www.westwoodstation.com) -- it looks like the developer has done at Westwood Station what Station Landing should have done and what Assembly Square, Seaport Square, North Point, Southfield, River?s Edge, etc can still do ? the developer seems to have created what is essentially a traditional New England-style town / village center that is focused on the embedded Rail Station and also takes full advantage of the site?s being adjacent to Rt-128.

However, they should seriously encourage the T to take advantage of the electrification of the Amtrak main line to enable frequent single car self propelled commuter rail from Westwood Rt-128 Station to Back Bay and South Station. Since the ROW is used by Amtrak only about 10X each way per day ? the Commuter Rail shuttle could run about every 10 minutes all day long ? at the same degree of connectivity as the Green Line to North Point.

Westy
The ROW is used by 15+ AMTRAK trains each way on a weekday, plus perhaps double that number of MBTA trains. When they were scoping the electrification of the Northeast Corridor between New Haven and Boston, there was talk of four-tracking the Route 128 Station, and putting in a center island platform. But that was never done. Without four tracks between 128 and Readville, you cannot run the shuttle you propose.

Single car self-propelled commuter trains no longer operate in the U.S. Budd, which made such units, I think they were called RDCs, is now a long vanished business. The T refuses to spend money to buy electric motors for the commuter rail trains on the Attleboro/Providence route, which would help provide significantly faster service on that line, and perhaps even increase its capacity.

[buju b]

I live not too far from this area and could provide periodic progress pictures (pardon my Dr. Suessian word selection) to anyone with the ability to post them (I am unable/to stupid to do so).

[Lrfox]

I can't offer to take the responsibility of posting them with regularity, but i can give you the easy solution: go to www.picoodle.com, click "browse," select your photo, click, "upload," and copy and paste the link here. You don't need to be a member (but you can sign up if you want and they'll store the photos in an album for you), and you don't need to know any of the codes and jargon used in the forum. Simply copy the link and paste it here and you're done.

In anycase, I hope you work it out, I'd love to see the pictures of this, alliteration and all.

[anon]

I've been working on this project for the better part of 2 years. We're about 4 weeks into construction right now, things are moving at a nice pace.

[palindrome]

cool! welcome to the forums!

[vanshnookenraggen]

Insiders, woot! Any chance you can provide pics from the site?

[anon]

Insiders, woot! Any chance you can provide pics from the site?

possibly - i'll have to see if its kosher

[chris86]

this is my first post, i live within 1 minute from this site... before you read on, i'm 100% against it, however there is nothing i or any other nearby residents can do to prevent it. to give you an idea a different point of view of someone who lives near this:

1) "high end apartments, only for sale" marketed to "young professionals" was what was advertised when the idea first came up. this has since become "section 8 housing only for lease".

2) "high end stores", as advertised at the project's conception, apparently includes the likes of Home Depot and Target. If this is their idea of High end stores, I can't wait to see what they come up with next. The latest "high end store" they've come up with is a super-supermarket with a beer and liquor license that is going to push our local Roche Bro's out of business.

3) there has been little traffic mitigation research put into this, at least from any information that's available on the internet. So far all they are doing at the moment is expanding capacity on Rt. 128. Yes, that will solve problems alright. Just make the lanes wider. regardless, any "solution" they come up with will not work. i am more familiar with the surrounding roads and area than any Engineer that works on this project. a project of this magnitude will absolutely destroy the environment and value of surrounding neighborhoods. there are an expected 55,000 cars per day that are going to be driving through this monstrosity, and i haven't read one thing about preventing cut through traffic through surrounding local neighborhoods.

-The project is accessible from Route 1, a high traffic road, through local neighborhoods.
-The project is accessible from Rt. 138, a high traffic road, through local neighborhoods.
-Canton Street, well let's just say I'm glad I don't live on it.
-The 128/95/93 intersection at the center of this project was/is already a nightmare before the project began. To give you an idea, 3 highways intersect at the same place, right at this project site. It is already a high volume area. Adding another 55,000 cars per day is going to be an absolute nightmare. Think the Braintree split x 500.

4) Enough about traffic. Let's talk about the MBTA system. 10,000 more people added to an already crowded 128 train station. Presently, They run commuter rail trains every half hour to an hour, depending on time of day. They are crowded every day to the point where you can't sit down in the morning or afternoon. The 128 line is shared with Providence which is an extremely slow, high volume, never-on-time line. I haven't read one thing about what they plan on doing to fix this. Perhaps that's because there is no fix.

5) To gain the rest of the town's support, Cabot has decided to shove millions into parks and playing fields at the other end of the town. That's all fine and dandy. I'm sure all the parents will be thrilled when they learn Westwood High School is going to have to accept 200 more students per year from Section 8 housing.

6) Enough with the shopping "lifestyle" centers - Legacy place is opening right next door. People aren't going out to eat, people aren't buying housing, and people are shopping less. This is the wrong time to do a project like this. Besides, we all know what happens to malls every 50 years - they tank, and something new and better comes up. Anyone remember the Dedham mall? What has that sh*t hole become? Expect the same thing to happen to South Shore Plaza and places like this.

I will gladly post some pictures of the site if you guys are that interested. As of now they have torn down many of the industrial buildings that used to be on the premises, and construction is beginning. There are high fences up everywhere which obstructs the view, but there are places you can go to get a better view.

Anyways, enough with the crap. That's just my opinion. You guys are welcome to come down when the place opens. I'll be extremely surpised (and delighted) if the project turns out anything like what its being advertised as. Who wouldn't want such a great place down the street? However, thinking beyond what Cabot says causes me to be very skeptical.

[jass]

6) Enough with the shopping "lifestyle" centers - Legacy place is opening right next door. People aren't going out to eat, people aren't buying housing, and people are shopping less. This is the wrong time to do a project like this.


Now is the perfect time for a project like this. It will be done after the current downturn, when people are willing to spend their new money.

[pelhamhall]

The local Roche Brothers will not go out of business, because it is a successful, thriving local business that listens to customers and changes with the times. There is not a better supermarket chain in America. They have an elite brand that they do a great job with communicating and living every day.

