Quarry Redevelopment Plan Waiting on Mass. Highway Decision

MALDEN, MA-The plan to redevelop Rowe’s Quarry here, a massive pit covering nearly 100 acres, into a mixed-use development is at a standstill while the Massachusetts Highway Department decides whether it will approve building a new interchange into the Quarry as well as other traffic-related modifications.

“They are gearing up to submitting the environmental impact report,” Greg Watson, Malden’s city planner, tells GlobeSt.com. “All the other local permits are in hand but additional work is dependent on a new alignment on Route 1.”

The quarry is owned by Rowe’s Contracting Company, which is shutting it down after nearly a century. Rowe is developing the site–which is located here and across the border into Revere–with New Jersey-based Roseland Property Co. The project is being built in phases beginning with a residential complex of 700 units. No decision has been made on the second phase. According to Watson, the area had to be rezoned for the development. Watson says that the plan is to have more residential units as well as a mix of other uses–such as hotels, commercial and retail space–depending upon “what the market can bear.” About six to ten acres will be left as open space.