MONTAGUE — As the town drafts its request for proposals (RFP) to revitalize the former Farren Care Center lot on Montague City Road into a mixed-use development, community members voiced their desire to bring a community center or commercial gathering space into the new neighborhood.
Town officials met with residents at the Shea Theater Arts Center on Tuesday to hear from Urban Land Institute panelists who discussed proposed development guidelines, priorities and economic feasibility.
“Montague is a special town, and we think there’s a really special site in the Farren property, and so we want to do this right. It takes time, and I know we’ve been bringing [you] along for every step in the process, from the vision into the zoning. Here we are today, ready to move on to the next step,” Town Administrator Walter Ramsey told the crowd. “Town staff, the Selectboard, we’re all hearing these recommendations right now in real time with you all. … We’re all going to take these recommendations to heart, listen to them, chew on them and get our heads back together before putting out this request for development proposals.”
Michael Fergus, who serves as senior project manager with the commercial real estate company CBRE Group Inc., opened discussion with an overview of the panel’s opinion. He explained the discussion would explore whether the 340 Montague City Road property should be subdivided prior to development, whether the town should issue multiple RFPs to include a variety of developers and the cost feasibility of the project.
Panel member Mark Mascia, a co-founder of a housing development firm Collaborative RED LLC, explained that by dividing the lot and issuing multiple RFPs, the town could attract a variety of developers, both small and large. He mentioned that the Massachusetts Housing Partnership can provide technical assistance funding to help with the subdivision.
“[The site] is not as large as all your appetites might have been, so some of you will be disappointed, but we promise you, some of you will also be happy with the recommendation … that we do subdivide it into two development parcels as well as one public amenity parcel,” Mascia said. “If you try to put too much on the private development side for the park and other things that will be public amenities, it can very easily cause the private development to be unfeasible. … We saw lots of needs for lots of different types of housing.”
The smaller development parcel, Mascia explained, could attract local, smaller developers, while the town could reap the benefits and resources of involving a larger firm to develop the parcel containing large-scale housing.
Panelist Ben Murphy, vice president of real estate at MassDevelopment, discussed the economic benefits of the proposed development, noting that regardless of what’s built at the former site of the long-term care facility, it will bring new tax revenue to the town.
“The town’s looking to embrace the future and develop new growth. [The site] has good proximity to downtown Turners Falls, with all its amenities. It also has bus [access]. The site can strengthen the identify of Montague, enhance housing stock and diversity. As mentioned, it’s an opportunity to grow the school-age population, which we heard could be helpful to the school district,” Murphy said. “It’s an opportunity for residents to age in place, for young people to stay in the community … and also to increase the tax base.”
The majority of residents who spoke at Tuesday’s meeting asked the panelists about the presence of commercial space or a community gathering area. This prompted a discussion about how economically feasible it would be to develop commercial or retail spaces.
Mascia, in response to residents’ request that community businesses have a space in the RFP, explained that such a specific requirement would stand as a financial risk, as it could potentially deter developers and lead to vacant storefronts.
“One of the things that we were trying to accomplish is focusing on the key needs and leaving space for some of the other needs that may or may not be economically viable. … You have a very vibrant retail community here, which is a humongous asset that already exists,” Mascia said. “The reason some of the storefronts have been converted to residential is because the tax base split and the new construction rents.”
Instead, panelists and town officials suggested space with a more versatile use — such as an area that could temporarily accommodate food trucks — as an RFP guideline. Some residents also floated the idea that the town could develop a community gathering space as an investment, which panelists generally thought could be challenging, but not impossible.
Town Planner Maureen Pollock also expressed support for the idea of a pop-up space. Pollock added that while pop-up spaces can produce lively and exciting community gathering spots, the town should try to learn from successful local businesses such as Shelburne Falls Coffee Roasters if it chooses to pursue a retail space.
“I want to reach out to a few local retail owners in the valley. A couple memorable ones would be Shelburne Falls Coffee Roasters and Tandem Bagels — those two particular businesses come to mind, as they have done a great job of expanding their businesses in multiple towns,” Pollock said. “I would love to find other examples of food truck alleys or food truck plazas. If there is a park, how can we lay out a food truck and think about the infrastructure that would be required for utilities — is it plug-in, is it solar? … We want people to go there and feel that they are in a gathering space, that maybe there is, from time to time, some music or public art or all of it.”
Noting that it will likely take years before shovels hit the ground on the former Farren site, Pollock said the town intends to publish a formal report on the panel’s RFP suggestions later in the month.
