BREAKING: Selectmen To Review Cushing Village Developer’s Financing, Viability

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Photo: Chris Starr before the Planning Board.

A day after the developer of the troubled Cushing Village project came before a skeptical and non-committal Belmont Planning Board requesting yet another multi-month extension to close on an important town-owned parking lot, the chair of the Belmont Board of Selectmen said a sudden change in the developer’s financial team will now “certainly necessitate a new review by the Board of Selectmen of how viable his financing and financial arrangement is.”

Speaking before the Warrant Committee on Wednesday, Feb. 3, Selectmen Chair Sami Baghdady said developer Chris Starr’s acknowledgment that industry leader Cornerstone Real Estate Advisers is no longer involved with the project to provide a significant portion of financing “is troubling that it happened so late in process,” Baghdady told the Belmontonian after the meeting.

The board will next meet on Monday, Feb. 22 when they will convene with Liz Allison, chair of the Planning Board, to discuss the on-going issues concerning Cushing Village. 

Despite Starr initial attempt to purchase the municipal parking lot six months ago, “the selectmen have take the position that we will not tender the deed (to the lot) selling him the parking lot unless the closing takes place at the same time contemporaneously with his loan financing is approved,” said Baghdady, referring to construction financing from its lead lender, Wells Fargo. 

Only when Starr has the approximately $50 million construction loan in his hands, “that is when we will feel secure … and then we will record a land development agreement,” said Baghdady, who was Planning Board Chair when it approved the special permit allowing Starr to begin construction and purchase the parking lot adjacent to Trapelo Road.

In addition to a possible new round of financial reviews from the selectmen, the project faces a looming selectmen-imposed expiration date of March 27 for the option on the purchase and sale of the parking lot. 

“Remember, they were given two years to complete the P&S and that deadline is less than two months from now,” said Baghdady of Smith Legacy, which was selected 32 months ago to create a 164,000 sq.-ft. three building multi-use development in the heart of Cushing Square.

Baghdady’s comments came after Starr, the head of Smith Legacy Partners, requested a four-month extension from the Planning Board to purchase a municipal parking lot that he in the past said is the project’s lynchpin. 

Telling the Planning Board he believes he now has a clearer path to obtaining construction financing, Starr said his firm should be signing an agreement within 60 days, four months at the latest. 

Starr’s request was set aside on Tuesday, Feb. 2 by Allison who noted that her board could not grant the extension – which would move the deadline to the first week of June – until the Selectmen approved extending the purchase and sale agreement in which the developer would purchase the lot for $850,000.

For the past year, the developer has been paying the town a monthly penalty of $30,000 fine to allow him to keep his option on the P&S. Baghdady said Smith Legacy has turned more than $600,000 in penalties. Once a P&S is signed, the town will return half of the penalty to Smith Legacy.

The concern emulating from the two town boards was when they learned that a major source of mid-level financing left the development.

When asked by the Planning Board member Raffi Manjikian the status of Cornerstone, Starr said the project’s “mezzanine” lender had left the team since it was “not playing nicely in the sandbox” with lead lender Well Fargo. Cornerstone – an industry leader in secondary commercial financing – was prepared to provide $14 million in financing to the project.  

In real estate finance, developers use mezzanine loans to secure secondary financing for their projects where the primary mortgage or construction loan equity requirements are larger than 10 percent.

In its place, Starr said the Marlton, NJ-based Micheals Development Company will bring eight percent equity financing to the project. Starr said the company will “drop in a considerable investment into Cushing Village” as well as bringing strong banking relationships that will allow the project to move “towards a closing.” 

Starr also admitted that Micheals will offer its “executional [sic] capabilities on the financial front, construction management, and lease” operations that the current team and he don’t have.

We want someone who has been there, done that and has done it around the country very successfully,” said Starr.

Micheals is well-known in real estate circles as one of the nation’s top developers and owners of affordable housing. It has developed more than 50,000 units since 1973 and is the top private-sector affordable housing owner in the country, with more than 340 properties in 33 states, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

It is likely Micheals was brought onto the team from previous work it had with Cambridge-based Urban Spaces, which partnered with Starr nearly a year ago to jump-start the long-stalled project.

In 2014, Urban Spaces and Michaels were involved in a 50/50 partnership to build a five-story, 160,000 sq.-ft. apartment complex at 159 First St. in Kendall Square. It included 115-unit apartments with commercial space on the first floor along with underground parking, “the same program we’d be executing at Cushing Village,” said Starr. 

But any arrangement remains stalled as Starr finds himself facing ever increasing demands from all sides, highlighted by the requirement from his lenders that he secures at minimum three leases to occupy the project’s 38,000 sq.-ft retail space. 

So far, the project has two firm leases with one national company and a “bar.” Critical for Starr is that the team’s “close to finalizing” the lease for an anchor tenant. But Starr is not longer saying the anchor will be a food market as he has expressed in the past.

Starr remains confident in his project and the town’s continued support for his effort. 

“They see what we are committed to bringing to the community, and that is a great commercial center,” he said. 

Cushing Village Sets Latest Deadline While Similar Watertown Project Set to Open

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Photo: Similiar in many ways to Cushing The Residence Inn by Marriott nearing completion in Watertown.

