Developer goes back to the drawing board

By RYAN J. HALLIDAY, Telegraph Staff

Thursday, Mar. 29, 2007

HUDSON – The attorney for the Massachusetts developer looking to build a massive open-air shopping center on the Green Meadow Golf Club apologized Wednesday night for filing permits to the planning board that were not in compliance with the town’s ordinances.

“To the extent that the Jan. 19 filing caused consternation, I apologize to the board,” said J. Bradford Westgate, the Nashua-based attorney for W/S Development Inc. “I have no excuse for it; simple as that.”

W/S Development Inc. has entered an agreement to buy the Green Meadow Golf Club, with an eye toward turning the sprawling 375-acre parcel overlooking the Merrimack River into the largest retail center in New England.

W/S submitted a definitive subdivision plan to the town Jan. 19 for the construction of a 1.1-million-square-foot open-air shopping bazaar, the first phase of its mixed-use development.

But weeks later, the planning board unanimously voted to send those plans back because W/S had not first received a special wetlands exemption from the zoning board of adjustment. Westgate said after Wednesday night’s meeting that his clients probably will not be ready to submit another definitive plan to the planning board for several months.

W/S will first seek input from the advisory conservation commission and planning board before seeking a wetlands exemption from the zoning board of adjustment, said Westgate.

Westgate and the planning board last night set a meeting for April 25 to discuss adjusting the roadway layout of the site to minimize impact on wetlands.

The first phase of Riverplace, a so-called “lifestyle center,” would be modeled after a town square, with wide, pedestrian-friendly sidewalks, shops, a public ice-skating rink and an entertainment district featuring a state-of-the-art 16-screen movie theater.

Later plans for the site include a hotel and conference center, office buildings, a river walk trail, parks, an outdoor amphitheater and 600 units of age-restricted housing for residents 55 and older.

Riverplace could broaden Hudson residential and commercial tax base and bring in much-needed revenue to the town’s coffers.

The developers claim their project, once fully constructed, would generate $5.6 million in annual net revenue for the town, as well as more than $12 million in one-time fees.

But residents worry that development is overrunning the town, and that Riverplace would inundate the town’s infrastructure with traffic.

The site would include an interchange system to and from the Sagamore Bridge with access to the site from Sagamore Bridge Road, River Road and Vectron Drive.

W/S has proposed an early mitigation plan to upgrade Hudson roads and improve traffic flow in the area.

The Sagamore Bridge interchange and any upgrades to Routes 111 and 102, need to be approved by the state Department of Transportation, while the planning board would have to endorse improvements to intersections at Route 3A and local roads.

The project, which requires a slew of permits from federal, state and local agencies, will likely be under review for the next year.

W/S Development is one of the largest privately owned retail development firms in the country. It hopes to begin construction this summer on a massive mixed-used project in Dedham, Mass., called Legacy Place, which would include tenants such as Legal Sea Foods and L.L. Bean.

The firm is also building Mansfield Crossing, a 400,000-square-foot shopping area, and Wareham Crossing, which will have about 700,000 square feet of retail space.

Ryan Halliday can be reached at 594-5860 or at rhalliday@nashuatelegraph.com.