Framingham rezoned the heart of its downtown to encourage higher-density multifamily complexes near its MBTA commuter rail station – and developers are responding.
Mill Creek Residential will build a 270-unit apartment complex at 266 Waverly St. after obtaining final local approval this week.
The project is the first to be approved under the town’s new transit-oriented downtown zoning district enacted in January that allows 6-story mixed-use developments on parcels within a 10-minute walk of the train station. The new zoning district is designed to revitalize the downtown and keep Framingham’s office parks competitive as job centers.
The 6-story apartment building, called Modera Framingham, will replace a vacant single-story building that most recently housed a Harley-Davidson dealership on a 3-acre lot. Units will range from studios to three-bedrooms with 10 percent restricted under affordable housing guidelines.
The complex will include a 400-space underground parking garage, along with storage for 41 bicycles. Market-rate rents will range from $1,600 to over $2,000, Mill Creek Senior Managing Director Robb Hewitt told the MetroWest Daily News.
The town encourages but no longer requires ground-floor retail in mixed-use developments, Director of Economic and Community Development Arthur Robert said. Residential development is the top priority.
“The philosophy is we’re encouraging roofs before retail and that will drive support for more amenities,” he said. “We found (requiring retail) would be constraining and limit the developers’ options.”
Framingham’s population within a half-mile of the MBTA station grew nearly 26 percent to 4,079 between 1990 and 2000, according to Census data, but only 0.2 percent between 2000 and 2010.
Mill Creek filed its application June 28. Under a new review procedure put in place last year, town department heads meet with developers at the outset of permitting to give feedback on proposals with the goal of streamlining the process. The town also reduced the targeted site plan review period, which previously could take nearly six months, to 60 days for large projects and 30 days for smaller ones.
In May, nearly two dozen developers attended a tour hosted by local officials to show off sites in the downtown area. No other formal proposals have been filed, but the town is in preliminary talks with various developers, Robert said.