The question is this: if a new supermarket opens, and the old one closes, then the old supermarket deserves to close because it is not as good as the new one.

You win. The better of the two supermarkets survives, and the worse one closes. Hurray for you and your town.

But you are right about one thing - every single proposal for these mixed-use concepts shows a Whole Foods and a Banana Republic, and other high-end stores and then the reality is a Shaw's and an Old Navy.

[buju b]

Chris,

Your perspective/opinion(s) as a [very] nearby resident to this project is welcome and, arguably, insightful.

I certainly do not consider Target and home depot high end either and go to great lengths to avoid such retailers myself.

Having lived in the Canton/Westwood/Dedham area for over three decades (and currently) my opinion is that even with Legacy Place going in up the highway a mile or two, there is enough of a relatively wealthy population base to support any well-run establishment that has a product people want.

Stores at Westwood Station and Legacy Place, and the South Shore Plaza and the Village Mall and Westwood Center and Dedham Square and along Route One will go out of business largely because they violate one or both of the two keys of free market . . . have a product people want and provide a sufficient level of service (as a side note, if one of these two is strong enough, it can make up for a sub par showing in the other). The consumers stand to most benefit from the increased competition. We, as consumers can buy our products from whomever we choose. If you are concerned about certain businesses going under, do not invest in them and continue to shop at the places you currently do once these new stores open.

As far as your concern of Rochie's going under because of this, I would not worry about it . . . they survived the opening of the star market and, to a lesser extent, the super stop and shop (both in Dedham, with star being about the same distance from Roche Bros as Westwood station). Furthermore, people shop Rochies not because of the prices, if you live in the area and shop there you know this. They patronize that store because the service is outstanding and the produce and meat departments are noticably superior to most other grocers.

[statler]

The question is this: if a new supermarket opens, and the old one closes, then the old supermarket deserves to close because it is not as good as the new one.

Ergo Wal-Mart is the best store in America.

[jass]

Ergo Wal-Mart is the best store in America.
I dont see the problem in sacrificing quality for price, if it's what people want. Nobody goes into walmart thinking it's something else.

I personally hate preserving over-priced backwards local businesses over more convenient and cheaper chain options. It's a chain for a reason.

Meanwhile, many well-run local businesses manage to coexist with chains because they cater to a successful niche. In the same way that dominos and a local pizza place can exist in the same block, I see no problem with big box stores.


Actually, there is a problem, and that is the exterior architecture comes from the same strip-mall mold. That needs to be changed.

[Equilibria]

Ergo Wal-Mart is the best store in America.

Absolutely right. Wal-Mart sells everything, for a low price, conveniently located to where people live. No critic of Wal-Mart has ever argued that the store itself is a bad place to shop. Rather, they criticize the non-shopping aspects (lifestyle changes, fuel emissions, employee treatment, sprawl encouragement, etc.)

The critics are fighting a losing battle precisely because Wal-Mart is almost the perfect store, and will beat almost any store up against it.

Also, I'll take a Shaw's over a Whole Foods any day. Whole Foods' entire business plan functions on the customers assuming that food that is more expensive is automatically healthier and more environmentally friendly (I know this is simplistic, but I'm getting sick of the place).

[Milton]

While I agree that there seems to be too many of these type of projects (Westwood, Dedham, Sharon(?))popping up for all to thrive I think people will be pleasantly surprised with the grocery store planned for Westwood. Rumor is that Wegmans will be going there and people in MA will become converts to the retail/grocery experience that is Wegmans. It is the best grocery store experience in the US, they receive over 10,000 letters a year from people asking when they will come to their town. It started in upstate NY and has recently moved into MD, NJ, PA, and VA.....Westwood will be their first MA location. Whole Foods quality and selection without the markup and a cafe'/prepared foods section bigger than most supermarkets.

[mcus29]

Isn't the Orange Line planning on expanding past Forest Hills to Westwood Station or Dedham? Even if the Orange Line extends to Dedham it would significantly lighten the load of the Commuter Rail from the Westwood/Dedham and maybe even the Norwood area.

http://futurembta.com/thefuturemaps/

[Milton]

www.wegmans.com

[vanshnookenraggen]

Isn't the Orange Line planning on expanding past Forest Hills to Westwood Station or Dedham? Even if the Orange Line extends to Dedham it would significantly lighten the load of the Commuter Rail from the Westwood/Dedham and maybe even the Norwood area.

http://futurembta.com/thefuturemaps/

LOL

[kz1000ps]

Having lived near a flagship Wegmans in suburban Buffalo for two years, I can attest to their excellence. They pay a lot more attention to the look and presentation of their stores than normal, and their food selection runs the gamut--from super quantity to super quality. And as lame as it might sound, 1 AM unsober runs to Weggies just for the fun of it (and maybe to pick up some munchies) were a common occurrence back then. LOL...good times!

[pelhamhall]

Wow, Wegman's sounds just like a Roche Brothers.

Quick funny side note about mom & pop vs. chains... a couple of guys got together to open a little pizza shop that would do things differently, offer whole wheat crusts, and all natural ingredients. And the shop did well, even in the face of the Domino's and Papa John's - and now there are 12 of these pizza shops (they're called Upper Crust) and they just opened another store on Tremont in the South End. The woman across the street from the new Upper Crust who cuts my hair actually said "the old South End is so dead, now here come the chain stores like Upper Crust"

Yes, the successful little, "mom & pop" shop succeeded, and now it's a "chain" and soon people will lament, instead of welcome, one to their neighborhoods.

[jass]

Wow, Wegman's sounds just like a Roche Brothers.

Quick funny side note about mom & pop vs. chains... a couple of guys got together to open a little pizza shop that would do things differently, offer whole wheat crusts, and all natural ingredients. And the shop did well, even in the face of the Domino's and Papa John's - and now there are 12 of these pizza shops (they're called Upper Crust) and they just opened another store on Tremont in the South End. The woman across the street from the new Upper Crust who cuts my hair actually said "the old South End is so dead, now here come the chain stores like Upper Crust"

Yes, the successful little, "mom & pop" shop succeeded, and now it's a "chain" and soon people will lament, instead of welcome, one to their neighborhoods.

