"This is very unusual," Tony Fields, planning director for the town of Burlington, tells GlobeSt.com. "Given the complexity of this and its four-party involvement, I'm not aware of this ever being done anywhere."
The town here owns 14 acres of industrial property that was acquired when an extension to Route 3 was abandoned. The Gutierrez Company responded to an RFP to develop that land by offering the town its 19-acre residential parcel near Wall St. here in exchange for the industrial site. Gutierrez will also give the town two single-family properties and a reported $75,000.00 a year for 20 years for historic preservation, land acquisition or affordable housing.
Local developer Gary H. Ruping then offered the town his six-acre Grandview Farm site in the center of the town here in exchange for 12 of the residential acres on Wall Street. Ruping, who will make make an undisclosed payment to the town for 20 years, will build 144 luxury apartment units and 36 affordable housing units for seniors on that site. The remaining seven acres would be set aside for open space.
According to Fields the Grandview Farm site is important to the town for historic preservation purposes as well as for the character of the town. The town plans on restoring the farmhouse and building up to 48 units of senior housing on the site using the Southern Middlesex Opportunity Council as developer and manager. Ruping already secured a permit for the site for up to 75 units.
Some local Town Meeting members have appealed that permit. A special town meeting will be held on the land swap deal and will cover issues such as land transfers, rezonings, easements, and payments. Each issue requires a two-thirds majority vote.
"There are several components to make this happen," notes Fields. "There are conveyance issues, rezoning issues and acceptance issues. Any of these can destroy the deal because if any of these parties don't get what they need, they will withdraw from their portion of the deal and the whole thing falls apart."
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