Image courtesy of Cube 3 Architects

Amid a referendum fight that will see Newton residents vote on an 800-unit mixed-use project in a major business district, the Newton-Needham Regional Chamber is dialing up its support for the development.

The chamber, which had previously supported the Northland Investment Corp. project planned for the site of the former Clarks Shoes headquarters on Needham Street, hosted a forum this morning to explain its support for the project, what it sees as its benefits and the issues it believes are at stake.

“We’ve been working really hard with the campaign for quite a while to make sure people understand there’s an economic component to this,” chamber President Greg Riebman said in an interview. “There’s a positive upside if this project is approved and a really alarming upside if it’s rejected”

Zoning that would enable the Northland project was approved by a two-thirds majority of the Newton City Council late last year, but the city charter allows citizens to overturn any council decision with a community-wide referendum. Project opponents, who secured enough signatures last month to trigger the referendum, say they want to force Northland to make additional concessions including shrinking the project’s unit count. The project will appear on voters’ ballots during the state primary election on March 3.

To secure the council’s backing after an 18-month approval process, Northland agreed to provide public shuttle buses to nearby Green Line stops, and cut the project’s overall size in half, to 1.1 million square feet on the 23-acre site.

Riebman said the chamber fears the project’s defeat will put a chill on development in the city for the forseeable future, with the exception of Chapter 40B affordable housing projects, which would be less likely to offer the kinds of concessions Northland has already made.

“If you can do that, invest all your money in the project, make all kinds of compromises, then have that pulled out from under you with a referendum, what developer would want to come here and work,” he said.

The chamber plans to be active in defending the project, Riebman said, equipping its members with information they can use to lobby their friends and neighbors. Many member businesses struggle with attracting talent because housing costs in the area are so high, he said.