At an in-person meeting of the Northland Liaison Committee on August 21, Northland Development executives presented recently proposed project design changes to residents and City Councilors on the committee and responded to questions.
The Northland representatives — including Vice President of Construction Mark Medeiros and Senior Vice President of Construction Peter Standish — told the group that the company intends to apply for a revised Special Permit, and in the process propose removing provisions for a shuttle bus service between the Needham Street site and the Newton Highlands MBTA station.
In addition, Northland’s revised plan for the site:
- Replaces office space in the existing Sacco-Pettee Mill building with 100 residential units, thereby increasing the total number of apartment units to 822;
- Eliminates 300 parking spaces while creating 125 surface parking spaces;
- Removes five small residential buildings;
- Reduces the size of two other residential buildings; and
- Reduces the height of one of the buildings from six to five stories.
Mr. Standish said that many of the modifications will have a positive impact on the community, especially the added above-ground parking. He described the change as “a big convenience for prospective restaurant and retail customers.”
Mr. Standish said that while he recognizes many residents have concerns about the elimination of the shuttle bus, there are a variety of factors that Northland has to consider when making decisions about transportation access – like the impacts of the removal of office space in the design.
“The numbers change that go into the analysis for trip generation …[Without commuters coming to office space at the site,] does it even make sense to have essentially a one-way shuttle?” he said. “Is there a better way to operate to meet the needs of the residents, but do so in a more effective manner so we don’t have a bunch of empty shuttles on the street?”
Responding to the changes, Paula Kelleher, a member of the Newton Upper Falls Area Council, expressed concern about overflow parking. She explained that the original Northland plan called for one parking space per unit, and with the increase in apartment units and the elimination of the shuttle, people will require two cars per unit. “The logic behind the shuttle was to help reduce the need for a car by providing transportation to/from the T during commuting hours. Both of the T stations (Highlands and Eliot) are slightly over 1 mile away,” she told Fig City News.
Allan Levy, a Northland Liaison Committee member, is concerned about the new traffic study that is expected in September. In his view, removing a layer of underground parking, even with the new surface parking, will not meet the needs of the increased number of residential units.
City Councilor Rick Lipof, former City Council Land Use chair and a member of the Northland Liaison Committee, told Fig City News that he is in the real estate world and as a real estate appraiser, he “sees how market forces affect and change plans.” He cited the pandemic, interest rate increases, and rising construction costs as factors that have an impact on development. Noting that office space is remaining unleased everywhere, he said it was reasonable to eliminate that space at Northland if it is not viable.
At the same time, Mr. Lipof said he would not have voted for the original Northland plan if it had not included the shuttle provision. The original shuttle plan was going to be available to anyone who walked to Northland to use it – “a benefit to the community,” he said. The shuttle would not have been “necessary on day one,” but definitely when the property was 25%-30% occupied and when it was 75% occupied it could have been evaluated. Still, he thinks there is room for discussion, and he hopes the shuttle might be restored. The 125 above-ground parking spaces will benefit local residents and commercial enterprises, he said. About Northland’s new plan, Mr. Lipof said, “We made a promise to the Upper Falls neighborhood, and we are going to keep it.”
Ward 5 Ward Councilor and Liaison Committee member Bill Humphrey attended the presentation as well. Although he was not a City Council member during the vote to approve the Northland special permit, he has been engaged in the project since his election. Among his misgivings was the viability of the shuttle, about which he declared himself “skeptical.” He believes that elimination of the office space reduces the need for a shuttle. Still, he said, given the size of the property, “it obvious that something very large is going to happen here.” He noted that although there is a loss of commercial space, taxed at a higher rate, the city will still have more taxable residential units with this change. According to Mr. Humphrey, the bulk of Needham Street traffic is “pass-through,” not from local residents. However, he predicted that local commercial enterprises will benefit from the increase in the number of apartments.
Northland will present its revised plans to an in-person meeting of the Newton Upper Falls Area Council at Northland’s Oak Street office on September 19.
