Green Meadow still focused on lifestyle center

By RYAN J. HALLIDAY, Telegraph Staff

Published: Thursday, May. 24, 2007

HUDSON – Green Meadow’s attorney told the planning board Wednesday night his clients are shopping for another developer willing to build a riverfront mall on their sprawling golf course after Boston-area builders abandoned plans to construct a massive outdoor retail village there.

“Our interest is to continue with a lifestyle center as the first part of development,” said Green Meadow attorney Jay Leonard. “Our goal is to build a lifestyle center, with all the amenities that have been discussed.”

W/S Development Associates, who had planned to build a lifestyle center on the 375-acre golf course overlooking the Merrimack River, backed out of the project last week and joined forces with another builder to open a smaller open-air mall across the river in Nashua.

Leonard said his clients, the Friel family, were “very disappointed that W/S pulled out.” But he said the owners are still committed to selling their property and are actively looking for another developer willing to build a lifestyle center on the golf course.

“We intend to continue forward with the application as it now exists,” said Leonard.

Leonard indicated his clients would not try to develop the site alone. He would not say if they are close to reaching an agreement with a developer.

The Friels’ retail bazaar would be similar in size to the first phase of the proposed Riverplace project, which called for 1.1 million square feet of open-air retail space, a public ice-skating rink and an entertainment district featuring a 16-screen movie theater, said Leonard.

The proposed center would be built slowly in several phases, giving the town time to draw a land-use master plan for the future development of the rest of the site, Leonard suggested.

“(The Friels) are very committed to responsibly developing the site,” said Leonard, explaining that his clients have fielded offers from developers looking to buy portions of the property and develop it in a piecemeal fashion.

“There are plenty of people who want to buy a 50-acre piece,” he said. “But we’re continuing to hold on, because we think it’s in the best interest of the town to have a plan for the entire site.”

W/S Development on May 15 withdrew all its permit applications in Hudson and ended its agreement to purchase Green Meadow Golf Club, deciding instead to partner with New England Development Inc. of Newton, Mass., to build Nashua Landing, a similar outdoor shopping complex on 45 acres in Nashua.

“In effect, Nashua grabbed what Hudson could have had,” said Leonard.

Leonard said a retail center here could provide needed tax revenue that “may very well serve as the foundation for improvements to the traffic system and schools in Hudson,” as well as pay for a new library and town hall.

W/S said their decision to scrap the Hudson project was driven by the lengthy and difficult federal, state and local permitting process, combined with competition with Nashua Landing developers for the most desirable retail stores.

The market for lifestyle center retailers and restraints has become white hot in southern New Hampshire.

Besides Nashua Landing, the Pheasant Lane Mall, also in Nashua, announced plans to tear down the former Macy’s building and construct an open-air shopping center. And a similar lifestyle center is being proposed in Merrimack.

Planning board member Kenneth Massey expressed concern that a retail center on Green Meadow would not be financially viable given this increased competition for desirable tenants.

Planning board member Richard Maddox asked Leonard if his clients would consider other uses for the site besides retail, which will draw a throng of traffic to the town.

“I think retail scares all of use,” said Maddox, who suggested the Friels explore building a hotel and convention center and develop a PGA-level golf course on their property.

Massey suggested the Friels look for a biotech company willing to build a campus on the site.

“Right now the demand is for retail,” Leonard responded, adding he’s made efforts to lure colleges, offices and hospitals to the site but with no success.

Leonard will meet with the planning board again June 6 to continue discussing plans to build a roadway system at Green Meadow to and from the Sagamore Bridge, as well as motor vehicle access to the site from Sagamore Bridge Road, River Road and Vectron Drive.

But some members said they could not properly evaluate the proposed roadway system until they knew what’s going to be built there.

“I don’t think we can give any intelligent recommendations on the roadways until we know what’s going there,” said planning board member Suellen Quinlan, saying that board had “gone from a quagmire to a muddle.”

“To me, it seems premature to talk about the roads without a plan,” Massey agreed. “The purpose drives the roads not the other way around.”