Cushing Village Demolition Begins Next Week; Residents Concern on Process

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Photo: Bill Lovett, senior development manager at Toll’s Apartment Living, speaking to residents.

The demolition of structures on the proposed Cushing Village site will begin next week, according to a Toll Brothers representative speaking at a public meeting held at the Beech Street Center on Tuesday, Jan. 24.

“The big equipment will be mobilizing this Friday and early next week is when the demolition will begin,” said Bill Lovett, a senior development manager at Toll’s Apartment Living before 45 residents who braved the stormy wet weather to discuss a broad range of concerns from what will be done with contaminated soil and groundwater, parking to beautifying the area during the 24 months of construction.

At 164,000 square feet, Cushing Village consists of three separate buildings with approximately 38,000 square feet of commercial space, 115 dwellings units – 60 two-bedroom and 55 one-bedroom units – and 225 parking spaces including 50 public spaces. The development will also include 12 affordable apartments.

Lovett said the former S.S. Pierce & Co. building at the corner of Common and Trapelo and the First National/CVS at Common and Belmont would be brought down away from the streets with the debris placed on the property’s asphalt parking lots before being hauled away.

After the balance of the demolition is complete around March 1, the developer will begin deepwater treatment of the site.

By early April, work will commence on the foundation of the Winslow Building, which is located on the municipal parking lot at Williston and Trapelo roads. Lovett said while the development will take approximately two years to be completed, he expects the Winslow building to be open for ground floor retail occupancy by next summer.

Lovett also addressed a question that many residents had: what would happen to Starbucks during the construction. He said the national coffee cafe has two options; it can attempt to remain opened while work goes on around the shop, or close at some point for the duration of construction. He noted that if Starbucks does shut down, the period of construction will be shortened.

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SAGE’s team: Rick Mandile (left), Molly Cote, and Jacob Butterworth.

Lovett introduced representatives of SAGE Environmental which will lead the monitoring and cleanup of the soil and groundwater within Toll Brothers’ development plan. The site was once home to dry cleaners as well as a gas station, the municipal parking lot, retail space and a supermarket.

Rick Mandile, a principal at SAGE, told the audience that Toll’s plan is to dig up about 90 percent of the site, upward of 30,000 tons of soil – which less than 10 percent or about 2,700 tons is likely contaminated with chlorinated hydrocarbons such as trichloroethylene – which will be treated before being moved to a landfill.

Working from a 700-page draft Release Abatement Measure (RAM) Plan, SAGE’s Molly Cote, a project manager told the residents that groundwater on the site would be treated at the location before being sent into the municipal storm drains, which is allowed by the state.

Lovett said work on the site would occur between 7 a.m. and 3 p.m. with workers using a shuttle bus to arrive at the site. He said a plan for parking and bringing in dump trucks to the site are still being formulated.

Several residents raised concerns about the monitoring program of contaminates and the removal of the soil, asking for special care when it is trucked from the location to keep dust under control. The Belmont Board of Selectmen has recently hired a licensed site professional to do a peer review of SAGE’s draft RAM.

Beginning Tuesday, residents have a 20 day comment period to write to SAGE’s senior project manager, Jacob Butterworth (jbutterworth@sage-enviro.com) of their concerns and any questions they wish to be answered in the RAM before it is sent to the state’s Department of Environmental Protection for its approval.

John Mattleman of Poplar Street told Lovett that “the little things are big and the big things are big” on a project that requires this level of monitoring and remediation.

“Communications will go a long way as we are now partners in this,” he said.

Town To Peer Review Toll Bros. Plan To Clean Cushing Village Land

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Revised on Tuesday, Jan. 24 to update status of RAM material.

Photo: A public meeting Tuesday will discuss how the land of the future Cushing Village be cleaned to allow construction to begin.

The Belmont Board of Selectmen voted Monday, Jan. 24, to hire an environmental firm to peer review the state-approved plan developer Toll Brothers will use to clean the contaminated property where the 167,000 sq.-ft. Cushing Village project will be built.

The remediation plan along with an initial schedule for the project will be presented at a public meeting scheduled for tonight, Tuesday, Jan. 24, at the Beech Street Center. The meeting will start at 6:30 p.m.

