Legacy Place | Dedham

palindrome

palindrome

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This is actually old, but i didn't see a thread for it on here after searching, so i though i would post anyways. I believe this is proposed for where the current Dedham Cinema is right now.

http://www.legacyplacededham.com/

DEDHAM -

The Planning Board last night, after 20 meetings over 13 months, closed the public hearing on the Legacy Place lifestyle center and began deliberating whether to approve the project.

Planners now have 90 days to issue or deny a special permit.

Residents, town officials and civic groups gathered at the final meeting to issue requests for compensation from Legacy Place developers National Amusements and W/S Development and offer their preference on road changes resulting from the project.

The chiefs of the Fire and Police departments called for money to purchase equipment and hire new personnel to handle additional crime and emergencies anticipated to accompany the new shopping complex.

The Parks and Recreation Commission renewed a request for $1.5 million to improve town parks and the Dedham Square Circle asked for $1 million to bolster its organization helping downtown businesses.

State Rep. Paul McMurtry, D-Dedham, setting aside his role representing the 11th Norfolk District to speak as the owner of the Dedham Community Theatre, said he supported calls to limit the number of screens in the new Legacy Place cinema to 12, instead of 16.

"I purchased the Dedham Community Theatre with the confidence I could compete in the industry with National Amusements," McMurtry said. "But it is a product-driven industry and we fight on a weekly basis for films."

McMurtry said the additional four screens planned for Legacy Place would hurt the Community Theatre's ability to compete for crossover independent films, such as a current movie playing at the Square moviehouse, "Sicko."

But Legacy Place attorney Peter Zahka, offering his final summary of the proposal, said the developers would not offer compensation for problems in town not directly caused by the project.

The new cinema, he said, would be 16 screens or nothing.

"A 12-screen theater will not be built and would derail the entire project," Zahka said.

Final roadway changes were also discussed at the meeting, including a recent request for a traffic circle, or roundabout, on Rustcraft Road at Central Avenue.

Town traffic consultant William Steffens said a traffic circle would be effective in slowing traffic on Rustcraft Road.

"It will do what you have said you want to do there," Steffens said.

Legacy Place is a planned 90-business open-air complex including shops, restaurants, a movie theater, grocery store and corporate headquarters on Providence Highway and Elm Street.

The Planning Board has 90 days to negotiate with the developer over compensation and conditions of approval of the project before it must either approve it or deny it.
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The town is asking for $2.5m to improve things that have nothing to do with the project?

$2.5M just to start building... :roll:
 
Dedham Square is a traditional New England town center, and the Dedham Community Theatre has been showing movies for 80 years. Wouldn't it be a sad irony if both were put out of business by a highway sprawl development with "Legacy" in its name?

I'm glad someone is trying to stand up for the town center and the existing theatre.
 
Ron Newman said:
Dedham Square is a traditional New England town center, and the Dedham Community Theatre has been showing movies for 80 years. Wouldn't it be a sad irony if both were put out of business by a highway sprawl development with "Legacy" in its name?

I'm glad someone is trying to stand up for the town center and the existing theatre.
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It's called progress.

Finally, a developer than puts his foot down and says "it's my land, and you're not extorting money out of me to let me use it".

It's a developer's right to develop his land. It's not a business's right to retain a profitable business forever. If you are afraid business will suffer, and in the end it does, try to get people to go to the theater more, and if that doesn't work, get people to donate money to keep it afloat. If you can't, it's not worth saving.
 
Wouldn't it be a sad irony if both were put out of business by a highway sprawl development with "Legacy" in its name?

Ron, I guess you've never been to a "lifestyle center" project but they're certainly not highway sprawl unless you mean that you have to drive to get there...though you have to drive to get to Dedham Center as well. We live near three of these "lifestyle centers" in Atlanta; Atlantic Station right in Midtown, Lindbergh, and another just a few miles further out and they're very nice. All contain above and underground parking, residential units, many of which are above the ground floor retail (too bad this project doesn't contain residential units above), plenty of shops, restaurants, supermarkets, etc. Atlantic Station is very similar to Station Landing in Medford or the new development in Westwood, Westwood Station and I wouldn't call Station Landing or Westwood Station, highway sprawl. Too bad that South Bay was built a bit before this type of concept; would have been a perfect location for this sort of development; underground/multilevel parking with residential units built above the retail and commercial elements.
 
