Development At Wright-Locke Farm On Hold

The developement of Wright-Locke Farm has been put on hold after selectmen voted to reject the proposals from three different developers. The town has to go back to the drawing board and set the bar to their standards in order to clarify what they expect for qualifications and financial compensation.

CMC Partners, Duffy Properties and Northland Residential LLC each bid to build at Wright-Locke Farm in hopes of developing , a 62 residential unit project consisting of 14 townhouses, 48 condos.

A letter was sent to each developer from Winchester Board of Selectmen addressing several issues. “The Board had concerns that the proposed purchase prices did not adequately compensate the Town for a project oft he density and impact of the Abbott proposal as revised,” the letter signed by Chairman Forrest Fontana stated.

“Many items weren’t nailed down,” Assistant Town Manager Mark Twogood said. “The staff recommended that the proposal be rejected so that the town could set the bar of requirements.”

According to the letter from the board, one issue that troubled selectmen was the requirement to compare proposals as they differed in many fields including, “affordable housing, water and sewer connection fees, conservation area, mitigation payment, pump station repairs, and landscaping allowance.”

 that the Northland Residential would have a 55-year-old age restriction and no affordable housing, while paying $5 million for the property. CMC Properties offered the highest purchase price of $8 million. They told the board they would eliminate the age-restriction and have affordable housing.

Duffy Properties told the board their offer price would increase from $6.5 million to $7.5 million if there’s no affordable housing. One issue put forth by the Board is the "in the request by two ofthe three bidders to reinove the age-
restrietion from the ARCDOD Zoning of the garden apartment structures."

The letter also stated that, “another factor in our decision Was the apparent concern of each of the bidders regarding the Abbott proposal as the highest and best use of the development envelope under current market conditions.”

“The process of creating a new proposal is underway and while a decision will be made in the near future, there is no timeline right now,” Twogood said.