The meeting will start at 6:30 p.m.

Selectmen Chair Mark Paolillo said he and some residents felt it would be prudent for the town to have an independent licensed site professional (LSP) conduct “a town-sponsored review” of the developer’s Release Abatement Measure (RAM) Plan. The plan details the environmental contaminates in the property located in the heart of Cushing Square and how the firm’s contractors will remediate the land, so it is safe to build the three building development. 

An LSP oversees the assessment and cleanup of contamination property. More information on what an LSP does can be found at the LSP Association website.

The plan details the environmental contaminates in the property located in the heart of Cushing Square and how the firm’s contractors will remediate the land, so it is safe to build the three building development. 

Besides retail stores, a supermarket and a municipal parking lot, the property also was one home to dry cleaners.

The draft Cushing Village RAM will be sent to the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection by Toll Brothers’ LSP after the 20-day comment period. It would then take a week for the state to approve the RAM.

“I’d like [Belmont’s LSP] to look at the RAM” that will occur during a state-mandated 20-day comment period that starts when the plan is presented to residents and business owners Tuesday night, said Paolillo.

While the state prohibits additional language or requirements from being added to the abatement plan, Toll Brothers “have expressed to [the town] it wants to be collaborative” and would seriously consider concerns from the town’s professional, said David Kale. Belmont town administrator. 

“The RAM is what the RAM is,” said Paolillo, “we just want to provide our comments.”

Cushing Village Update: Municipal Lot Closed To Public Wednesday

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Photo: From parking lot to construction site.

In the first tangible indication construction on the long delayed Cushing Village development is about to commence, signs notified the public the municipal parking lot adjacent Starbucks was official closed to vehicles.

“THIS PARKING LOT Located on the corner of TRAPELO ROAD and WILLISTON ROAD WILL BE CLOSED EFFECTIVE JANUARY 18th, 2017” read several signs in the near empty lot.

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At the Williston Road entry, another sign said “Construction Entrance Only” and “Lot Closed 1/18/17,” placed by Nauset Construction, the Needham-base constructon management firm hired by the project’s national developer, Toll Brothers. 

Toll Brothers officially took possession of the town-owned lot on Oct. 19, 2016 after purchasing the parcel for $1.335 million, according to town records.

Despite assurances the lot would be closed within days of the sale, it would take three additional months for the Pennylvania-based Apartment Living subsidiary to secure the first of several permits from the town and state’s environmental protection agency to allow construction to precede and to finalize a long-term lease with Starbucks to secure a space in the project.

Cushing Villiage is a 165,000 square foot, three building development with approximately 38,000 square feet of commercial space, 115 apartments – 60 two-bedroom units and 55 one-bedroom units – and 225 parking spaces including 50 municipal spaces.

Bill Lovett, a senior development manager at Toll Brothers’ Apartment Living, said in August the earliest date for construction to begin on Cushing Village is late spring of 2017 with a completion date of the summer of 2019.

Sold in Belmont: A Pair of Million Dollar Splits That Took Different Tacks

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Photo: A highlight of smart, architectural sensitive renovation in a split level in the Winn Brook.

A weekly recap of residential properties sold in the past seven days in the “Town of Homes.”

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• 58 Crestview Rd., Split-level ranch (1959/2016 renovation). Sold: $1,500,000. Listed at $1,775,000. Living area: 4,200 sq.-ft. 7 rooms, 5 bedrooms, 4.5 baths. On the market: 79 days.

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• 544 Trapelo Rd., Two-family (1890). Sold: $680,000. Listed at $699,999. Living area: 1,747 sq.-ft. 10 rooms, 4 bedrooms, 2.5 baths. On the market: 157 days.

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• 61 Hoitt Rd., Split-level ranch (1957). Sold: $1,100,000. Listed at $1,100,000. Living area: 1,962 sq.-ft. 8 rooms, 4 bedrooms, 2.5 baths. On the market: 95 days.

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• 66-68 Chester Rd., Two-family (1917). Sold: $1,100,000. Listed at $1,025,000. Living area: 1,747 sq.-ft. 14 rooms, 6 bedrooms, 3 baths. On the market: 67 days.

