Image courtesy of Google Maps
The latest master development team paid $65 million to acquire parcels at the former South Weymouth Naval Air Station from a lender as it pursues what could become Massachusetts’ largest real estate project.
New England Development and Brookfield Properties acquired the parcels from Washington Capital Management, which took back 220 acres from previous air base developer LStar Ventures in 2019 after LStar’s redevelopment efforts floundered.
The current developers are planning 6,500 homes and 2 million square feet of commercial space on the over 1,400-acre property spanning portions of Abington, Rockland and Weymouth.
The air base closed in 1997. Previous redevelopment plans included a massive shopping mall and mixture of commercial and residential space. More than 1,000 residential units have been built at the property under previous developers, but large-scale development plans have been delayed amid uncertainty over a permanent water source. The project has, at various times and under various developers, been known as “Southfield,” “Union Point,” and now “The Base” according to a project website set up by New England Development and Brookfield.
Last summer, the Healey administration provided a $32.4 million infrastructure grant to Weymouth, which is joining the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority system to build a water connection to the former base property.
The estimated $120 million project includes a new, 6.7-mile water main running through Quincy, Braintree and Weymouth. Developers estimate the pipeline will be completed in 2031.
In 2019, New England Development and Brookfield Properties were selected as the new master developers by the Southfield Redevelopment Authority, a regional board that oversees the base redevelopment.
Developers estimate new growth at the property would deliver $24 million in combined annual tax revenue to the three communities.
Gov. Maura Healey characterized the property as a high-impact opportunity to drive housing production at scale.
“Lowering housing costs is my top priority, and projects like this are how we get there,” Healey said in a statement provided by New England Development and Brookfield. “This redevelopment will create thousands of new homes, support good-paying jobs and transform a long-underutilized site into an engine of opportunity for the South Shore.”
And House Speaker Ron Mariano, whose district includes part of Weymouth and who’s become an advocate for the project in recent years, heralded the sale as a sign of progress on “the kind of development that the Commonwealth needs more of if we are going to build enough housing to stabilize costs for our residents” in a statement provided by the developers.
