Wellesley Town Meeting OKs purchase of 818, 822, 826 Worcester St., properties near Hardy school

April 10, 2018 by bbrown Leave a Comment

40B 818-822 wellesley Rte. 9

Wellesley Town Meeting voted Yes on Tuesday night on motions to acquire 1.3 acres of property at 818, 822 and 826 Worcester St., near Hardy Elementary School for a combined $3.5M by mid-May.

It will add value to the school site for the town, bringing the overall size of the lot to about 9 acres and improving the geometric shape of it, as outlined by Selectmen Jack Morgan during the Special Town Meeting (see Wellesley Public Media video). Importantly, it could help to alleviate Weston Road traffic by allowing access via Rte. 9 directly to Hardy or any new school that could be built on the site, he said.

A developer had originally attempted to purchase 818 and 822 Worcester St., for the purpose of developing a proposed 28-unit 40B project. The town claims it is not buying those properties to “prevent a 40B,” and wound up agreeing with the developer and property owners on a price without resorting to eminent domain, which was an option.

The town didn’t have such leverage on 826 Worcester St., so wound up paying more of a premium for that property, as the owners plan to seek a new place to live in Wellesley and will need a pretty penny to do so.

The acquisitions would be made for school, recreation, or general municipal purposes to be under the care of the BOS. Proposed amendments to reword the motions that would give the School Committee oversight of how the land might be used for school purposes were rejected.

No rezoning of the property is anticipated for commercial uses or affordable housing.

The town has a long history of buying property with either immediate needs in mind or with a long-term view for potential uses. Morgan, in discussing the Worcester Street properties at Special Town Meeting, cited such land purchases as those later used to house the senior center and P.A.W.S. preschool next to Fiske Elementary School.

Town Meeting scorecard

Wellesley Special Town Meeting to focus on 818/822/826 Worcester Rd. properties

April 8, 2018 by bbrown Leave a Comment

40B 818-822 wellesley Rte. 9

Not that Wellesley’s ongoing Annual Town Meeting isn’t special itself, but a formal Special Town Meeting session is slated for Monday, April 9 at 7pm at Wellesley Middle School to vote on whether the town should go ahead and buy properties near Hardy Elementary School at 818, 822 and 826 Worcester St. This amounts to a defensive move by the town in face of a proposed 40B development at a couple of these properties that’s in the site eligibility phase.

The town has also issued an update about other 40B proposals by developers who leniency on zoning in exchange for including affordable housing units in their plans.

Delanson Circle
At the April 3 session of the public hearing, the ZBA received a request and granted a continuance of the public hearing to September 13, 2018, and the time to conduct the public hearing was extended until January 17, 2019. Updates and plans on this proposal.

148 Weston Road
At the April 3 session of the public hearing, the ZBA received a request and granted a continuance of the public hearing to September 11, 2018, and the time to conduct the public hearing was extended until March 5, 2019. Updates and plans on this proposal.

135 Great Plain Avenue
The public hearing was opened at the ZBA meeting on April 5. Without deliberations, the hearing will be continued to a to-be-determined date. At present, the anticipated date is April 26, 2018. Updates and plans on this proposal.

16 Stearns Road
A revised project is in Site Eligibility review. The Town must submit comments to Masshousing by April 16th. A revised draft of the letter for 16 Stearns and 680 Worcester Street was to be sent to abutters on April 6th. Information on the revised projects.

680 Worcester Street
A revised project is currently in Site Eligibility review. The Town must submit comments to Masshousing by April 26th. A revised draft of the letter for 16 Stearns and 680 Worcester Street was to be sent to abutters on April 6th. Information on the revised projects.

Download (PDF, 88KB)

Developers secretly eyeing more Wellesley 40Bs?

April 1, 2018 by bbrown 1 Comment

(Editor’s note 4/2/18: OK, April Fools’ Day is now over)

Having proposed a slew of 40B projects in Wellesley over the past year that have been deemed “unfriendly” by some residents and town officials worried about the impact on traffic and neighborhood character, developers reportedly continue to explore possible sites where they can exploit the town’s shortage of affordable housing stock before a housing production plan kicks in.

One fresh opportunity could be the now unoccupied base for the giant and historic Babson Globe, which Babson College is relocating to a new showcase park in 2019. There’s also talk of the 25-ton Globe itself being an apartment building opportunity.

Former home of Babson Globe, Coleman — Former base for the Babson Globe behind Coleman Hall at Babson College

“We’d start at the South Pole and work our way up,” said one developer who asked not to be named, pending any formal proposal. “Every Antarctica Apartment would also come with 1 complimentary parka per tenant.”

Temporary home of Babson Globe, Trim parking lot, March 2018 — New temporary home for the Babson Globe — a parking lot

Given that the base for the Babson Globe once held… the entire Globe, developers say they should not have any issues getting approved by one of the state’s quasi-public housing outfits for a measly 200 units, easily reduced to 195 if when the town pushes back.

Greener Pastures

The Wellesley College Botanic Gardens, temporarily closed while the school reimagines them through its Global Flora Project, is also seen as fertile ground by 40B developers chastised for the negative environmental impact some of their proposals could have. One possible complex, tentatively dubbed Wellesley Green-er, would provide a naturally lush environment for empty nesters.