Thats an excellent example. At one point Mcdonalds was a mom and pop store, and now its the evil emptire.

At what point does one go from local store to chain? 10 stores? 15? 3?

[mcus29]

Quote:
Originally Posted by mcus29 View Post
Isn't the Orange Line planning on expanding past Forest Hills to Westwood Station or Dedham? Even if the Orange Line extends to Dedham it would significantly lighten the load of the Commuter Rail from the Westwood/Dedham and maybe even the Norwood area.

http://futurembta.com/thefuturemaps/


LOL


Seems like that response is a no to answering my question. Was it a stupid question? I obviously found the link in your signature. Or is that what was funny about it?

[commuter guy]

Thats an excellent example. At one point Mcdonalds was a mom and pop store, and now its the evil emptire.

At what point does one go from local store to chain? 10 stores? 15? 3?

I think what people like about "mom and pop" stores is the uniqueness, individuality and perhaps the increase likelyhood of interacting with an owner/operator of the business who becomes part of the community. If a store, restaurant or bar is replicated, there is a level standardization that often occurs There is an increased likelyhood a disinterested manager or other employees will be running the business etc. The business then feels anynomous and disconnected from the neighborhood.

A business can have two or more locations and still feel unique and contribute to the fabric of the community. For example, JJ Foley is a bar with two locations one on the edge of the S. End and another on the edge of downtown crossing. When you go to either bar, its the same bartenders who are running each respective location, they know regular customers as well as nearby business owners and residents. To me if feels like two separate, unique and very local taverns that just happen to have the same name hanging on a sign out front.

[commuter guy]

Seems like that response is a no to answering my question. Was it a stupid question? I obviously found the link in your signature. Or is that what was funny about it?


Mcus29,
I think vanshnookenraggen got a kick out of your internet research indicating potential mbta expansion because he created those maps himself as kind of a dream scenario of mbta expansion.

[vanshnookenraggen]

Mcus29,
I think vanshnookenraggen got a kick out of your internet research indicating potential mbta expansion because he created those maps himself as kind of a dream scenario of mbta expansion.

Basically. Yeah, sorry to sound like a dick but it was too perfect.

[mcus29]

Quote:
Originally Posted by commuter guy View Post
Mcus29,
I think vanshnookenraggen got a kick out of your internet research indicating potential mbta expansion because he created those maps himself as kind of a dream scenario of mbta expansion.
Vanshnookerraggen wrote:
Basically. Yeah, sorry to sound like a dick but it was too perfect.

Ahh... Good job Vanshnookerraggen. There's a lot of good options in your maps. I've gotten a little revved up and hoping for some of the scenarios. It did seem a little to good to be true.

[anon]

this is my first post,

home depot has been out of the picture for almost a year.

there is quite a bit of traffic mitigation measures in place - that information is mostly public info available from many sources

i've never heard anything about section 8 housing, can you point to a source?

there are financial measures in place for additional school children, if a certain amount are added to the system then money in escrow goes to the town to help offset thee costs

[riffgo]

Some people appear to be victims of their own notions. Section 8 housing in a project of this magnitude wouldn't be feasible.

[awood91]

http://www.bankerandtradesman.com/pub/5_365/commercial/201541-1.html

please post!!

[vanshnookenraggen]

Developers: Westwood Station Worries Without Merit
By Paul McMorrow
Banker & Tradesman Staff Writer


It?s been a long slog for Westwood Station?s developers, Cabot, Cabot & Forbes, who have been fighting the town?s planning process, their neighbors, competition from Legacy Place in Dedham, the economy and incessant rumors of their own downfall.

But they got a rare bit of good news for the 4.5 million square-foot mixed-use development that?s rising, ever so slowly, atop an old University Avenue industrial park: The town of Westwood approved critical changes to its master plan last Tuesday.

Still, both Jay Doherty, CC&F?s president, and Westwood Town Manager Mike Jaillet, insist the development?s prospects remain robust ? to say nothing of viable.

Jaillet said the project ?is moving forward and on target for the approvals it needs,? and CC&F should clear any remaining regulatory hurdles ?by the first of the year.? The developers would then have at least three months to pull building permits and close on their construction loans, before beginning vertical construction in March.

?There will be steel in the air in the spring,? Doherty insisted. Demolition is complete, and ?for the past two to three months,? Doherty said, contractors have ?been doing aggressive horizontal construction,? building the utilities backbone, installing pads for vertical construction and completing ?the first phase of roadbed construction on a couple miles of roads.?

?We were racing the clock on paving,? he continued. ?We?re going to hold off until the weather warms up. By most measures, we?ve been doing substantial work for three to four months, and we?re doing very substantial work now.?

Unsurprisingly, Doherty said financing is the biggest challenge remaining.

?It?s bloody awful out there. I feel good today, and good about the next day. We wake up, read the obits, and if our names aren?t in them, go to work.?

Commonfund Realty financed Westwood Station?s horizontal construction as an equity investment. Doherty feels he has lined up a good cadre of ?two to four lead lenders we feel good about.?

While Legacy Place steams ahead in neighboring Dedham, Westwood Station has been plagued by regulatory delays and political infighting. The combination of legislative spectacle, frozen capital markets and an absence of vertical steel have made the project a target of incessant whispers.

Rep. William Galvin, the Canton lawmaker who?s currently blocking a vital Westwood Station bill at the State House, said he?s heard rumors ?about their financials. I?ve heard their construction loan was pulled. I heard the Commonfund was looking for outside backing. I heard that the project was shut down for now.?

?I?ve heard the rumors and the concerns,? added Westwood Rep. Paul McMurtry, ?but it?s just a rumor. But sometimes, rumors have a way of becoming reality.?

Jaillet is more direct: ?People would prefer the project die.?

The pace of regulatory reviews has encouraged talk of such a death. Jim Kosteras, whom Westwood hired to help expedite the first phase of design reviews, characterized the permitting process as ?exhaustive,? and called it ?way beyond what I?ve seen? in Boston and Somerville, where he?d previously worked as a planner. Kosteras?s contract expired in June. Since that time, Westwood has worked ? slowly ? to reconfigure the site master plan in such a way as to accommodate parking, shipping and receiving needs for prospective anchor tenants Wegmans and Target. In the meantime, national commercial lending dried up.

