Time to Move On?
Update: see Boston Sunday Globe for more information about financing difficulties.
The Daily News Transcript provides more details--and the developer's perspective--on the suspension of work on Westwood Station. Key points:
- The payment to the town of $1.5 million for FY 2010 will not be affected. "That is an obligation that we have every intention of meeting."
- CC&F continues to spend money to keep the project alive.
- Wegmans will probably open in Northborough first--in February 2011. So Westwood will not be the first Wegmans in Massachusetts.
I have a strange sense of deja vu here. My previous employer had money in the bank and enough cash to last through the Spring. The CEO was going to obtain financing in November. When that did not happen, the company did not fold, but the strategy shifted to survival and making do with what they had...which included laying off half the staff. Circumstances changed and the company adapted. It doesn't mean the company won't pull through, but it also means all the reassurances about the future--even when honest and sincere--go out the window when the economy tanks.
So we can debate about the future here and reassess the past with a lot of "what ifs" and "if onlys." Or we can realize that as a political issue of consequence, Westwood Station has been "moved to indefinite postponement." The Planning Board has done their part: the permits are ready to go. The town has done more than their part--holding at least 2 special town meetings where residents turned out in massive numbers to approve measures deemed necessary for the survival of the project. And the Selectmen--while some in town might have criticism--have been tirelessly working to achieve success for the town dating back probably a decade or more in the search for a way to correct the property tax imbalance and secure our future. Nobody failed. But the economy overpowers it all.
It's time to move on. The developer may be back "in the Spring," but what Spring? I guess it will be years before anyone is buying a six pack at the Westwood Wegmans. In the meantime we have plenty of other issues in town and who knows when the economy will pick up? I hope we can focus on the future, not rehash the past. We can't assume when Westwood Station will become a part of that future.
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Comments
Payment in Lieu of Taxes?
Is CC&F paying $1.5 million in lieu of real estate taxes? Or are they NOT paying the real estate taxes now since they knocked down all the buildings? "I told you so" and "if only" aren't going to get the community anything positive, but let's get the facts out about what CC&F is paying right now on the $150 million of real estate they own on University Ave.
Westwood Station
Dave:
Your post is far too forgiving. Why is Westwood Station tanking when Legacy Place is scheduled to open on time this summer, fully-leased in the very same economy? Why has Bob Kraft been able to bring Patriots Place to fruition in the very same economy? The simple answer is that these developers proposed and built REALISTIC projects, not behemoths that were so complicated that they would be difficult to pull off even in good economic times. Had Westwood Station started with a small phase that could have been built for less than $1 billion it could have opened phase I and then worked off that success to add to the project over time. Such an approach would have allowed the project to blend into the town more seamlessly. Such a sensible approach would have also considerably streamlined the Planning Board and the other permitting processes and perhaps allowed Phase I to get underway before everything tanked. Such an approach would have avoided the acrimony with the Town of Canton and the hold-up of the Wegman's off-premise license. This was a case of incredible greed by the Selectmen, the Jim Connors' lead Finance Committee and the EDAB lead by Steve Rafsky with absolutely no appreciation for the complexities of such a project or any real desire to integrate it into the town. All that mattered was the dollars that they thought were going to flow from the project. The fact that the Wegman's in Northborough is talking about a 2011 opening date shows how far behind this project is from the originally promised opening in the summer of 2008. What is the Town going to do for revenue in the meantime? To expect CCF to keep making payments when they do not have a shovel in the ground is ludicrous. Equally ludicrous is any suggestion of an over-ride. Over-reaching on the part of all concerned is what got us to this point and it will not be easy to climb out of the hole. The complete disregard for the people in the Town while the leaders attempted to steam-roller this project to opening has now come back to bite them. Giving them the "out" of the economy is far too generous in light of the fact that other projects are opening and thriving right outside our door.
Music to my ears
In a way, I'm sad to see this happen. I was hoping for CC&F to secure the I-cubed funding, and subsequently watch the Westwood Station project tank, then watch the taxpayers of this town have to cover the hundreds of millions that this beloved project would bestow on all of us.
However, justice can take other forms as well.
From the beginning, this project, the developers, corrupt selectman and politicians have been spewing nothing but lies to the residents of Westwood. Let's take a look at the FACTS for a moment, something Jay, Nancy, and Goldman would never do:
-This project was billed as a 1.5 billion mixed use project with "high end stores", "high end apartments for sale only"
-The town re-wrote zoning laws to accomodate shoving a massive mall in the middle of 10+ neighborhoods.
-After all the permits were signed, the project went from 1.5 billion to 700 million, and became "value engineered" (aka cheapened, regardless of how Mr. Dohrety attempts to re-word "cheapened" on this site).
-As the "high end stores" were revealed, people started wondering what the definition of "high end" is, because according to CC&F, places like Target and Best Buy fit the bill. CC&F also refuses to disclose any other tenants besides Wegmans, more lies to the public about how low quality and shoddy this project really is. When there are 80+ tenants, shouldn't we be told who more than 3 of them are?
-The "high end apartments for sale only" suddenly became "lease only", "value engineered", and "Section 8 housing". What happened to attracting "young professionals" to the site? Apparently CC&F's definition of "young professionals" are people with no jobs and 5 children collecting unemployment who want affordable apartments. Then, of course, the taxpayers of this town would have to financially cover additions to our schools to accomodate these people, in addition to more police patrol, fire, ambulances, services such as cleaning, trash, etc. Why doesn't CC&F talk about this aspect of their beloved project? You can't "value engineer" police patrol to keep your Section 8 tenants in check, Dohrety.
