Ron Vokey, Waltham's planning director, tells GlobeSt.com that the deal is currently undergoing due diligence. He notes that the property is currently largely vacant and the intent of the city is to maintain most of the property as open space. Vokey points out that the property is behind a housing project owned by the city's housing authority and hat there has been talk about possibly building a senior housing project on parts of both properties.

The city has also expressed interest in acquiring the Fernald School property, a 200-acre campus at the other end of Trapelo Road which houses a school for the mentally disabled. Vokey says that the state is planning to close down the school, but it has not yet indicated what it will do with the property.

This past April, the Archdiocese sold the former archbishop's residence and surrounding land to Boston College for $107 million to cover the Church's $90-million sexual abuse settlement. In May, the Archdiocese announced that it was closing 65 of its 357 parishes in the state.