Kosteras said he can?t fault Westwood for its pace, noting that the suburb?s small planning staff is wrestling with a project that?s ?maybe bigger than anything the BRA is reviewing right now.?

At the same time the development has wended its way through the local approval process, it has fallen victim to a darkly comical sideshow at the State House. Westwood Town Meeting voters approved a beer and wine license for Wegmans in May, but since August, it has been held up by a pair of House lawmakers.

One, Angelo Scaccia, was appeased when the town also approved a special beer and wine license for Wegmans competitor Roche Brothers. The second, Galvin, remains incensed over traffic impacts to his Canton district. ?The roads can?t take it,? he said recently. ?It?s going to be a mess for years.?

The State House battle hasn?t greatly affected the project?s construction schedule, though it has kept Wegmans from inking its lease ? a fact that, in turn, has given the development a stench of uncertainty that hampers further leasing efforts. McMurtry, who has responded to the Wegmans delay by stalling virtually all House business since August, said waiting until January when the full House could advance the Westwood bill on a formal vote puts the development at risk.

?We look like idiots,? Jaillet moaned. ?People are looking to do everything to kill the project.? Still, he added, ?We?re absolutely committed to this, and to getting beyond individuals? ability to be disruptive.?

\/ Link \/

[anon]

good article. for someone who has worked on this project for over 2 years it frustrates me that the project has been (and will remain in) a holding pattern for as long as it will be

[palindrome]

I really despise the tactic of delaying until funding runs out. It really grinds my gears. I hope this gets built. I will be out of college soon and this is an attractive(read: affordable?) alternative to the city.

[shawn]

http://investorial.com/wp-content/uploads/2006/09/grinds-my-gears1.jpg

[garbribre]

What I did on my Thanksgiving vacation by garbribre

I am surprised that nobody has taken any pictures over the past two years, despite a few posters who said they would take some.
These are for all you pre-construction freaks.

Mounds of rubble. Wanna climb it! Wanna scavenge! Who gives good brick?
http://img155.imageshack.us/img155/5607/img62921024x768rc6.jpg


Been so long since I've driven through here, I cannot recall what was here before.
http://img155.imageshack.us/img155/1816/img62951024x768uz3.jpg

http://img155.imageshack.us/img155/3829/img62961024x768dz3.jpg


On the station parking structure. The only renderings visible along the entire length of University Ave.
http://img155.imageshack.us/img155/184/img62931024x768xv7.jpg

http://img155.imageshack.us/img155/8162/img62941024x768mw1.jpg

[czsz]

What's up with the building in the second rendering? Either it's meant to be on an angle or the renderer has no sense of perspective.

Anyway the architecture looks as dull as possible but it's Westwood so I'll take it.

[kz1000ps]

Westwood Station project comes to halt

Boston Business Journal - by Michelle Hillman
Thursday, February 12, 2009, 6:00am EST

The developers of the 150-acre Westwood Station, one of the largest mixed-use projects in the state, are suspending work on the site as they struggle to secure a construction loan.

The developer of the 4.5 million-square-foot project, Cabot, Cabot & Forbes of New England Inc., said the first phase, about 1.7 million square feet, including 1.1 million square feet of retail, was scheduled to break ground at the end of the second quarter. The groundbreaking has been pushed back about six months until September. However, if September rolls around and the developers don?t have a loan, the project doesn?t move ahead.

?The nature of the economy clearly dictates you move at a slower pace,? said Jay Doherty, president of Cabot, Cabot & Forbes. ?Right now you couldn?t close a construction loan. You can talk seriously with banks about it. We?re not sure when the construction (financing) market will be alive.?

The first phase is estimated to cost about $700 million, but the price tag could be reduced if the project qualifies for state and federal funding. The total cost of the project upon completion is reported to top $1.5 billion.

Doherty?s equity partner is Wilton, Conn.-based Commonfund Realty Inc. Doherty said Commonfund has not shut down funding for the project and ?is continuing to fund very substantial expenditures on a monthly basis well into the seven figures.?

While the first phase of the project is made up largely of retailers, very few have pulled out of deals, according to several real estate sources. Previous reports indicated the project is 80 percent pre-leased to 90 tenants including Kohl?s, Talbots and Best Buy. Few, if any, retailers signed up to lease space at the project have gone under, said real estate sources.

Officials from Cabot, Cabot & Forbes met with Westwood town officials last week to discuss the future of the site given the fact that the construction is not progressing.

Doherty said while the ?strategic focus is not on trying to accelerate on site construction,? he stressed: ?We?re alive." Westwood Station has fallen prey to unfavorable market conditions that have seized up credit markets and made large-scale development nearly impossible.

Chris McKeown, project manager for the town of Westwood, said the developers were ?going full bore but scaled back until the economic outlook brightens.?

?The developers and the town are both saying, ?Let?s be pragmatic about it,? ? McKeown said.

McKeown said the developers are continuing to finish design and planning of the site. He said members of the development and construction teams met last week to discuss ways to stabilize the site until development can officially move forward.

Last November Doherty began reducing the cost of the first phase of the project in order to make the project more attractive to prospective lenders. At the time he said he needed a construction loan by the ?warm weather months next year.?

?The irony is, had the permitting gone faster, I think they?d have a much bigger problem than they have now,?

McKeown said. ?They are ready to go when the credit markets and the economy come around.?

Link (http://www.bizjournals.com/albany/othercities/boston/stories/2009/02/09/daily42.html?)

[Ron Newman]

Does Wegman's still go forward on this site?

[anon]

yes it is still in the plans

[ablarc]

?The irony is, had the permitting gone faster, I think they?d have a much bigger problem than they have now,?
Every setback has a silver lining.

[palindrome]

State offers $55M for Westwood Station project
By Herald Staff | Friday, January 22, 2010 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Real Estate

The state is willing to spend up to $55 million for infrastructure improvements that could jump-start the controversial $1.5 billion Westwood Station complex.

In a letter sent Tuesday, the state?s Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development agreed to provide up to $19 million for the construction of Westwood Station Boulevard and for changes to the intersection of Canton Street and University Avenue.