-CC&F refuses to provide proper traffic mitigation. Of course, they add 5 lanes to the highway to allow as many people as possible get to Westwood Station, but once they get off the highway, the mitigation is slight to none. What this means is thousands of cars plowing through Westwood and other residential areas in other towns such as Canton. And they will find their way into your neighborhood. They always do.
-And what about MBTA mitigation? As CC&F plans to bring in thousands of residents, many of whom will take the Commuter Rail to Boston, the MBTA on the other hand is planning to raise fees and reduce the amount of trains that run. More overcrowding, and destroying the infrastructure and usefulness of this town. This is another aspect CC&F has not mentioned *once*, despite a huge "Westwood Station" poster hanging off the Rt. 128 parking garage.
-Canton appropriately takes CC&F to court for planning to destroy their neighborhoods with the project's 40,000 cars per day, and refusing to mitigate the traffic. CC&F ends up paying so many legal fees that they could have payed for the mitigation of the traffic several times over. One of the more amusing failures of this pathetic project.
-CC&F applies for I-cubed, the infamous federal funding program. This is one aspect of the project that has not even been discussed with residents of the town, which is one of the most disgusting feats this project has managed thus far, believe it or not. If CC&F wins approval for the hundreds of millions I-cubed would provide, and the project subsequently tanks, who is going to foot the bill? Oh yes, that's right. Not the residents of the U.S., not the residents of Massachusetts, but yes, that's right, the residents of WESTWOOD, MASSACHUSSETTS. While CC&F goes on their merry way destroying other rural towns, we are going to have to deal with a barren crime infested wasteland and spend our entire incomes covering this mess. Doesn't that sound just great? I mean, I guess I shouldn't be surprised, as I'm speaking to the same people who elected Duval Patrick, the same guy who wants to tax us to breath Massachusetts air.
-The economy tanks. The corrupt housing market has busted. Corrupt predatory lending to subprime tenants is no longer allowed. Wall street, with its corrupt thieves, are paying the price for their corrupt actions. And corrupt developers like CC&F can no longer access credit, because people are finally starting to realize that projects like this are complete, total duds.
-A great project about .5 seconds away, Legacy Place, has progressed a great deal this past winter. As Mr. Goldman of CC&F continues to say "This is winter, we can't get anything done", Legacy place has buildings going up, signs for interesting stores that people would actually go to, and 100x more enthusiasm than Westwood station(a note to Mr Goldman: all this progress has happened, oh yeah, that's right, DURING WINTER). And for half the people who live in Westwood, Legacy place is actually a shorter car ride than Westwood station.
-As CC&F cannot secure a loan due to lenders who are rightfully skeptical that this project won't tank, people are now wondering: do we really need this many malls around here? We have the new Patriot Place, we have the South Shore Plaza, Legacy Place, hundreds of stores on Rt. 1, the Dedham Mall, there's a Best Buy, Target, and Barnes & Noble 5 minutes from everyone's house. Need I go on? How much money do people have to spend? Do we really need to change the entire character of our rural town to accomodate these lying thieves who will reward us with more taxes and a lower quality of life?
As I've said before, Westwood residents showed up in force to the town meeting to vote in favor of Westwood station. Thanks for your support people. However, to let you know, any future developments, such as the new horse manure facility in your beautiful neighborhood, you can be sure that our side of town will be there to cast our vote in favor of spewing horse excrement in your yard and in your parks. Karma definetely exists people, so get used to it.
Confusion in the dates
These articles are all over the place in terms of dates. The one that is most startling is that the Wegmans in Northborough will open in February 2011 - BEFORE Westwood. Are they kidding?!?
Also - some say in the articles that construction will continue in the spring, and others say that it will not start until September. Do we have a definite answer one way or the other?
This is a great project and I disagree that it's too big. It will be terrific when it opens, but it needs to get through the hurtles.
A good sign is that they continue to spend money to keep it alive and that most retailers are still signed up.
Westwood Station
Yes, that's right sometime in 2011 would be a very early date for phase I of WWS to open IF they had a construction loan. This is directly from Mr. Doherty.
In response to the prior post regarding the housing, perhaps we could attract attention and publicity for the project by giving the California Octo-Mom a building to house her 14 children.
What is most distressing about the entire situation is that a large number of people in town actually think that the buildings are going up because they never have an occasion to drive down University Avenue. The BOS has intentionally kept the status of this project under wraps to give the illusion that everything is proceeding apace.
Westwood Station
The residents of Westwood needs someone to step forward and run for Selectman. When it comes to Westwood Station the resident's are the last ones to know what is really going on. Who is going to be the individual that is going to step forward and change the way our board communicates with the resident's.
WESTWOOD STATION
In baseball is it harder to pull of a home run or hit a single? Our BOS and EDAB used all their political pull to convince the residents to go for the home run. Now that the ball is up in the air, we have no idea if it's going to be caught or dropped.
If we allow CCF to go for the I-cubed money are we just digging a deeper hole for the town? If CCF can't pull of Westwood Station and they get the I-cubed money then the town is in debt to the state?
I agree with Dave that we need to move on but not yet. Our current board needs to answer some tough questions especially article 11. The town needs to learn from its mistakes and not brush it under the rug.
Not The Only Thing Suspended
Here is what the TOWN's website states when you click the link for "Current Status" of the project:
This portion of the website is currently under construction. Please check back at a later time**
I can only assume that Nancy Hyde is writing her "spin" on how the project is still on track even though nothing is being started during the critical spring and summer construction season.