Westwood Station Developments

The station was already expanded a few years ago; I don't think it needs any additional work now.
 
http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/e...wood_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
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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.
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You guys know any other good locations for Wegmans in the Boston area after Northbourogh and Westwood?
 
^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.
 
NJBostonFan said:
You guys know any other good locations for Wegmans in the Boston area after Northbourogh and Westwood?
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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.
 
BosDevelop said:
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.
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I believe that development is about 9/10ths of the way through approval and should get the go ahead by spring.
 
BosDevelop said:
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.
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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.
 
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.
 
I doubt Wegman will open their store in Westwood anytime soon. The area is a grassland now.
 
Ron Newman said:
so what does that mean for the Wegman's construction?
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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.
 
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"
 
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 said:
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.
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damn, I'm good! LOL
 
I think, they can fit a full sized store in Boston, or in Somerville at Assembly Square.
 
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