And MassDOT offered up to $36 million to build a new ramp off Interstate 95 North at Dedham Street in Canton, to widen the ?Dedham Street Corridor,? and to modify the ramp off I-95 South at Blue Hill Drive.

The state?s investment is expected to allow construction of the 4.5 million-square-foot project to start later this year if the developers can meet certain application and settlement deadlines.

The first phase of the development is expected to include 400,000 square feet of retail with a Wegmans supermarket and Target store. More retail, plus offices and housing, are envisioned for the transit-oriented development as the commercial and residential real estate markets improve.

The project cleared a major hurdle earlier this week when the Supreme Judicial Court agreed with a lower court ruling that an environmental challenge by the neighboring town of Canton was invalid because it was filed too late.

Jay Doherty, CEO of co-developer Cabot, Cabot & Forbes of Boston, declined comment. Westwood Station?s other developers are Newton?s New England Development and Commonfund Realty of Wilton, Conn.



Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/business/real_estate/view.bg?articleid=1227364

[czsz]

Westwood Station Boulevard? Can anyone come up with a good street name anymore?

I mean, University Avenue is ridiculous here, because there isn't a university for miles (WTF is with this name!?) but at least it sounds halfway normal.

[PlanBoston]

Westwood Station Boulevard?

Not nearly as bad as Marina Park Drive.

[Ron Newman]

I've never understood the name 'University Avenue' in that area. To my knowledge there has never been a college anywhere near it.

[jass]

Why am I not surprised that all the infrastructure money for Westwood STATION has nothing for the actual stop that would serve the compound?

Even if amtrak does own the station, how about a few dollars for it?

[ablarc]

I've never understood the name 'University Avenue' in that area. To my knowledge there has never been a college anywhere near it.
They mean 'Universe'. It's everywhere around there.

[Ron Newman]

The station was already expanded a few years ago; I don't think it needs any additional work now.

[Mayor Menino's Crohn's]

http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2010/12/03/westwood_stations_catch_22/?p1=Well_Opinion_links


Home / Globe / Opinion / Op-ed Paul McMorrow

Westwood Station?s Catch-22
By Paul McMorrow
December 3, 2010
E-mail this article To: Invalid E-mail address Add a personal message:(80 character limit) Your E-mail: Invalid E-mail address
Sending your articleYour article has been sent. E-mail| Print| Reprints| Comments (14)Text size ? + MASSACHUSETTS OFFICIALS have been promising to use highway spending to jump-start the stalled Westwood Station mixed-use development project for more than a year and a half. There?s one issue standing in the way: It?s a little tough to hand a project a fistful of cash if the project doesn?t exactly have a developer.

Tweet 1 person Tweeted thisYahoo! Buzz ShareThis The struggles of Westwood Station, the beleaguered mega-development at the confluence of Interstates 93 and 95, show the limitations of one of the key cogs in state and federal officials? economic recovery efforts: targeted infrastructure investments made in the name of economic development. At Westwood, $55 million in highway ramp construction was supposed to revive a stalled $1.5 billion development project. Instead, its future is now more in doubt than ever.

Westwood isn?t the only ambitious construction project to sputter in the face of state infrastructure aid. The Patrick administration tried to open up a 300-acre biotech park off Route 24 in Fall River with $35 million in infrastructure funds, only to have that city?s leadership turn around and decide the park would be a wonderful place to put a tribal casino.

Still, the Westwood example is notable for its size, and for the key role prospective public funds continue to play in its ongoing travails. The project currently lacks a real developer, and a development program. There?s no state infrastructure money to be had without them. And there lies the Catch-22 ? without the state funds, the private investment can?t happen, so the project is hard-pressed to attract interested developers and financial backers. But public aid won?t be coming without firm financing. There?s no end to that standoff in sight.

The ambitious Westwood Station development, which had promised to bring smart growth and new vitality to the Westwood-Canton line, has been a series of train wrecks piling on top of one another. The project?s original developers, Commonfund and Cabot, Cabot & Forbes, famously became embroiled in a State House showdown over liquor licenses, and in a nasty feud with the town of Canton, which fought the project all the way to the Supreme Judicial Court. Then the developers were squeezed out of the deal by their lender, Anglo Irish Bank, which sunk $120 million into the project, and which happens to be a ward of the bailed-out Irish government. Now the old developers are being sued for millions of dollars in road construction damages by the town of Westwood.

The project?s erstwhile new developer, Eastern Real Estate, thought it would make a killing in its last investment, a foreclosed office park in Waltham; that deal soon ran out of money, and Eastern was forced to turn over the park?s keys to its lender. The Westwood Station deal was supposed to be its comeback. But, according to multiple sources close to the deal, it has been unable to come up with the cash to actually buy out Anglo. The nationalized bank, which is under tremendous pressure in Dublin to liquidate its real estate portfolio, still controls the 150-acre development site. A foreclosure auction could be looming.

Westwood Station was supposed to usher a new, denser kind of mixed-use development into the suburbs, with a thousand residences and millions of square feet of retail and office space clustered around a major rail hub. That vision was put on hold when the economy crashed, in favor of a phased plan that emphasized big box retailers like Wegmans and Target in the short term.

Sources close to the deal say when Anglo agreed to sell its mortgage to Eastern, the real estate firm tried to scale down the project even more. That got state transportation and economic development officials wondering just what kind of project they were about to partner with. The state?s second-guessing then undermined Eastern?s position, since $55 million in free highway work was part of what they believed they were buying. Without the public infrastructure, the project wouldn?t work. And the absence of a firm funding commitment from the state has helped plunge an already troubled development into a deeper level of chaos.

Still, it?s not clear how much of a benefit taxpayers would reap by investing in an ever-shrinking project. The $55 million public commitment was supposed to be a down payment on 4.5 million square feet of private development. It wasn?t just supposed to speed the arrival of an outsized strip mall.

Paul McMorrow is an associate editor of CommonWealth Magazine. His column appears regularly in the Globe.

? Copyright 2010 Globe Newspaper Company.

[NJBostonFan]

You guys know any other good locations for Wegmans in the Boston area after Northbourogh and Westwood?