After WWII, the rapidly growing middle class was seeking to leave the urban neighborhood and move to the expanding suburbs to find new homes with a modern design that wouldn’t cost an arm and a leg. Into that void came the Ranch, the sprawling single family with its long, close-to-the-ground outline, and wide open layout inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright’s Prairie homes. You can see many great examples of this architectural design on Belmont Hill, notably on Spring Valley Road. The design doesn’t particularly work well in New England: it’s best located in a flat landscape with few trees allowing sunlight to filter in which is hampered by the hills and wooded areas of the Northeast.

But by the 1970s, the design grew out of favor – the lack of natural light and the “wide-open spaces” of the run-on rooms – as hybrid postmodern homes with cathedral ceilings, skylights, island cooktops, and other ugly features dominated the demands of homebuyers.

In the past week, a pair of ranches, split-levels with upper “private” (bedrooms and baths) and lower “public” (living room/kitchen/dining rooms) levels, were sold taking different tacks to get to a seven-figure sales price.

On Crestview Road, the 57-year-old split was given an extensive makeover by the developer who bought the house for $1,025,000 million in August 2015 to flip it. He dropped $178,807 into the structure, adding nearly 1,300 sq.-ft. (the size of a two-bed condominium) with an expanded and renovated kitchen (with quartz counter tops!) with a pair of dishwashers (Two dishwashers?). But likely done anticipating what buyers would want, the developer added a vaulted ceiling in the living area which destroys the architectural integrity of the ranch design.

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With an assessed value of $1.36 million, the developer rolled the dice and marketed the place for an ambitious $1,775,000. But soon someone named “The slowing local real estate market” – Boston has dropped out of the top 20 strongest residential locations in the US at the end of ’16 – told the developer he was still selling a ranch. Soon the listing price fell three times by October to $1,575,000. And he still took a haircut on the final price of $1.5 million. Profit, but more of a razor-thin margin.

The ranch on Hoitt Road in the Winn Brook neighborhood – a block from the school – also saw a $34,000 kitchen renovation in 2013/14 that included a center island, custom cabinets, new appliances and … quartz counter tops! A trend worth praising.

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But rather than blow up the rooms, the updates in the “public” areas were faithful to the split-level history, keeping the architectural details – ornamental iron railing, flat brick fireplace, high windows – during the makeover. The highlight is expanding the patio into a three-season living space (what a great way to use the patio’s support beams as an aesthetic focus) opening up into the living room. 

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Purchased for $700,000 in ’11, listed and sold at $1.1 million.

Smaller Real Estate Tax Bill Jump in ’17 as Property Values Cool

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Photo: Belmont’s Assessors’ (from left) Charles R. Laverty, III, Robert P. Reardon, Martin B. Millane, Jr.

Real estate taxes on the average-valued home in Belmont will increase by the least amount in the past four years after the Belmont Board of Selectmen approved at its Monday, Dec. 19 meeting the recommendation of the town’s Board of Assessors’ to up the town’s property tax rate 14 cents in 2017.

The annual tax bill for the average assessed valued property – currently $941,700 – would increase by $311 to $11,960, less than half of last year’s hike of $717 under the new tax rate of $12.70 per $1,000 of assessed value. The current rate is $12.56 per $1,000.

Under the new rate, the annual tax for a property assessed at $750,000 will be $9,525, or $2,381.25 per quarterly tax bill.

The increase in the tax rate “is a result of a slight increase in real property values with an increase in the tax levy capacity,” wrote Assessors’ Chair Robert P. Reardon in the board’s yearly report to the Selectmen.

Reardon told the Belmontonian the town data showed a significant cooling in real estate values in Belmont this year. After increases of $55,300 ($782,600 to $847,900) from 2014 to 2015 and $79,500 between 2016-15 ($847,900 to $927,400), assessed values increased just $14,300 in 2017 compared to 2016.

After years of five percent increases in average assessed values, “[y]ou expect it to pull back, and it did this year,” said Reardon, who predicts home values will continue to level off in 2017 with two interest rate hikes anticipated by the Federal Reserve.

Under the new rate, Belmont will collect $85.6 million from residential, commercial, open land and personal properties. Last fiscal year, the town raised $82.9 million in real estate taxes.

