Politics & Government

Selectmen Approve, Sign Colburn School Purchase & Sale Agreement

Westwood is moving forward with Coffman Realty as the developers of the reuse of the Colburn School next year.

In late Febraury, as the town continued to look at options on what to do with the Colburn School after the culmination of the new Westwood Public Library project, officials reviewed .

Now, a little more than six months later, the Westwood Board of Selectmen have officially approved and signed the Purchase and Sale Agreement of the building.

The agreement comprises the sale of the building for $340,000, Westwood Economic Development Officer Chris McKeown said Monday night.

The developers of the project include Brockton-based Coffman Realty, Inc. and Milton-based Sullivan Homes, LLC, which are now under the moniker Colburn School, LLC. 

Paul Sullivan of Sullivan Homes oversaw the signing Monday night, as did Coffman Realty's Jeffrey Coffman, father of Michael Coffman, who is involved in the project but could not be there Monday night.

Coffman Realty made the original proposal in February to reuse the historic building as a business on the first floor and residential units on second and third floor.

But coming to exact terms of the Purchase and Sale agreement took time, as it was difficult to pin down a date of when the actual renovations of the building could begin in 2012.

"That's almost impossible to do, because it's predicated on when the library project is ready," McKeown said.

Likewise, it was also difficult to pinpoint when the actual move of the building from its to the new area, currently inhabited by the Westwood Public Library, would take place.

"There's a lot in here that the town doesn't have control over," said Lou Rizoli, a Westwood resident and attorney who provided legal counsel for the Purchase and Sale agreement, as well as oversaw the signing Monday night. "The developer here has certainly understood there are things beyond our control. We've put in the Purchase and Sale the matters that will protect the town as well as the developer."

Moreover, the involved parties determined that construction crews working on the project would help move the building to its permanent spot once the current library is demolished next year.

"We've wrangled that out and essentially the developer will be reimbursing the town for almost $90,00 in costs," McKeown said. "Roughly $30,000 is the cost of abatement before demolition of the currently library building, and that has to go out to bid."

The abatement process, McKeown said, is not expected to go above the aforementioned $30,0000.

Coffman said Monday night that the prospective tenant of the first floor would be a bank, though did not elaborate on which bank would potentially inhabit the space.

Find out what's happening in Westwoodwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"While the actual tenant isn't known per-se, it's been reported that Coffman has signed a letter of intent with a tenant for the first floor," McKeown said.

Moving forward, Town Administrator Mike Jaillet and Selectmen Chair Pat Ahearn said Monday that officials will be assisting the developers in getting the project permitted through the town.

"All of us are committed to make that process as streamlined as possible," Ahearn said. "We've been trying to save this building even before the new high school opened (in 2005)."

Find out what's happening in Westwoodwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Selectmen Clerk Nancy Hyde, meanwhile, acknowledged the work of the , and said that while it took months to comb through the details of the project, being able to sign the Purchase and Sale agreement was a big step forward.

"It was amazing how smooth that process went last year to bring it to the town to get it to go forward," she said. "I think the cooperation and the public-private partnership that's taking place here is really impressive. We all want to see this become a reality so that next summer not only have a new library but also the Colburn School is under the construction."


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