[Mayor Menino's Crohn's]

^I doubt that after Northbourough and Westwood, there would be another Wegmans in the Boston area. Since it's a Western NY Staple, and they're just making their way east (i.e. past 'Cuse), my guess would be that Wegmans would be Western MA.

[BosDevelop]

You guys know any other good locations for Wegmans in the Boston area after Northbourogh and Westwood?


what about a Wegman's on Route 9 in Newton where the Omni Foods used to be (across from the Chestnut Hill Mall). They are planning a development there which will have a supermarket. Although traffic and space would be major concerns and perhaps deal breakers.

[palindrome]

what about a Wegman's on Route 9 in Newton where the Omni Foods used to be (across from the Chestnut Hill Mall). They are planning a development there which will have a supermarket. Although traffic and space would be major concerns and perhaps deal breakers.

I believe that development is about 9/10ths of the way through approval and should get the go ahead by spring.

[NJBostonFan]

what about a Wegman's on Route 9 in Newton where the Omni Foods used to be (across from the Chestnut Hill Mall). They are planning a development there which will have a supermarket. Although traffic and space would be major concerns and perhaps deal breakers.

Not to mention the fact that the space available for a food store is 50,000 square feet and that could be a bit tricky. What about Waltham for the third Wegmans location in Boston? Since land in Boston would be a bit pricey and Wegmans wont be opening downtown anytime soon, although it could be possible to incorporate a Wegmans into the base of a condo complex that is similar to ones being built in Vancouver, a store in Waltham would work. Or, if Assembly Square Marketplace is demolished and the redevelopment plans are tweaked a bit, perhaps Wegmans can open a store there.

[NJBostonFan]

Has anybody heard that Wegmans will be opening their next MA store in Burlington, in the Northwest Park Redevelopment. Here is the story: http://www.wickedlocal.com/homepage/news/x724668774/Wegmans-proposing-to-locate-at-Burlingtons-Northwest-Park

Personally, I think Waltham would've been a better choice. But, what can I say. After Burlington opens in 2013, I assume they'll open their long delayed Westwood Station store. After that, where do you think would be a good location for a 4th store? Should they open in Fenway, like they had planned for originally? Or should they do the North Shore? Somerville? Another location in Metrowest? Sound off.

[KentXie]

I doubt Wegman will open their store in Westwood anytime soon. The area is a grassland now.

[stellarfun]

Westwood station going to foreclosure.

http://www.bostonherald.com/business/real_estate/view/2011_0901opportunity_knocks_new_paths_for_mandarin _westwood_station_project/srvc=business&position=also

[Ron Newman]

so what does that mean for the Wegman's construction?

[BosDevelop]

so what does that mean for the Wegman's construction?

I bet it still goes forward once the site is sold at a foreclosure auction. After all, Wegman's likes the location or they wouldn't have selected it originally. My best guess is that we see a Wegman's opening on this site in the fall of 2014.

[whighlander]

I'll bet that the Wegman's in Burlington at the redeveloped NW Park will be the model

Both the income profile of the surronding area and the type of location are very similar

The big difference is that in Burlington with Nordblom you have one of the most experienced developers of that kind of a park -- versus ??? in Westwood

Note that for you history buffs -- NW Park in Burlington vies for the distinction of being the first industrial park -- the origin of the designation of RT-128 America's Technology Highway

from their website:

http://www.networkdriveburlington.com/amenities.html


"Northwest Park Development
Northwest Park is currently a 1,400,000 s.f. flex office/R&D park that has recently been rezoned to 3,200,000 s.f. for the development of a pedestrian friendly, amenity rich, vibrant mixed-use environment. The state permitting process is at the final stage and 10 liquor licenses have already been granted. The total development comprises 600,000 s.f. of retail, 10 restaurants, 300 residential units, a boutique hotel and an additional 2,200,000 s.f. of Class A office space, all within walking distance. The retail walking street which is to be created, will provide tenant's employees with a sense of "urban energy" and city-like ambience, which will be unmatched outside of downtown Boston. This is a unique human resources opportunity to locate employees within an energy-giving environment, while maintaining a suburban operational cost structure"

[whighlander]

Here's a very long URl with a render of the reevloped NW parkin Burlington with the Wegman's -- very small with minimal detail on the Wegman's (center back of image)

http://www.wickedlocal.com/burlington/breaking/x724668774/Wegmans-proposing-to-locate-at-Burlingtons-Northwest-Park?photo=0#axzz1WujTuwYKhttp://www.wickedlocal.com/burlington/breaking/x724668774/Wegmans-proposing-to-locate-at-Burlingtons-Northwest-Park?photo=0#axzz1WujTuwYK

[BostonUrbEx]

As I understand this project is essentially dead, but here's a PDF that was never posted:

http://www.elkus-manfredi.com/upload/attachment/WESTWOOD_Broch.pdf

[NJBostonFan]

Westwood is still listed on Wegmans site for future locations, along with a store in Chestnut Hill. According to news reports, it's supposed to be a smaller, 70,000 square foot urban store, which they say can fit in Brookline.

[BosDevelop]

what about a Wegman's on Route 9 in Newton where the Omni Foods used to be (across from the Chestnut Hill Mall). They are planning a development there which will have a supermarket. Although traffic and space would be major concerns and perhaps deal breakers.

damn, I'm good! LOL

[NJBostonFan]

I think, they can fit a full sized store in Boston, or in Somerville at Assembly Square.

[F-Line to Dudley]

I think, they can fit a full sized store in Boston, or in Somerville at Assembly Square.

I'd prefer that over the proposed Wal-Mart Market any day.

Don't ever ever ever buy fresh meat product from Wal-Mart Market. Evar.

[Arborway]

from their website:

http://www.networkdriveburlington.com/amenities.html


Ugh, what a sterile-looking place.

[Ron Newman]

Network Drive is the Sun Miicrosystems (now Oracle) office park.

A lot of what is shown in those photos, and listed in the left column, is in and around the Burlington Mall ... which is not reasonable walking distance to Network Drive.

[whighlander]

Network Drive is the Sun Miicrosystems (now Oracle) office park.