^Are these fair comparisons? I'm not at all familiar with the Dedham location, but Station landing and Westwood station are built around public transportation, so they obviously are not highway sprawl. How about this legacy project?
 
^^^^^^

I guess we have to define "highway sprawl" before we make any comparisons. Frankly, I'm not familiar with the term highway sprawl. I imagine it means if you have to drive to get to a particular place, then it's highway sprawl? Or, is it when you build a new highway to an unpopulated area and development occurs due to the new highway?
 
Dedham Center is where it has been since the 1630s. 'Legacy Place' is out on Route 1. The town should take reasonable steps to ensure that the latter does not harm the former.
 
If you looked at the renderings on the site, it doesn't look like something i would define as highway sprawl (see: southbay).

I would however, call it a more urban sprawl.
 
It does not look to me like this project contains any residences, or is within reasonable walking distance of residences. It also isn't on the bus line or near a train station. So I'm not sure what real benefit it provides.

Not that I'm against it, just that it makes sense for Dedham to want to protect its downtown.
 
I don't see what the Dedham Community Theatre has to be afraid of. Kendall Square survives with a mix of independent films with the two mainstream Boston megaplexes not too far away. The DCT just might have to be a bit more creative with its film selection vis-a-vis the new Dedham cinema...and keep its "Bad Art" exhibitions coming.
 
Looks like an updated and expanded copy of Garden City in Cranston, RI.
 
Keep in mind that the new theater would simply replace the horribly outdated Showcase. I don't see a major threat to the Dedham community theater.

I for one can't wait to see the Showcase go. It's almost as bad as my nearby Circle Cinemas...ugh
 
I was just about to suggest that the Circle ought to be next up for replacement.

If the redevelopment could help define the southwestern edge of Cleveland Circle, so much the better.
 
I love $5 Tuesdays at circle cinema during the school year though!

Wasn't there plans to replace circle with condo's or something a few years back? It would make for some good TOD, but it serves a great purpose as a theater.
 
blade_bltz said:
Keep in mind that the new theater would simply replace the horribly outdated Showcase. I don't see a major threat to the Dedham community theater.
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But increasing from 12 screens to 16. The Community Theatre owner may feel that those extra four screens will grab everything he now shows on his two.
 
czsz said:
I was just about to suggest that the Circle ought to be next up for replacement.

If the redevelopment could help define the southwestern edge of Cleveland Circle, so much the better.
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I've been waiting for years for the Circle to bite the dust. Sadly BC students with no idea of how to get to the AMC Fenway keep that place in business. I would love to see Cleveland Circle completely redeveloped.
 
Legacy almost a done deal
DEDHAM -

The Planning Board last night agreed to a design for the Legacy Place shopping complex with one fewer movie screen than originally planned, but no reduction in the project's retail space.

Board member Ralph Steeves, who last week asked Legacy Place co-developers W/S Development and National Amusements to cut 60,000 square feet from the complex, this week said he would not vote to deny the project, despite still feeling it is too large.

At the beginning of discussions about the size of Legacy Place, Steeves said he was concerned that Legacy Place provided 1,200 fewer parking spaces than recommended by Dedham zoning laws for a project its size. Since Legacy Place would be located in the Research, Development & Office district on Providence Highway, the board can decide the amount of parking needed.

"I still have a problem," Steeves said. "Twelve hundred parking spaces will not disappear."

But after three other members of the board said they would vote to approve the project's size and parking plan, Steeves said he would not stand in the way.

"I've sat on the board for many years and some of the finest men I have worked with are on the board," Steeves said. "What I am going to move on is that (Legacy Place) go forward."

While Legacy Place developers did not make any concessions to the board on the overall size of the project, they did agree to cut one movie screen from the 16-screen cinema planned for the site to soften its impact on the Dedham Community Theatre.

