Thursday, November 29, 2012
Full house attends school committee meeting for informational session on University Station. Committee members and meeting attendees seem unhappy with portions of project so far.
In front of a packed auditorium in which some people were forced to sit on the floor or stand, the developers looking to build University Station and the expert planner hired by the town spoke in front of the School Committee for the first time last night to bring them up-to-date in an informational session that left many questioned unanswered. After Planning Board chairperson Jack Wiggin gave a brief summary of what has been going on with the process and what’s expected to take place in the upcoming weeks, a representative from the developer took over and pointed out where things would be on a map. The residential part of the project, which seems to be the most controversial based on residents’ remarks and reactions, compares to a project…
Wednesday, November 21, 2012
Developer's expert presents report, while town's expert disagrees on some methods and conclusions. Both have more work to do as the process rolls on.
The Champagne Room at Carby Street was filled up last night for the Planning Board meeting as the discussions surrounding University Station continued. Zoning bylaws were on the agenda, but the topic the majority of the room seemed most interested in was the Fiscal Impact Analysis. John Connery, the expert who prepared the Fiscal Impact Analysis for the developer, began by presenting his opinion by explaining the methodology used to determine his results. He explained how he tries to find comparable communities and projects and for the retail portion of the project he used South Shore Plaza, Burlington Mall, Derby St., Legacy Place and another place in Burlington. “[University Station] is somewhat different than the five I mentioned,” …
Friday, November 16, 2012
Residents filled the room at the Downey School to voice their concerns with the University Station development in an open forum-style setting before the Board of Selectmen.
Over 100 Westwood residents filled the cafeteria at the Downey School last night as the Board of Selectmen held a meeting with the main topic of discussion being the University Station development. With the Planning Board and Finance and Warrant Commission also in attendance, and some residents forced to stand because there were no more chairs, the Selectmen ran the meeting as an open hearing to give residents the opportunity to voice their concerns with the project. 30 people had the chance to speak, with the most often mentioned concerns being traffic and the effects the residential portion of the project would have on the school system. “I’m glad that other people have the same concerns- housing, schools and traffic,” Pam Peckinpaugh…
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
Target and Wegmans are still among interested tenants, but the project will be substantially smaller in size.
It may resemble Westwood Station, but University Station will be something different for the town of Westwood. That's what developers of the renamed project are aiming for, at least. Representatives for New England Development and Eastern Real Estate, as well as others involved with the project, gave a brief overview of what they hope to bring to Westwood in the area of University Avenue during a pre-application meeting with the Westwood Planning Board Tuesday night. "We're really excited to be back here and we're looking forward to getting something done," said Steven Fischman, President of New England Development, which was originally involved in the Westwood Station proposal. Target and Wegmans, both of which were interested in taking…
Monday, April 16, 2012
News on a new form of the Westwood Station project came late Friday afternoon.
In two years time, Westwood could see the long-standing Westwood Station project come to fruition. The first phase of the newly-dubbed "University Station" project is expected to be completed in 2014, according to an announcement made late Friday afternoon. A partnership between New England Development, Eastern Real Estate, National Development/Charles River Realty Investors and Clarion Partners is working to acquire 130 acres of Westwood to develop the mixed-use development project to include retail, housing, office and hotel use, according to Friday's announcement. The team involved is working on the initial stages of crafting a proposed master plan to submit to Westwood officials. Westwood Patch will provide more information on the …
Friday, April 13, 2012
The first phase of the project is expected to open in 2014, according to an announcement Friday.
After a long stand-still, the Westwood Station project gained momentum once again on Friday, when it was announced that a new partnership of several entities would acquire 130 acres of Westwood to develop a mixed-use project to include retail, housing, office and hotel use. The project is being renamed "University Station", and comes at the hands of a new partnership between New England Development, Eastern Real Estate, National Development/Charles River Realty Investors and Clarion Partners, according to a news statement Friday afternoon. The first phase of the project is expected to open in 2014, according to the announcement. Moreover, the team involved is working on the initial stages of crafting a proposed master plan to submit to …
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
The move could facilitate progress with the delayed project.
Anglo Irish Bank, the mortgage holder for Westwood Station, recently announced that it was to sell its portfolio of U.S. assets, Westwood's Economic Development Officer Chris McKeown confirmed last week. "They have actively put their whole $10 billion portfolio out to market," McKeown said. "Essentially, they are finally moving forward to sell all these notes and allow new ownership to come in and pursue foreclosures." Eastern Real Estate and New England Development, he added, are still in the hunt to ultimately end up with Westwood Station. Eastern Real Estate looked to purchase the mortgage note for the property last fall. But a purchase never took place, as a number of conditions that needed to be satisfied in the agreement were never…
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Westwood Station
Blue Hill Dr & University Ave, Westwood, MA
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WW Resident
4:05 pm on Wednesday, January 9, 2013
also, there is definitely a silent population who are unopposed (or indifferent) to the plan... but I think those opposed are much more passionate and vocal about their opposition and concerns about the plan (especially the residential ccmponent)... read the minutes on the town website of the planning board meetings and you will see many, many references of residents attending the meetings and … more ›