Gutierrez before town with plans for former BRMC
Published on December 6th, 2000
STONEHAM, MA - It used to be referred to as the hospital on the hill but now, nearly two years after its sudden closing, it looks like the former Boston Regional Medical Center (BRMC) finally has a future.
After the February 1999 closing, speculation on what would happen to the Woodland Road property was widespread as the hospital sat idle awaiting a new owner. The Gutierrez Corporation of Burlington came along in February of this year and purchased the property and now, both the Board of Selectmen and the Planning Board, in concurrent hearings, are listening to a plan to bring the property back to life.
Last Wednesday, a joint meeting of the two boards continued the public hearing for site plan and special permit approvals that opened on Nov. 8. At that first meeting, presentation of the plan did not take place due to a procedural error noted by the state's Attorney General's Office in which notification of the Planning Board's public hearing was posted a few hours after the deadline.
With the necessary variances already secured from the Zoning Board of Appeals, in a decision filed on Oct. 26, Attorney Charles Houghton, representing the petitioner, described the plan that involves subdividing the property into four separate lots, renovating the former hospital building, and constructing three office buildings, a parking garage and a road.
Details of the plan include replacing the existing driveway with a full-fledged roadway, one which conforms to the town's requirements for subdivision roadways. This road will extend from Woodland Road, in the general area of the existing south driveway (closest to the zoo), circle the back of the property, and loop out again to Woodland Road in the area of the existing north driveway.
A 1,101-space parking garage is proposed for the back of the property and, according to Houghton, it will not be visible from the street.
Three new buildings will be constructed, ranging in size from 172,000 to 188,000 square feet. Approximately 250,000 square feet of the existing hospital building will be renovated. The four buildings will be designed to accommodate general office/research laboratory use with a restaurant, public dining room or lunch room. Each of the four buildings feature adjacent parking areas in addition to the garage on site, and the buildings will maintain separate water meters.
The 110,000 remaining square feet of the hospital building will continue to house the Medical Arts and Medical Office buildings which remain zoned for medical office use.
Demolition of several houses and the former Greater Boston Academy School building, all formerly owned by BRMC, is underway.
According to Houghton, the plan presented represents the developer's best guess as to use with regard to lot size and market conditions; this configuration is what the developer will market to potential tenants. However, the plans could change to accommodate whoever moves in. Tenancy must be determined "before a shovel goes in the ground," said Houghton.
Multiple variances were required for the plan to go forward, including those for parking, lot coverage and open space, Houghton explained, because Stoneham's subdivision bylaw was developed to accommodate lots more representative of Stoneham, not a 40-plus acre site such as this. Since the property is proposed as a four-lot subdivision, shortfalls in some requirements exist for individual lots but were met or exceeded in the total plan, Houghton said.
Department head approvals were reviewed with the applicant agreeing to meet their requirements. Meetings with the Conservation Commission and MDC are planned. Among both groups' concerns are drainage and the MDC has additional concerns regarding pedestrian access to its property as well as traffic issues.
Traffic engineer Scott Weiss kicked off that discussion, which is scheduled to pick up again at the continuance of the hearing on Tuesday, Dec. 19.
In summary, Weiss gave an overview of some hot spots and stated that managing increased traffic flow, which full occupancy of the buildings is expected to generate, will involve placement of traffic signals and adding traffic lanes in key areas.
Intersections currently being reviewed are Woodland Road and Pond Street (where Pond continues down to J.J. Grimsby's), Pond and South Streets, South and Main Streets, and the entrance and exit points on the property out to Woodland Road.
With a project of this magnitude, site plan and special permit approvals require detailed consideration. Houghton said that he is hopeful that the continued hearing on Dec. 19 will cover all outstanding points with decisions rendered that night or shortly thereafter.
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