Legacy Place attorney Peter Zahka said National Amusements representatives had agreed to the cut after discussions with Dedham Community Theatre owner and state Rep. Paul McMurtry, D-Dedham.

"I believe that they are sincere in their statements about not playing art films, which are the bread and butter of the Community Theatre," McMurtry said. "I feel the one screen cut is enough to achieve the balance we need to coexist."

McMurtry had expressed concern at previous meetings that the 16 screens planned for a new Legacy Place theater, four more than at the current Showcase Cinema, would take films from his downtown moviehouse. The number of seats in the proposed new theater, 2,999, will remain the same despite one fewer screen.

With the two most-contentious issues facing Legacy Place resolved, the only major obstacle standing between the project and board approval is an agreement on a compensation payment to the town for new demands on municipal services caused by the development.

Zahka said W/S Development and National Amusements were offering a one-time $500,000 payment to compensate town departments from potential strain from the project.

But board member James O'Brien and Chairman Michael Podolski said $500,000 was "not enough" to get a deal done. They did not offer a counterproposal.

The board will continue to negotiate with the developers over the amount of compensation, plus details of roadway and other mitigation plans at their next meeting Aug. 27.
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Board gives the OK to Legacy
Patrick Anderson/Daily News staff
Mon Oct 08, 2007, 03:08 PM EDT

DEDHAM - The Board of Selectmen last night approved a series of roadway improvements required of Legacy Place developers by the Planning Board, eliminating the final major hurdle facing the Providence Highway shopping, dinning, cinema and office complex.
The most controversial element of the street changes ? designed to offset traffic to and from the development and included by the Planning Board as conditions of a special permit ? was a proposed dead-end of Central Avenue at the intersection of Rustcraft Road.
The Planning Board had mandated street signs restricting turns into the neighborhood be installed and traffic studies conducted before implementing a cul-de-sac. This was to prevent traffic from using Wentworth Street, Jersey Street and Central Avenue to cut through from East Street to Legacy Place,
But selectmen, responding to requests by residents of the neighborhood for an immediate cul-de-sac, expressed interest in skipping over the signage step.
After unanimously approving the Planning Board's road requirements, the selectmen, as road commissioners of the town, voted to pursue immediate design and implementation of the cul-de-sac, paid for by Legacy Place.
Attorney Peter Zahka, representing Legacy Place developers National Amusements and W/S Development, said the two companies ``will work with the Board of Selectmen the way we worked with the Planning Board.''
``If they want the cul-de-sac, we will clearly do this,'' Zahka said.
Planning Board Chairman Michael Podolski said his board would need to vote that an acceleration of the Central Avenue traffic plan does not represent a ``substantial change'' to the special permit it approved for Legacy Place. He said the board was likely to do so.
Selectman Dennis Teehan, the most vocal supporter of Legacy Place throughout its more than one-year permitting process, urged the board to approve the roadwork.
``I think time is important and, with a competing project in Westwood, we want to move forward with this,'' Teehan said. ``It will be very difficult to get a consensus on Rustcraft Road and Central Avenue. I think we need to support what the Planning Board has done.''
Teehan also cited recommendations against the cul-de-sac by the town's police and fire chiefs on the grounds it could increase emergency response times.
Selectman Marie-Louise Kehoe said she was hesitant to approve anything without assurances the Central Avenue neighborhood would be protected from cut-through traffic.
``It would be difficult for me to vote for this without a note to the Planning Board asking for a cul-de-sac design,'' Kehoe said. ``Because I have reservations about the East Street traffic signal and cut-through traffic. I thought we would spend more than two meetings on this.''
The other major street change inspiring debate and affecting the same neighborhood is the proposed installation of a traffic light at the intersection of East Street and Rustcraft Road.
Selectman James MacDonald, who had previously opposed the traffic light at the intersection, said he would reluctantly accept it.
``I have said I was against a light at East Street and Rustcraft Road before, but after what I have heard from traffic experts I will support it,'' MacDonald said. ``Now we have the opportunity to make sure it turns out right.''
Other approved road changes include the installation of turn restriction signs at Elm Street and Robinwood Road; a new turning lane on Cedar Street and the Endicott Rotary; new turning lanes at the intersection of Eastern Avenue and East Street; and reconstruction of the intersection of Washington Street, Elm Street and Highland Avenue.
Until selectmen approved the road changes mandated by the Planning Board, Legacy Place developers could not secure financing for the project or begin construction, Mark Hebert, project manager for W/S Development said.
With approval, Hebert said his company hoped to complete financing within 30 days and break ground within 60 days.
Daily News staff writer Patrick Anderson can be reached at 781-433-8336 or panderso@cnc.com.
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So, groundbreaking in 60 days hopefully. Here is a map of the site, but i didn't know how to embed it. I don't know if this is the whole site, but it gives a general idea.

