The town bought the 18-acre property nearly three years ago and the Arlington Redevelopment Board, through a community planning process, winnowed down the interested developers to four finalists who received the board's Request for Proposal last August. Tentative designation was given to Boston-based Edward A. Fish Associates last February.
According to the Land Disposition Agreement, Symmes Redevelopment Associates will pay $8.1 million for the residential portion of the project and $1.9 million for the medical office component. The deal is slightly complicated by the fact that the partnership needs to find medical tenants for the 54,000-sf medical space that will be built prior to the closing this coming March. If the group has not secured a medical tenant by that time the medical portion of the project will not close.
The Lahey Clinic currently occupies 25,000 sf of the 170,000-sf hospital building. McMahon notes that the partnership is in talks with Lahey. "We are very actively pursuing medical tenants for that space," he says, pointing out that one of the town's main objectives in acquiring the property was to ensure that there would be medical use on the site.
The residential component of the project involves up to 265 condominium units, 15% of which will be affordable in accordance with town regulations. The project will entail the demolition of the main hospital building as well as the 24,000-sf former nurses' residents, which is currently vacant. The agreement also involves a profit sharing component in which the town will be able to share of the project once the partnership's profits exceed 21%.
The project still needs town meeting approval for rezoning of the property. It will also need to undergo a permitting process as well as environmental design review before a shovel can be put in the ground. "We're confident that this will pass town meeting this week," says McMahon, "but there are issues that will need to be addressed further, especially with the abutters."
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