Wellesley daffodils, March 2016 — Wellesley College greenhouse

“As longtime Wellesley residents progress into the falls and winters of their lives, our condos would offer virtual spring and summer living,” according to preliminary marketing material.

Storefront Solution

Chances are that the colleges are not going to go for developers’ pitches, but it could be a different story with property owners whose storefronts across town have sat empty for months. These centrally-located sites are tempting 40B-hungry developers.

“At least no one would complain about us causing traffic problems there,” one developer said. “Our team conducted extensive studies over several summer weekends and we found traffic flow in downtown Wellesley to be quite light.”

Former Talbots location, Wellesley Square

For more about where developers are contemplating 40B projects, see here.

Wellesley issues Request for Proposals for Tailby and Railroad parking lots

March 29, 2018 by Deborah Brown 2 Comments

Tailby parking lot wellesley — Tailby parking lot.

Back in February, Wellesley was close to issuing a request for proposals (RFP) that would invite developers to submit ideas for how to reimagine the Tailby Lot (Linden Street) and Railroad Lot (Grove Street near Post Office). The reasoning put forth was that the town seeks to redevelop the lots in an effort to address its affordable and diverse housing shortage, but also to possibly increase parking and better tie together separate parts of Wellesley Square.

Now the town has released an official RFP, which says that it invites “…proposals from qualified developers to enter into one or more long-term leases to develop the Town of Wellesley Tailby (103 Linden Street) and Railroad (7 Grove Street) Commuter Parking Lots for parking and affordable and market rate housing that will be owned and operated by the selected developer(s).”

The RFP includes a history on the various efforts to rethink the space since the 1970s. Here are some of the ideas that have been floated over the years: decking over the Tailby Lot to increase its parking capacity and to accommodate housing; relocating the Wellesley Square railroad station to the vicinity of Weston Road and building a parking facility on town-owned land at that location; using the Tailby lot as part of a link between the Linden Street shopping area and Wellesley Square; co-developing the Tailby Lot for housing and parking”

The 2007 – 2017 Comprehensive plan called for focusing “efforts to create more diverse housing types and affordable housing by attracting rental developments to identified sites in Wellesley ”

Now it looks like 2018 will be the year when the town finally moves forward definitively with choosing a developer for that site. In the RFP’s list of Wellesley’s 15 preferred objectives, there are echoes of the suggestions made over the past three decades. Among them: “To creatively preserve and protect the Town interests in consistent and orderly growth within the Linden Street corridor while maintaining the character of the abutting single-family neighborhoods”; to create a mixed-use environment that includes subsidized housing inventory, enhanced and increased access to parking that serves the Linden Street and Wellesley Square areas; and to improve traffic flow.

Given the town’s efforts to fend off 40B proposals that some feel would be too disruptive to neighborhoods, it’s not surprising that the RFP addresses this issue head-on, noting in the RFP that “…the Town seeks to take proactive efforts to guide the development of affordable housing to appropriate sites that complement the integrity of the Town’s character, while also working to meet one or more 40B certification thresholds to protect the Town from future “unfriendly” 40Bs. The development of the Tailby and Railroad lots would do just this, allowing for many beneficial objectives to meet, while reducing the likelihood of development of 40B projects that are less ideal in terms of design and location.”

One of the 40Bs the Town references is the proposed 55-unit housing project at 148 Weston Road that would include 11 rental units deemed affordable. That site eligibility was okayed by a quasi-public outfit called MassHousing that also finances such buildings. The town, however, has a long list of concerns about the Wellesley Park project, including its potential impact on traffic, the environment and character of the neighborhood, and MassHousing has instructed the developer to address such issues as it moves forward with trying to get a comprehensive permit from the town. On April 3 there will be a Zoning Board of Appeals meeting that will include that issue.

Another 40B project is proposed for Delanson Circle, off Linden St., and has raised similar concerns to those aired by the town. The fact that two such projects are in the works in relative proximity to each other has ratcheted up neighbors’ concerns. That project will also be discussed at the April 3 ZBA meeting.

The RFP is due June 1, 2018 at noon, and a site visit for this RFP will be held on April 9, 2018 at 10am at the entrance to the Railroad Commuter Parking Lot.

Once the RFPs are in the Board of Selectmen will review them and make recommendations.

Wellesley info session on buying 818, 822, 826 Worcester St.

March 19, 2018 by bbrown Leave a Comment

The Board of Selectmen will be hosting an informational session on the proposed acquisition of 818, 822, and 826 Worcester Street on Sunday, March 25th from 3:30 -5:00 pm at the Great Hall, Town Hall. Wellesley is playing some 40B defense here, as a developer was already looking to convert these properties near Hardy Elementary School into a 40B development.

A Special Town Meeting on this matter has been called for April 9, 2018 at 7:00 pm in the Wellesley Middle School Auditorium.The proposal is to acquire 3 parcels of land fronting Worcester Street and abutting the Hardy School for school or other municipal purposes. The informational session will include a brief presentation and an opportunity for questions.

You can view a presentation given to the Advisory Committee on the proposal on March 7th (video of presentation here)

If you are unable to attend this meeting on Sunday March 25th at 3:30 pm, feel free to send comments and questions to [email protected] or call 781-431-1019 x 2201.