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NEEDHAM, MA-A local developer plans to build a 350-unit apartment complex inside the New England Business Park in what may be a first-of-its-kind venture in Massachusetts.
Boston-based Cabot, Cabot & Forbes, the developer behind the two-million-sf mixed-use Westwood Station project, has teamed with the Hanover Co. of Houston and Commonfund Realty Inc. of Westport, CT, to build Charles River Landing at 300 Second Ave. Construction is expected to begin later this year with completion scheduled within 26 months. Estimates place the development cost at $61 million to $71 million, based on the average per unit tab for residential space. The project will include a 601-space parking garage.
Charles River Landing, one of the first in the state to put housing inside a commercial center, is just one of several ventures planned for the 60-year-old business park off Route 128. Over the next five years, CC&F envisions transforming the aging business park into a mix of retail, office and housing.
"We're really trying to target the young professional," Mike Boujoulian, project manager, tells GlobeSt.com, noting that the complex is designed to attract young professionals, who are key to the state's high-tech work force. Many workers have moved from Massachusetts in recent years due in part to high housing costs.
Boujoulian says one- and two-bedroom apartments and host of on-site amenities are designed to attract upwardly mobile tenants. The complex will feature a private movie theater, catering kitchen, fitness and business centers and outdoor heated pool with fire pits on a site laced with walking paths and a boat launch on the Charles River.
Built under Massachusetts Chapter 40B, which requires developers to set aside some units as affordable, the project will add 88 units of affordable housing to the town, boosting Needham's affordable housing percentage from 4% to 7%. The developer also teamed with Needham Selectmen under the state's Local Initiative Program to address infrastructure issues and upgrades for local parks and recreational areas, especially along the Charles River. As a result, CC& F has donated more than $700,000 to conservation groups, an affordable housing advocacy group and the town.
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