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FEATURE ARTICLE, DECEMBER 2010
WAITING ON WAYLAND TOWN CENTER
After several years of planning and permitting, KGI Properties, a division of The Koffler Group, is finally developing Wayland Town Center, a mixed-use project in Wayland, Massachusetts. The project will include 177,000 square feet of retail and office space, 100 residential units and 2 acres of green space. The company will also donate a pad site for a 40,000-square-foot municipal building and provide $250,000 for the construction of an adjacent bike trail.
In addition to meeting significant demand for retail space in the community, this project will include a road that connects two major thoroughfares: routes 20 and 27.
“The town of Wayland has never had a true town center,” says Richard Bornstein, chief executive officer of Providence, R.I.-based Koffler Group. “We have the opportunity to create a real downtown — the type of center that would take 100 years to evolve.”
The center will maintain the colonial character for which the area is known. All four sides of the buildings will feature clapboards and decorative windows, and throughout the project, KGI will install an attractive streetscape.
The site is an ideal location for a town center. More than 21,000 people live within 3 miles of the site, and the average household income in that area tops $170,000. Within 5 miles, there are 85,330 people with an average household income of more than $153,000.
Retailers are taking notice of these numbers, despite the economic downturn. Joseph Harnan, director of leasing and marketing for KGI Properties, is currently negotiating with a number of tenants including five restaurants, a wine shop, hair salon, dry cleaner and a bank. He is also marketing space for high-end tenants, including a spa and fashion retailers. “There is a definite need for this center — there is a void in retail here,” Harnan says. “Restaurant and service tenants have shown a great deal of interest, though it may take a little longer to sign luxury tenants. It is just a function of the economic situation.”
Twenty Wayland LLC, the ownership entity and a KGI affiliate, began working on Wayland Town Center in 2005 but has faced a complicated permitting process as well as the economic recession. Early on, town residents voted overwhelmingly in favor of the project and the company has addressed the concerns of several local committees. “In the last few months of 2010, everyone in the community has really come together to make the project a reality,” Bornstein says.
Before site work can begin, KGI Properties will demolish the 410,000-square-foot former Raytheon/Polaroid office building on the site. Harnan says site work will begin in the spring.
The first phase of the project will include a 45,000-square-foot Stop & Shop and an additional 60,000 square feet of retail and office space. It is slated to deliver in late 2011 or early 2012.
The second phase is expected to include the residential component and the balance of the retail and office space. Harnan anticipates it will open toward the end of 2012.
— Jaime Lackey
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