Sam Park will likely scale back the size of a planned Littleton development by a third, to about 400,000 square feet, the developer has revealed to Banker & Tradesman.

Park purchased the undeveloped 90-acre property off Great Road, previously owned by Cisco Systems, at the end of August. The site is approved for 640,000 square feet of commercial space.

The property, located just off Interstate 495, is currently approved for four-story office buildings with a very traditional corporate campus atmosphere. But Park wants to create what he calls a more "Littleton-scale" development that incorporates retail, restaurants and other uses beyond just office space. The price tag will be around $80 million, he said.

Park said town officials told him they were looking for additional amenities in that area, especially to serve the approximately 1,600 IBM employees across the street. Park noted there also seems to be interest in medical office space, as doctors and healthcare groups are looking to be located near the interstate. And there is a "clear demand for smaller shops, dry goods and restaurants there as well," he told Banker & Tradesman.

Park, who plans to retain ownership of the development once it is built, said he will build in two or three phases so the project doesn’t become "too large, too quickly." He believes the office market will rebound in the next 18 months, if not 12, so demand for that space will return to occupy however much office space he ends up building.

The developer is hoping to gain consensus on the master plan in the spring, followed immediately by the first phase of construction, which will run roughly $40 million or $50 million. The entire project will likely take three to four years to complete, Park offered. He said the work should create about 200 construction jobs.

"The economy should rebound in that window," Park opined. "I think our timing is perfect. We’re prepared to move full steam ahead."