The town voted on three articles, the most important of which was to allow the site to be rezoned from residential to commercial use. The other two articles consisted of approving the development agreement and authorizing the town's board of selectmen to sign it. Steven Sadwick, Tewksbury's community development director, tells GlobeSt.com that each of the three articles passed with more than 76% of the vote.
Sadwick notes that the site will be rezoned as a commercial overlay district with a residential underlying district which means that if Mills does not build the mall within eight years, the property reverts back to its residential status.
The approval is just the beginning of a long regulatory process for Mills, an Arlington, VA-based mall developer, but the company needed the assurance that the rezoning would be allowed before it could move forward. Mills now needs to get the zoning change approved by the state and to get the environmental approval from the state because of the size of the project. But most significantly, the federal and state governments need to approve the development of a new interchange on Route 93.
Sadwick points out that part of the town's approval of the project is contingent on the interchange getting built. Federal, state and private financing will pay for the interchange which is estimated to cost approximately $35 million.
"It's all contingent on the ramp," David Cressmen, Tewksbury's town manager tells GlobeSt.com. Cressman notes that Wyeth Pharmaceuticals in Andover also needs the new interchange in order to be able to expand its location. "At a minimum it's a 'twofer' in terms of economic development," he says. "There could be others who will need it also."Cressman estimates the town is projecting that the mall will bring in a net tax revenue of $2.5 million annually. The project involves 750,000 sf of leaseable space, which Cressman says can be expanded to a maximum of 805,000 sf. Nearly 200,000 sf will be designated as common areas As part of the agreement, Mills has agreed to build a 50,000-sf ice skating rink.
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