A lot of what is shown in those photos, and listed in the left column, is in and around the Burlington Mall ... which is not reasonable walking distance to Network Drive.

Ron -- I don't think that the ad implies that you can walk to any of them

What the ad suggests is that all of those are easily accessible (on your way home driving)

If you recall back when Sun came east -- there was a huge commotion over how we were finally getting one of those self-contained glitzy west coast campus developments. It started off that way when they built a whole new road for the complex. Then after a few years Sun started to stumble on the hardware side as the power of PC's made UNIX workstations less viable and less high margin -- Sun then abandoned the expansion of the complex.

I think the complex which is likely to now be built-out and now will be combined with the rebuild of NW Park is a major improvement for Burlington -- no-one is suggesting it is Downtown Crossing or even Station Landing

from the Network Drive website

"Network Drive at Northwest Park sits on approximately 158 acres at the intersection of four major arteries: Route 128, Route 3, Route 62 and Middlesex Turnpike. Three campus entrances manage traffic flows to and from Network Drive itself. Convenient public transportation is available to and from Alewife (Red Line service) through the MBTA, and to Lowell via the Lowell Transport Authority. Network Drive offers 3,006 surface parking spaces, including 50 handicapped spots. In addition, Nordblom Company controls the adjacent Northwest Park, a 127-acre site zoned for 3.2 million s.f. of mixed-use development, providing additional amenities and expansion opportunities.



Built to institutional standards with an unmatched infrastructure, the properties at Network Drive at Northwest Park feature quality finishes throughout. The campus is dynamic encouraging interaction among tenants in the Amenities Center and within the beautifully landscaped grounds. The overall infrastructure is modern and robust, boasting redundant power feeds from Burlington and Bedford, large back-up generators and covered loading docks. Large tenants may take advantage of the campus’s unusually ample contiguous space, and have signage opportunities for corporate identity."

[PaulC]

Another project back from the dead:
http://www.bostonherald.com/business/real_estate/view/20220413long-stalled_westwood_station_gets_new_owners_new_name/srvc=business&position=also
A group of top Hub real estate developers and investors has purchased Route 128’s long-stalled Westwood Station development out of foreclosure, with plans to finish part of it by 2014.

“We think we’re kind of the ‘dream team’ of the development world, and we’re going to take a fresh look at the property and come up with something really exciting,” said Ted Tye of National Development/Charles River Realty Investors, one of the 130-acre parcel’s new owners.

National Development teamed up with New England Development, Eastern Real Estate and Clarion Partners to buy the Westwood property for an undisclosed sum.


An old industrial park adjacent to the MBTA’s Route 128 Station, the site offers excellent access to Route 128, Interstate 95 and public transportation.

Amtrak’s high-speed Acela trains and other rail services stop at the Route 128 station.

So does the MBTA’s Providence/Stoughton commuter-rail line, which runs to downtown Boston in one direction and Providence’s T.F. Green Airport in the other.

The station also has a massive 2,600-space parking garage.

Cabot, Cabot & Forbes led the original effort to redevelop the site, with National Development serving as one of the project’s builders.

However, Cabot’s original plan to build shops, offices and residences stalled as the economy and real estate market tanked.

Construction of Dedham’s nearby Legacy Place shopping mall also cut into Westwood Station’s viability.

As a result, the project’s new owners have decided to reopen the development’s original plans and make changes to fit current market conditions.

“We know it’ll be a mixed use development that will include some offices, some retail and some residential,” Tye said. “But we’re going to take a fresh look at the property to see how it all fits together.”

New England Development chief Stephen Karp said Target, Wegmans and other big retailers have already “expressed strong interest in this location, and we anticipate that they will be key components of this new development.”

Reflecting the project’s fresh start, the new developers have also decided to rechristen the project “University Station.”

The new name reflects the property’s location at the intersection of Route 128 and University Avenue.

[BostonUrbEx]

More of this 'University' crap with now universities in site.


Whatever, interested to see what moves forward now. No mention of all the freight rail access, though? A pretty key component to Westwood's industrial park, I think.

[F-Line to Dudley]

More of this 'University' crap with now universities in site.


Whatever, interested to see what moves forward now. No mention of all the freight rail access, though? A pretty key component to Westwood's industrial park, I think.

The active business is pretty well tucked in on the Norwood side of the border at the very southwest corner of the industrial park. They can easily build mixed [whatever vaporware this umpteenth new developer wants before it stalls again] and the industry won't bother anyone. The two warehouses way back on Oceana Way are the most active shippers. The northern mini-yard tracks at Harvard St. abut 2 demolished lots. Not exactly a huge loss if those parcels go, but I have no idea how far back they want to build this utopia. It starts intermixing with other light industry the further back it stretches, and those are the companies that aren't moving so the easterly side of University Ave. starts becoming a more awkward coexistence after about 1/3 mile back of the station.

It doesn't seem like it's ever going to be possible to fill all that massive acreage with the hex this site is under. The article only mentions 130 acres. There's way more open space than that around it, so it sounds like this is centered mostly between the station driveway and Rosemont Rd. 130 acres is still a tall order at the rate this is going. They might as well just draw the line at Rosemont, concentrate on building up immediate density right by the station, plant a thick band of vegetation and maybe a sound-buffering grassy knoll separating the zones, and concede the backlots to being continued zoned industry. At some point they gotta choose between utopia that's never going to happen on the scale they want (if at all) and getting the biggest development space in town kicking in some viable revenue instead of being a property tax black hole for decades on end. That is the single-best open industrial location in the entire 128 belt for companies that have to do shipping. 128/1/95/24...bam!...right there. Norwood Airport...bam!...right there. CSX out of Readville...bam!...right there.

Home Depot sank some good coin 10+ years ago into their big warehouse on Oceana for a reason. But then again...that's right over the Norwood side of the border where that town was actively wooing industrial park business on their share of U Ave. Most of their non-wetlands lots are full and active and the empties are sandwich space between businesses...not the barren moonscape as far as the eye can see of the Westwood side. If Westwood weren't so stubborn holding out for the Landing utopia-or-bust they could've advertised and filled most of that rear space with similar-ilk industry by now and still been able to keep the northerly parcels abutting the station for mixed use. I mean, it is what it is...an island disconnected from the entirety of the residential street grid, backended by a half-mile of active-use industrial park that ain't going anywhere, and surrounded on 2-1/2 sides by the region's busiest highway interchange, miles of Neponset Reservation, and buffer land for the airport.


