172-Unit Wayland Residential Development At Old Whole Foods Subject Of Forum

WAYLAND, MA — If you haven't heard about what's in store for the former Wayland Whole Foods site, now's your chance to find out.

The town will host a public forum to review plans for a 172-unit residential development at the former supermarket plaza between Boston Post Road and Pelham Island Road. Developer Mill Creek Residential is planning to set aside 43 units as affordable for families earning less than 80 percent of the area median income.

"The project will revitalize the existing Route 20 retail corridor and provide a new customer base for the existing retail businesses, creating a mixed use zone along both sides of Route 20. The on-site flooding, wetlands impacts and stormwater treatment will all be improved, and the town will realize a meaningful increase in its tax income from the project site. Traffic generation and impacts for a residential development will be significantly less compared with a fully-occupied retail center," the developer said in a January letter to the town.

The town's forum on the development will happen before plans for the development head to the Zoning Board of Appeals, and later the Wayland Select Board, for review.

The Wayland Whole Foods closed in 2017 and moved farther down the Boston Post Road to Sudbury. The grocery store portion of the plaza has been vacant ever since.

The town forum on the Mill Creek development will take place March 20 at 7 p.m. inside the town building and via Zoom.