Marlborough Sued By Developers Behind 99-Unit Downtown Project

MARLBOROUGH, MA — The developers behind a proposed 99-unit mixed-use building in downtown Marlborough are suing the city and councilors following a recent council vote on the project.

Boston-based JW Capital and Harvard-based Marlborough TOTG — the two companies involved in the development of the 57 Main St. site — are suing the city in Land Court, according to Monday's city council agenda.

The lawsuit makes multiple allegations against the city, including that a zoning ordinance is contradictory, and that the developers were improperly prohibited from using city parking garages for the project.

The suit follows an April decision where city councilors voted to approve the 99-unit Exchange Place proposal, but with a major alteration to the plans.

At-Large Councilor Kathleen Robey led a bid to amend the plans to double the number of parking spots to 60 in a bid to reduce the number of total units. Developers had previously told councilors the project would only be viable at the 99-unit level with 28 parking spots on site. Robey surmised that the developer would reduce the number of units to avoid building the higher number of parking spots.

The amendment also barred the developers from using a city-owned lot along Bolton Street to offer additional parking spots to future tenants, and from making a payment to offset the lower number of spaces at the development.

The lawsuit alleges the amended approval — which passed council 7 to 4 — was effectively a denial in disguise.

"Although purporting to be an 'approval,' the conditions taken together, requiring a complete redesign of the project both to accommodate additional onsite parking, which is infeasible and to redesign the building to comport with unspecified design standards combine to effectuate a denial of the project as they require significant further substantive determinations before a permit can issue," the suit says.

The lawsuit is asking for the city council amendment to be annulled, and to compensate the developers for court and attorney fees.

Exchange Place would be built where Rowe Funeral Home building now stands along Union Common.

Neither JW Capital nor an attorney that has represented the developer over Exchange Place immediately returned a request for comment about the suit.