2014 target is laughable even if these developers can get something going. But if it all sits as dirt patch for the balance of the decade even the most stubborn 'burbs have to come to grips with reality...and the more expedient paths to tax revenues.

[Ron Newman]

How did this street get that name, when there is no university anywhere near it?

[PaulC]

But Westwood town meeting members are finally ready to get development at the 130-acre property near the town’s train station back on track.

The 2 million-square-foot project by New England Development, Eastern Development, and National Development will eventually include tenants Wegmans and Target, each occupying 130,000-square-foot anchor locations. The plan also calls for as many as 650 apartments and condos, other stores, offices, a hotel, and an assisted-living facility. About 550,000 square feet of retail space and 350 apartments will be built in the first phase of development.



If approved, construction for the project would start over the summer with retail stores slated to open in the fall of 2014, and the apartments opening in spring of 2015

http://www.bizjournals.com/boston/search/results?q=westwood

[F-Line to Dudley]

http://www.bizjournals.com/boston/search/results?q=westwood

This is the development equivalent of 10 years of "Duke Nukem Forever's release is right around the corner!" :rolleyes:

[tmac9wr]

This is the development equivalent of 10 years of "Duke Nukem Forever's release is right around the corner!" :rolleyes:

haha hopefully whenever this happens it's of higher quality than Duke Nukem Forever...otherwise we could be looking at some really, really bad development. Bluth Model Home type of bad.

[vanshnookenraggen]

God don't remind me of DNF. What a let down. Hopefully Half Life 3 doesn't match it.

[Commuting Boston Student]

haha hopefully whenever this happens it's of higher quality than Duke Nukem Forever...otherwise we could be looking at some really, really bad development. Bluth Model Home type of bad.

Oh boy, do I ever have some bad news for you my friend!!

http://sae.tweek.us/static/images/emoticons/getin.001.gif

[Beton Brut]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cE6wxDqdOV0

[Commuting Boston Student]

But in all seriousness...

Premiums associated with structured parking and increased density made the previous project significantly more costly than the latest version. While New England Development Vice President Paul Cincotta said the scaled-down design does make the plan more palatable to residents, the reduced size was really a result of dampened demand. “We didn’t believe the development density that was proposed in the earlier Westwood Station project is a feasible plan today,” Cincotta said.

This paragraph, and especially the part I emphasized, ought to give everyone cause for alarm.

[Hutchison]

Should it? I can think of a number of reasons why demand would drop for a suburban "fake neighborhood" development and most of them don't bother me at all.

[Commuting Boston Student]

Should it? I can think of a number of reasons why demand would drop for a suburban "fake neighborhood" development and most of them don't bother me at all.

For a manufactured suburban neighborhood, sure.

But Route 128 is 15~20 minutes away from Boston, with great highway access, great rail access, the project to fix the 128/95/93 junction should in theory reconnect the area to the park land on the other side of the highway, and with the current political/development situation in Boston, having a literal wasteland in that particular location should be generating ridiculous amounts of demand to develop anything at all on the property.

The "hotel" part of this project is pathetic and I am stunned that nobody has apparently even put forth a plan for a more dense hotel - particularly since Boston's starting to have a real problem with hotel space as well, and a 1000-room hotel adds exactly 0 children to the school system, which seems to have been a constant refrain from the "concerned citizens." But, nope, we can't manage more than 160 rooms.

On the retail half of this fool's errand, we're promised half a million square feet of the latest and greatest in strip malls, anchored by - of all things - a Wegman's. Oh, and Target. Can't forget the Target, that's integral to this project's "success"!

Demand and opportunity abound here. The location at least should be generating far more noise, offers to buy/assume control of the project as a result of the fact that it's been languishing in development hell for so long we can make Duke Nukem Forever jokes about it. Instead, the best we can manage is a send-up for Anywhere, USA circa 1950 and even THAT is losing its attractiveness? The jokers running this project surely realize by now that the current model for what the project is going to become won't and can't work. Why are they pushing forward with "the same thing but less of it?" Why has nobody proposed something different?

Either Westwood NIMBYs have far more teeth than I thought, or we've got a huge problem.

[Equilibria]

For a manufactured suburban neighborhood, sure.

But Route 128 is 15~20 minutes away from Boston, with great highway access, great rail access, the project to fix the 128/95/93 junction should in theory reconnect the area to the park land on the other side of the highway, and with the current political/development situation in Boston, having a literal wasteland in that particular location should be generating ridiculous amounts of demand to develop anything at all on the property.

The "hotel" part of this project is pathetic and I am stunned that nobody has apparently even put forth a plan for a more dense hotel - particularly since Boston's starting to have a real problem with hotel space as well, and a 1000-room hotel adds exactly 0 children to the school system, which seems to have been a constant refrain from the "concerned citizens." But, nope, we can't manage more than 160 rooms.

On the retail half of this fool's errand, we're promised half a million square feet of the latest and greatest in strip malls, anchored by - of all things - a Wegman's. Oh, and Target. Can't forget the Target, that's integral to this project's "success"!

Demand and opportunity abound here. The location at least should be generating far more noise, offers to buy/assume control of the project as a result of the fact that it's been languishing in development hell for so long we can make Duke Nukem Forever jokes about it. Instead, the best we can manage is a send-up for Anywhere, USA circa 1950 and even THAT is losing its attractiveness? The jokers running this project surely realize by now that the current model for what the project is going to become won't and can't work. Why are they pushing forward with "the same thing but less of it?" Why has nobody proposed something different?

Either Westwood NIMBYs have far more teeth than I thought, or we've got a huge problem.

I would much rather that location get a Target (the 128 belt's first, BTW - it's a huge pain to go to the one in Framingham) than another "lifestyle center" with a fake main street lined with bling outlet stores. Target is where actual people buy actual things, and the company seems genuinely open to some pedestrianization and transit access for their stores. Scollay Square isn't walking through that door, guys.