Reardon noted a healthy increase in new property growth totaling $788,000 from the construction of the Belmont Uplands and the sale of prime properties on Woodland Road provided a “nice” bump into the town’s coffers.

As with past years, the assessors’ recommended, and the selectmen agreed to a single tax classification for all properties and no real estate exemptions.

Reardon said Belmont does not have anywhere near the amount of commercial and industrial space – at a minimum 20 percent – to creating separate tax rates for residential and commercial properties. Belmont’s commercial base is 4.24 percent of the total real estate.

“People always assumes there’s money if you go with the split rate and that’s not true,” Reardon told the Belmontonian.

Sold in Belmont: Only Million Dollar Homes Need Apply This Week

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Photo: The only single family home to sell last week and, as always, at a premium.

A weekly recap of residential properties sold in the past seven days in the “Town of Homes.”

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• 58 Summitt Rd., Townhouse (2005). Sold: $1,140,000. Listed at $1,275,000. Living area: 2,880 sq.-ft. 9 rooms, 3 bedrooms, 3.5 baths. On the market: 92 days.

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• 19 Fieldmont Rd., Tudor (1925). Sold: $1,195,000. Listed at $2,300,000. Living area: 3,952 sq.-ft. 10 rooms, 4 bedrooms, 4.5 baths. On the market: 173 days.

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• 54 Selwyn Rd., Center entrance Colonial (1925). Sold: $1,250,000. Listed at $1,035,000. Living area: 2,763 sq.-ft. 8 rooms, 4 bedrooms, 2.5 baths. On the market: 68 days.

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• 47 Homer Rd., Center entrance Colonial (1940). Sold: $1,650,000. Listed at $1,699,900. Living area: 3,080 sq.-ft. 8 rooms, 5 bedrooms, 3.5 baths. On the market: 68 days.

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• 80-82 Lewis Rd., Two family (1924). Sold: $1,089,500. Listed at $995,000. Living area: 3,100 sq.-ft. 15 rooms, 7 bedrooms, 3 baths. On the market: 82 days.

Sold in Belmont: A Softening in Multifamily Prices, For at Least a Week

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Photo: The only single family home to sell last week and, as always, at a premium.

A weekly recap of residential properties sold in the past seven days in the “Town of Homes.”

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• 136 White St., Condominum (1910). Sold: $360,000. Listed at $414,900. Living area: 1,244 sq.-ft. 5 rooms, 2 bedrooms, 1 baths. On the market: 66 days.

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• 181 Claflin St., Colonial  (1950). Sold: $1,150,000. Listed at $1,050,000. Living area: 2,493 sq.-ft. 9 rooms, 4 bedrooms, 2.5 baths. On the market: 53 days.

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• 225 White St., Two-family (1908). Sold: $728,000. Listed at $799,000. Living area: 3,203 sq.-ft. 10 rooms, 4 bedrooms, 2 baths. On the market: 80 days.

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• 210-214 Waverley, Two-family (1880). Sold: $720,000. Listed at $739,900. Living area: 2,925 sq.-ft. 12 rooms, 4 bedrooms, 2 baths. On the market: 75 days.

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• 140 Trapelo Rd., First-floor condominum (1932). Sold: $390,000. Listed at $400,000. Living area: 830 sq.-ft. 4 rooms, 2 bedrooms, 1 baths. On the market: 78 days.

Sold in Belmont: Double the Size, Double the Price

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Photo: Bulking up on Cedar.

A weekly recap of residential properties sold in the past seven days in the “Town of Homes.”

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• 222 Prospect St., Brick/frame modified Colonial (1936). Sold: $1,210,000. Listed at $1,100,000. Living area: 2,914 sq.-ft. 9 rooms, 4 bedrooms, 2.5 baths. On the market: 61 days.

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• 96 Winter St., Ranch/Cape (1950). Sold: $700,000. Listed at $789,900. Living area: 1,885 sq.-ft. 6 rooms, 3 bedrooms, 2 baths. On the market: 160 days.

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• 64 Channing Rd., Second-floor condo (1952). Sold: $450,000. Listed at $459,000. Living area: 952 sq.-ft. 5 rooms, 2 bedrooms, 1 baths. On the market: 68 days.

