 |
|
Committee backs lofty mill project
Development plan includes hotel, marina, condominiums
By Aaron Nicodemus
Standard-Times staff writer
 NEW
BEDFORD — An ambitious plan that includes building a
hotel, office and condos over a Home Depot-led retail
project has been recommended by the committee
considering two development proposals at Fairhaven
Mills.
Eleven of the 23 committee members making a
recommendation to Mayor Scott W. Lang said they favored
the plan from the Boston development company of Samuel &
Associates. That plan calls for a $150 million proposal
with housing, office space, a hotel, preserved mill and
marina that offered to pay the city $1 million for its 6
acres at the site.
Urban Investment Associates of Milton, a development
company with questionable credentials, had been listed
as the lead developer. However, last week, Samuels
announced an agreement to purchase a large private tract
of land on the site and is apparently the financial and
development muscle behind the Urban proposal.
Five members favored the proposal from Dickinson
Development of Quincy, which proposed to pay the city
$200,000 for its parcels, knock down all existing
buildings at the site, and build a $30 million to $40
million retail project with Home Depot, another unnamed
retailer, a restaurant and bank.
Seven of the committee members — all city councilors —
declined to submit an evaluation. Robert Kaye of the
quasi-public state agency Mass Development, representing
Mayor Lang, abstained from voting, since Mass
Development will likely work with either developer on
the project.
Mayor Lang said yesterday that he had not reviewed the
recommendations yet, but that he will choose a proposal
within a week.
Ward 5 Councilor Jane M. Gonsalves, who favored the
hotel/office/condos over the Home Depot, said the larger
project was the better proposal.
"I just thought the project more closely exhibited what
the city was looking for in terms of an economic
development engine," she said. "I don't see that putting
a big-box retailer there addressed the economic
development needs of the area."
Councilor-at-large Debora Coelho, who favored the Home
Depot project, said Dickinson Development had a business
plan, while the other proposal was just a design. She
did not like it that the hotel/office/condo project was
so dependent on city, state and federal financial help,
or that while Home Depot would be built in 18 months,
the other project could take a decade.
"The Home Depot development addressed two crucial
things: the environment, and traffic," she said. "The
other proposal did not address those things at all. I
think the neighborhood doesn't need any more housing.
Commercial and business is really the way to go on that
site."
Several of the committee members complained about the
way the evaluations were tallied, because simply adding
up the responses did not clearly indicate how they felt
about the project.
Committee members were asked to evaluate the proposals
based on a series of criteria, including experience,
design, the completeness of the proposal and how closely
it met certain development criteria, like job creation
and economic development. A score of four was given when
a member gave a "highly advantageous" rank, while a
score of one was given to "least advantageous."
Committee members were encouraged to provide written
comments, as well.
Ward 3 Councilor Joe F. DeMedeiros was one of those who
thought adding up his responses did not reflect how he
felt about the project. While adding up his responses
put him slightly in favor of the Home Depot project, he
said the two projects were even in his eyes.
"The Urban Investment proposal was clearly the superior
project, the ideal and best use of the land," he said.
"Home Depot's a safe bet, and the other one is a gamble.
I thought that both projects probably came out even."
Councilor Denis Lawrence Jr. said that he, too, thought
they were even. His evaluation added up to slightly
favor the Home Depot project, but he said he "didn't
even add them up" before submitting his evaluation.
Part of the problem for figuring out who favored what
was that Purchasing Agent Debra Travers only released
the scores of the evaluations, without releasing the
entire evaluations themselves. Several committee members
said their comments indicated how they felt about the
projects strengths and weaknesses.
So based on that information, the voting broke down like
this:
Strongly favoring the hotel/office/condo project were
Mr. Morrissey, Ms. Gonsalves, City Planner David Kennedy
and Historic Planner Anne Louro. Favoring the hotel
project were Ms. Travers, City Environmental Planner
Scott Alfonse, Community Development director Patrick
Sullivan, Assessor administrator Peter S. Barney, and
Ronald Labelle, Superintendent of Public Infrastructure.
Slightly favoring the hotel project were Superintendent
of Public Works Larry Worden and Building Inspector
Ronald Durgin.
Strongly favoring the Home Depot project were Ms. Coelho
and Normand Audette, the acting city treasurer. Favoring
Home Depot was Acting City Auditor Peter Schmidt, while
slightly favoring Home Depot were Councilors DeMedeiros
and Lawrence.
Councilor David Alves, who did not submit an evaluation,
said he was not happy with either proposal.
"It's too good a site for a big box retail, and it's too
good to wait for 10 years for it to develop," he said.
"After listening to both presentations, I think we can
do better."
Councilor Alves also said he believed that Mayor Lang
had made up his mind already, in favor of the
hotel/office/condos project.
"I met with a group of investors from New York this
morning (yesterday), and the city officials there were
talking about the Urban proposal as if it were a given,"
he said. Attending the meeting were Matthew A.
Morrissey, the executive director of the New Bedford
Economic Development Council, as well as Mayor Lang.
Mr. Morrissey said he had not indicated his preference
for either project until submitting his evaluation
yesterday afternoon, which favored the
hotel/office/condo project by a larger margin than any
other member.
"I have been very balanced about the project until
today," he said. "I have been very careful in my
capacity as executive director to be as unbiased as
possible in this process."
For his part, Mayor Lang said he got to the meeting late
and never heard any discussion of the Fairhaven Mills
project.
Also not submitting any evaluation were Ward 1 Councilor
Linda M. Morad, who said she missed all the meetings
because of an illness in the family; Councilor-at-large
Brian K. Gomes, who said he would submit an evaluation
this morning that slightly favored the hotel project; as
well as Councilor-at-large John T. Saunders, Ward 2
Councilor Paul Koczera, Ward 4 Councilor Viola Pina, and
Ward 6 Councilor Leo R. Pimental, who did not return
calls seeking comment.
Contact Aaron Nicodemus at
anicodemus@s-t.com
Publication date: April 10, 2007 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
