Riverside Development In Newton Edges Forward

NEWTON, MA — The development planned for the 15 acre piece of land next to the Riverside MBTA station is back in the spotlight. The city council approved zoning changes for the project in November, after downsizing its proposal following pushback from neighbors.

Now in order for the project to move forward, the land use committee is set to look at proposals to rezone some nearby parcels and approve a special permit.

There will be a public hearing at 7 p.m. in front of the council’s Land Use Committee Tuesday.

The Riverside Development Project incorporates a mix of housing, office, hotel and retail with parking for both the Riverside MBTA station and the new uses. In the works since 2012, the development will sit on a portion of the Riverside MBTA parking lot. The MBTA will maintain ownership of the land, but that the developer would have an 85-year lease with in order to create a development, according to the city.

The project would develop 15 acres of a 25 acre total site that includes the MBTA tracks and service area, near the intersection of routes 90 and 95 and the end of the MBTA green line.

Following concerted pushback by some residents, the developer, Mark Development, scaled back plans for its project in October, reducing the overall footage of its proposal by 209,000 square feet and lowering the maximum height of the buildings.

City officials say they've long been looking for a place to develop for housing, and the large parking lot area wedged between the highway and the T station has long been identified as an ideal spot.

Mark Development originally planned to bring in 675 apartment units via a 1.5 million-square-foot complex.

Those opposed to the project's size before the downsize, said the development would forever change the face of Newton and fear the leafy corner of Newton will become too citified, complaining of noise issues, too tall of buildings and traffic.

Following work with neighbors during the summer, the developer trimmed those plans to more than 1.2 million square feet with 524 housing units making it 11 buildings, including a garage. The current special permit application, filed in December, calls for 1.025 million square feet with 560-620 housing units and 10 buildings, including a garage.

The project would also include a replacing the Hotel Indigo, office space and retail and more than 2,000 parking spaces. The tallest building would be a 150-foot office building, 10 or 11 stories tall, down from the earlier proposal of 18 stories.

This comes as a number of developments are proposed across the city, including an 800 unit development in Newton Upper Falls, which is the largest of its kind the city has seen in recent memory. It also comes amid a rezoning of the city.

After the hearing it goes to the land use committee in April and then comes before the city council.

Patch reporter Jenna Fisher can be reached at Jenna.Fisher@patch.com or by calling 617-942-0474. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram (@ReporterJenna).