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=U...d=115695421469868392039.00043c0750782db47f737
 
Looks like this is starting up next week.

Legacy Place will include L.L. Bean and market
By Thomas C. Palmer Jr. Globe Staff / March 25, 2008

Despite difficulties in lending markets, the developers of a planned Dedham shopping center with as many as 80 stores and restaurants have secured construction financing and are set to break ground next week.

Legacy Place, at the intersection of Route 128 and Providence Highway, will have a 60,000-square-foot Whole Foods Market with a cafe and outdoor seating, a two-level L.L. Bean store, and a National Amusements Cinema de Lux premium movie theater complex.

Other tenants include Kings entertainment, which offers billiards, bowling, and beverages; a Legal Sea Foods; an Aquitaine restaurant and a Ruth's Chris Steak House; and clothiers Ann Taylor Loft for women and Pink for men, plus Gap, Levi's, and of course, a Starbucks.

"People have been trying to build better retail in this area for 20 years," said Dick Marks, a partner in WS De- velopment of Newton, one of the developers, which started planning four years ago. "You need to have enough different opportunities for people to visit as you can."

WS Development and partner National Amusements of Dedham have a loan of almost $200 million from Sovereign Bank to finance the 675,000-square-foot project.

"I've been in this business 30 years, and it's the worst credit market I've ever experienced," Marks said. "But they're obviously as confident as we are in this asset."

Designers for the retail portion of the project are PCA Architects of Cambridge. The architect for the theater complex on the site and for an 85,000-square-foot headquarters for National Amusements, owner of the cinema chain, is spg{+3} of Philadelphia.

Suffolk Construction will begin construction on April 1, with completion planned for summer 2009, including parking for 2,900 cars.

WS Development has been in heavy competition for some of the same prominent stores with the developers of Westwood Station, a retail, residential, and office development a few miles east along Route 128. The larger Westwood Station, which is also just getting underway, will have Target, Eddie Bauer, and McCormick & Schmick's Seafood, among others.

In Dedham, Massachusetts-based companies that will lease at Legacy Place include National Jean Co., City Sports, Finale desserts, Magic Beans baby goods, and lululemon athletica apparel.

Other signed tenants include Anthropologie, b.good health food, Banana Republic, Levi's, H&M clothing, Cold Stone Creamery, Qdoba Mexican Grill, Fossil watches, Dandelion dining, the house wares company Stil Haus, and Yankee Candle.

The developers will demolish the existing cinema and office buildings bracketing the large parking lot, then construct seven new buildings, mostly of two stories, on the 47-acre site.

Legacy Place will be a large example of the "lifestyle centers" that are in vogue in the retail world, and which comprise a shopping center with entertainment and a variety of restaurants.

Marks said shopping centers at South Shore Plaza in Braintree, the Natick Collection, and Chestnut Hill in Newton are far enough away that, even in a weak economy, Legacy Place should do well.

"That's why this is such a good market - there really isn't any competition," he said.

Thomas C. Palmer Jr. can be reached at tpalmer@globe.com
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.

http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2008/03/25/legacy_place_will_include_ll_bean_and_market/

Ron Newman said:
It does not look to me like this project contains any residences, or is within reasonable walking distance of residences. It also isn't on the bus line or near a train station. So I'm not sure what real benefit it provides.

Not that I'm against it, just that it makes sense for Dedham to want to protect its downtown.
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It's walking distance from the 34E bus on Washington Street and the Dedham Corp. Center on the Franklin/Forge Park line.
 
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