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• 69 Cedar Rd., Renovated Colonl (1920). Sold: $1,880,000. Listed at $2,100,000. Living area: 4,588 sq.-ft. 8 rooms, 5 bedrooms, 5.5 baths. On the market: 109 days.

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• 90 Wellesley Rd., Split-level ranch (1963). Sold: $1,400,000. Listed at $1,289,000. Living area: 4,149 sq.-ft. 8 rooms, 5 bedrooms, 5.5 baths. On the market: 74 days.

• • • 

One year ago this month, the near-century-old house on Cedar Road just off Goden – midway between the Chenery and the Wellington schools – caught the attention of a friendly developer who bought the structure with an idea of building big.

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But rather than knocking the current structure down and constructing some monster truck version of a residential house on the site, the team had another option on hand: an ample backyard. With a lot size of 9,000 sq.-ft. – as opposed to the 7,000 sq.-ft. the developer of 185 Dalton Rd. (that hideous blue whale of a house) was able to use – the developer was able to expand outward into a lawn. In fact, the addition cobbled onto the rear of the original house at 2,500 sq.-ft. is a bit more than your average Belmont colonial.

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Let’s look at the tale of the tape:

House sq.-ft.:

  • 2015: 2,024
  • 2016: 4,588

Total Rooms/Bed/Bath:

  • 2015: 8/4/1.5
  • 2016: 11/5/5.5

Assessed value/Final sale price

  • 2015: $869,000/$891,000
  • 2016: N/A/$1,880,000

The end result, within a year’s time, the sales price for the newly-renovated house doubled.

So you can commend the developer’s effort to use the existing facade/frame to keep the house in the same scale from at least the street as its neighbors while providing wealthy buyers all the unnecessary space and soon-to-be-empty rooms they demand. Unless you have half a dozen kids, why do you need 4,500 sq.-ft? 

Breaking: Cushing Village Project Is A Go with Toll Brothers’ Purchase of Parking Lot by Toll

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Photo: Coming attractions

Finally.

Earlier today, Wednesday, Oct. 19, developer Toll Brothers officially took possession of the municipal parking lot in Cushing Square after purchasing the parcel for $1.335 million from the town, according to Town Administrator David Kale.

Kale said the multi-use project will begin the construction phase with the closure of the lot in the next few days. 

Before Wednesday’s Special Town Meeting, Board of Selectmen Chair Mark Paolillo made the closing announcement.

“It’s finally over,” said Paolillo. 

Kale said Toll Brothers will also be putting forth a press release that will detail the construction of the 167,000 square foot, three building project in the heart of Cushing Square. 

Cushing Villiage is a three building development that will include approximately 38,000 square feet of commercial space, 115 dwellings units – 60 two-bedroom units and 55 one-bedroom unit – and 225 parking spaces including 50 municipal spaces.

Belmont Broker Boyle Makes the Move to Gibson Sotheby

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Photo: Carolyn Boyle.

Long-time Belmont resident and real estate broker Carolyn Boyle is on the move.

Boyle has joined Gibson Sotheby’s International Realty’s team of experienced agents, according to Larry Rideout, the firm’s CEO/co-owner.

“Carolyn has a track-record of success and is dedicated to providing superior service for her clients,” said Rideout. “As a senior real estate specialist and accredited buyer representative, she has the knowledge and expertise to best serve her clients. We’re delighted to have her as part of our team.”

Gibson Sotheby’s International Realty is Boston’s largest independent real estate company. Founded in 1962 by Betty Gibson in Boston’s South End, the firm has several offices in Boston, Cambridge and Greater Boston area.

With 20 years of marketing and finance experience, Carolyn offers her clientele a wealth of knowledge to guide their real estate experience. Her extensive experience staging homes and strong analytical skills to effectively price properties ensures her seller clients command the highest price potential for their home.

A Belmont resident for 21 years, Boyle has been devoted to the community through her extensive volunteer work for the Foundation for Belmont Education, Chenery Middle School and Wellington Elementary School PTOs, Belmont High School Performing Arts Company and Belmont Activities Committee.

Boyle matriculated at Amherst College and earned an MBA from UCLA’s Anderson School of Management.