Ted Tye’s National Development has had a busy 2015.

So far this year, the Newton-based firm headed by Tye has generated a number of headlines with high-profile development moves in Boston, Burlington, Lynnfield, Medford, Westwood, Wayland and, most recently, Sudbury.

The development projects all differ – and the duration and degree of National Development’s involvement in them also differs from project to project.

But all the projects share one thing in common: They’re mixed-use developments featuring critical retail components, combined with either office or housing (or both). They’re also helping National Development cement its image as a major leader in the mixed-use and retail development arena in Greater Boston.

“The mixed-use trend has been happening for a number of years now,” said Tye, managing partner at National Development. “It started off in cities with a tremendous influx of people into urban areas, and they don’t have cars. Now the same kind of thing has moved into suburbia.”

Mixed-use development projects have been all the rage for about a decade in urban areas such as Boston, Cambridge and Somerville, as younger workers increasingly demand “live, work and play” environments that require little, if any, driving.
National Development has been a major player in that urban trend, most recently as the lead developer of the Ink Block project in Boston’s South End, where it has already built ground-floor retail (with Whole Foods Market serving as its anchor tenant) and hundreds of new residential units. Earlier this summer, National Development announced it would be building an additional 83 condo units at Ink Block.

In Medford, National Development has developed more than 50,000 square feet of retail space at the massive mixed-use Station Landing project, located on 16 acres of land adjacent to the Orange Line’s Wellington station. Over the past year, a new 152-room hotel was built at Station Landing, adding to the existing retail, housing and office amenities there.

Outside The City Limits

National Development has lately been pushing its mixed-use ambitions into other parts of Greater Boston.
In Westwood, National Development is one of three partners in the massive mixed-use University Station development off of Route 128. Earlier this month, a 122,000-square-foot Wegmans supermarket opened to much fanfare at University Station.

In Lynnfield, National Development has been involved in a joint venture with Newton-based WS Development to develop the mixed-use MarketStreet Lynnfield project. MarketStreet includes 495,000 square feet of retail space in approximately 95 stores. The project’s ongoing second phase includes about 35 new stores and restaurants, which have been gradually opening since last spring, Tye said.

In Burlington, National Development and its partners, AEW Capital Management and Charles River Realty Investors, announced this summer the rebranding of the 13-building New England Executive Park to “The District Burlington” and embarked on a multiphase redevelopment of the site. The project will include about 160,000 square feet for a new hotel and six restaurants, as well as a new parking garage, offices and walking trails.

In Wayland, a joint venture of KGI Properties and JP Morgan Asset Management announced this summer the sale of the recently constructed Wayland Town Center to Zurich Asset Management for $68 million. Zurich Asset has tapped National Development to serve as the property manager of the mixed-use development’s retail spaces – which now house the Boston Sports Club, Panera Bread, a Stop &Shop supermarket, Ace Hardware, the Local restaurant and other retail shops.
Now National Development has turned its development eyes on Sudbury.

Last month, the firm signed an agreement to buy Raytheon’s 35-acre site at 528 Boston Post Road, where Raytheon has long had an R&D facility. Next year, Raytheon plans to vacate the site and move most of its 800 Sudbury employees to an R&D facility in nearby Marlborough.

National Development’s plan for the Sudbury site: a mixed-use project.

Though Tye declined to discuss the Sudbury move, sources confirm that the company, working with Avalon Bay, hopes to develop 250 affordable housing units, 50 senior-care units and 75,000 to 100,000 square feet of retail space, much of which might be occupied by a new grocery store.

Jeremy Grossman, a senior vice president specializing in retail at CBRE-New England, said the recent mixed-use moves by National Development and other area developers is a clear response to new market demands, particularly from retailers facing ever-tougher competition from online rivals.

“Retailers are increasingly looking for a built-in customer base, either via housing or offices,” Grossman said. “They need to thrive on both daytime customers (in offices) and evening customers (in homes). I absolutely see this trend continuing.”