Development of 1,450-Acre Naval Base to Happen in Stages

WEYMOUTH, MA-Development of the former Naval Air Station here and in Abington and Rockland is going to be in three stages. The South Shore Tri-Town Development Corp., the agency responsible for developing the 1,450-acre base, decided that the process needed to be done more slowly to allow for the complex environmental permitting process and to identify funding sources.

In a released statement, Kenneth A. Goff, Tri-Town Development’s executive director, states, “There were several factors the board had come to realize would take a lot longer than originally planned. Foremost among these were the complex environmental permitting process for onsite and offsite; the timely financing of the various infrastructure improvement projects associated with base redevelopment; and staging construction contracts consistent with regional planning processes. The board also decided that additional times was needed to develop a comprehensive business plan and marketing strategy, and to identify funding sources for on and off-site infrastructure that could cost nearly $200 million.”

The first stage, an “initial development” stage, is slated to be completed by 2003 and would include up to 300,000 sf of office space and up to 300 units of senior housing. The second stage, the Route 18 development stage, is slated to be completed by 2006 and would add an additional 700,000 sf of office space and a 190-acre golf course once Route 18 is widened and upgraded. Stage three, the final build stage, would add an addition 2.5 million sf of office and residential space and increase senior housing units to 700. This would be done once improvements to Route 3 and a connector road are completed.