Weston-based Boulder Capital reached an agreement last week to purchase Weston Nurseries in Hopkinton for $20.5 million. Hopkinton residents have voiced opposition to the company’s plan to develop housing at the site.
Nearly 750 acres of rolling hills and pristine farmland could become a new neighborhood in the town best known for the start of the Boston Marathon. But some Hopkinton officials are running from the prospect of 1,000 homes on one of the largest tracts of undeveloped land inside Interstate 495.
“People are very upset by what’s being proposed,” said Sandra Altamura, a Planning Board member. “Residents made it clear that we don’t want housing and this developer is offering exactly that.”
Last week, Boulder Capital reached an agreement to purchase Weston Nurseries for $20.5 million. Under the terms of the purchase-and-sale agreement, the buyer will be required to pay an additional $5 million following permitting. If the town approves 1,700 housing units, the price jumps to $33.5 million.
During a tour of the 84-year-old family-owned nursery filled with pine trees, holly bushes and a variety of plants and shrubs, Roy S. MacDowell Jr., president of Boulder Capital – a Weston-based real estate company – said he is optimistic that a deal can be worked out with the town.
“I’m sure the people in Hopkinton are nervous,” said MacDowell. “But I pledge to work closely with neighbors, the community and public officials to understand their concerns about traffic, property taxes, schoolchildren and the need to keep much of this land preserved as open space.”
MacDowell said he envisions a mixed-use development with a new Weston Nurseries retail store as the anchor. If approved, the farm will continue to operate on a portion of the parcel with a combination of rental units, condominiums, affordable and luxury homes, and townhouses, as well as age-restricted homes that would be built over the next decade.
The only larger project in eastern Massachusetts has been The Pinehills, a 3,000-acre wooded site in Plymouth. Over the last five years, 1,000 homes and 60,000 square feet of retail space has been built on woodlands there. More than 2,000 acres of forestland remain as open space with homes built around woods, water and golf courses.
Boulder is not the only company that has expressed interest in the 900-acre nursery located 25 miles west of Boston on Route 135. Some of the biggest names in residential real estate have kicked the tires on the land with its spectacular views of Boston, Worcester Hills and New Hampshire’s White Mountains.
Among the giant firms include Pulte Homes, a publicly traded Michigan-based company that delivered nearly 50,000 homes last year and generated revenues of $14.7 billion; and Toll Bros., a Fortune 500 company based in Pennsylvania that calls itself the nation’s premier builder of luxury homes. One of the Pinehills developers, Newton-based Green Co., also was interested.
At one point, the bidding for the parcel was nearly $70 million. But the nursery owners, brothers R. Wayne and Peter Mezitt, have been embroiled in a family feud over the future of the fourth-generation company. A combination of bickering and declining revenues has landed the company in Bankruptcy Court, according to a source familiar with the quarrel.
Boulder Capital has been working with the Mezitts for years and could emerge as the winner. For MacDowell, his latest offer is about 33 percent less than a previous one he made in 2005. As the brothers argued, the real estate market cooled, lowering the parcel’s value.
“We had a deal last year for $10 million more than we are paying now and we were a day away from signing, but the two of them started fighting again,” recalled MacDowell. “It ended up in Bankruptcy Court where the judge told them, ‘If you don’t get this deal done, I will fire all the lawyers, bring in my own team and make all the decisions.'”
Aside from convincing the community, there are several other hurdles for MacDowell to overcome. Within 30 days of the signed purchase-and-sale agreement, the court will invite other bidders to make offers. Any new potential buyers would have to outbid Boulder by at least $1.5 million and meet the terms of the deal. If there is another bid, the court will require a sealed final bid from the parties.
In addition, because the land has been designated under Chapter 61A – farmland that is taxed at a reduced rate – Hopkinton has the right of first refusal on the purchase. Town officials will have 120 days following the signing of the purchase-and-sale agreement to determine whether they want to buy it.
‘Really Scary’
Mary C. Pratt, vice chairwoman of the Board of Selectman, said the best option for the town is to buy the parcel. “We don’t have the money to buy it, but we also can’t afford more traffic and all the costs associated with new housing including police, fire and schools,” she said. “This proposal is a shock and the idea of so much new housing is really scary. No developer comes to town to do you a favor. But in this case, the project will saddle us with a new school for the rest of our lives.”
Gary Furst, Weston Nurseries’ president and chief executive officer, said the prospects of a revitalized garden center with a mix of uses on the parcel are a recipe for a quality development that will benefit everyone. Furst said he hopes the town can rally around the proposal.
“There are always some people who hate change and I appreciate that,” he noted. “But I think people will be smart enough to see that change is going to happen so let’s make the best of it.”
Vera Kolias, Southborough’s town planner, said concern for an additional 1,000 units of housing is not limited to Hopkinton. She said many of that town’s commuters already drive to Southborough’s MBTA commuter rail station for their trip into Boston.
“We’re worried about the impact of more cars on already congested Route 85 at the entrance to the T,” she said. “It’s a mess.”
But Finley Perry, chairman of the town’s Land Use Study Committee and president of the Home Builders Association of Massachusetts, cautiously favored the mixed-use proposal. While traffic is a concern, perhaps new roads could be built within the development to divert traffic off busy Routes 135 and 85, he said.
“Roy [MacDowell] has been open and he has a track record of putting together complex deals,” said Perry. “I’m convinced that both sides will have to make significant compromises. It may have to go slower than Roy hopes and perhaps with fewer units. But one thing is for sure: If Roy wants to do this, he must convince us that 1,000 units is a good idea because two-thirds of Town Meeting will be required for a zoning change.”
Still, the Hopkinton Planning Board’s Altamura is skeptical. She said the homes will generate a new school at a cost of about $30 million, not to mention the ongoing school funding and the financial impact on town services.
“We either pay for Weston Nurseries now or pay more to build a school later,” Altamura said. “Pay now or pay later – those are our choices.”
Jenna Ringelheim, a senior project associate at The Trust for Public Land’s Boston office, said Hopkinton could assign its rights to the property to the trust, which would trigger an examination of the deal. At that point, a determination could be made whether the trust could raise the money to buy the parcel.
Since its inception in 1972, The Trust for Public Land has completed 3,269 land conservation projects in 46 states, protecting more than 2.2 million acres nationwide – including more than 330,000 acres throughout New England. This week, the trust is expected to close on the 360-acre Surrenden Farm in Groton for $20 million.
“We do take on very big projects,” she said. “The Weston Nurseries has been on our watch list, but we don’t come in until we are invited by the town.”