The developer of the long-troubled Cushing Village project – the 164,000 sq.-ft. three-building development approved in July 2013 – told the Planning Board Tuesday night, Jan. 5 that he is really, really close to getting all his ducks lined up to begin construction on the $63 million project.

Next month.

Hopefully.

Now 30 months behind the initial timeline provided by Chris Starr, head of the development team Smith Legacy Partners, the latest “update” – requested by the Planning Board after Starr’s team missed a “drop dead milestone” of Dec. 18 to purchase the town’s municipal parking lot for $850,000 to begin construction of the first of the three buildings – has Starr asking the town to “stand still” until the board’s next scheduled meeting on Feb. 2 when his team “hopes to inform the board of a loan closing at that meeting.”

In a letter to the board – which was received a few hours before Monday night’s meeting, Jan. 5 – Starr painted yet another rosy picture of the development’s status, similar in tone and optimism made to the town in August 2013, September 2014, and in May, August and December of last year.

Reading the correspondence’s highlights, Board Chair Liz Allison said that while the team didn’t come close to meeting its earlier promises for Dec. 18, “the Cushing Village Development team has achieved significant lender-based milestones and is committed to proceed(ing) expeditiously with a loan closing in the month of January.”

Starr attempted to reassure the board that the project’s major lenders – including lead bank Wells Fargo – are still involved in closing the deal for the municipal lot, telling the board member they can contact the banks to validate his effort to purchase the lot.

Starr also noted that real estate veteran Rod Loring, who has three decades of experience in the residential and commercial sides, has been added to the day-to-day leadership team to work closely with Starr.

It is unknown if this move was an internal change or one suggested by the lenders and other potential partners.

Starr concluded by revealing that the biggest impediment to the closing, a lease modification with a “national” company to join the project, was difficult to do during the holidays.

While Starr would not say whether the firm was a retail operation or a parking lot management firm, he expects to sign up the company “shortly.”

Starr concluded by stating how he wants to work closely with the board as he “remains committed to Cushing Village. The development team is … confident that significant progress will be made over the next month.” He also is requesting an “internal” working group be established with the board – whose meetings will not be advertised to the public – and a weekly “call” to update the town of any progress to these new goals.

While saying the lost Dec. 18 deadline was a “disappointment,” Allison said attempting to close a land deal during the holiday season was, in hindsight, difficult to accomplish.

Yet members were not in such a forgiving mood. While encouraged to hear the developer wants to increase communications with the board and the staff in the Office of Community Development, “action will speak louder than words,” said Raffi Manjikian.

“I’m disappointed that it took until … we arrived at this meeting to see this letter,” said Barbara Fiacco.

“They took a significant amount of time and made a number of promises when they were here asking for an extension. I found that a little frustrating. The residents deserve more transparency,” she said.

The board’s irritation with the continuous delays in the Belmont project since one needs only to look to neighboring Watertown to witness a development that is fast on its way of cutting the opening-day ribbon.

The Residence Inn by Marriott on Arsenal Street across from the Arsenal Mall is similar in design and function to Cushing Village. The six-story extended-stay hotel has 150 rooms with kitchen area and work space, 115 underground parking spaces and first-floor retail space.

The significant difference with Cushing Village is that the Residence Inn is nearing completion. Despite receiving the OK from Watertown to commence development in late 2014, the project – developed by the experienced team at Boylston Properties – is expected to open to the public in the late spring/summer, generating tax revenue and hotel fees to Watertown.

Cushing Village Developer Misses Deadline for [Put Number Here] Time

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Photo: The municipal parking lot at Cushing Village is .. still there. 

Belmont just received another lump of coal from the developer who promised 30 months ago that he would build a project that “will revitalize Cushing Square and will become a source of pride for all of Belmont.”

On Dec. 3, after repeatedly missing deadlines for five months to purchase the municipal parking lot in Cushing Square, a “contrite” Chris Starr came before the Planning Board to apologize to town officials for two-and-a-half years of delays and false starts in building the 164,000 sq.-ft. the multi-use development known as Cushing Village. 

Starr told the board – which oversees the troubled project for the town – that he pledged to meet “three agreed to ‘milestones’ with the town” to begin the initial construction phase of the $63 million project consisting of 115 residential units, 38,300 sq.-ft. of retail and 225 parking space with 50 reserved for town use. 

“So we are really committed to making a change in Cushing Square and getting Cushing Village done,” said Starr.

The first milestone was to purchase the deed for the lot at Trapelo and Williston roads adjacent to the Cushing Square Starbucks at a cost of $850,000 by Friday, Dec. 11.

Um, how about moving that first deadline by a week, to Dec. 18, advised Starr’s attorney Mark Donahue. 

“We have frankly lost time as we … were communicating with the lenders,” said Donahue, speaking of lead banker Wells Fargo. Despite a lot of misgivings, the board and Board of Selectmen Chair Sami Baghdady felt that Starr and his team had a plan that could be met.

Present at the meeting was Tony Papantonis, president and founder of Needham-based Nauset Construction, who said the lot would be “secured” and fenced in during Christmas week with heavy machinery marshaled on the space. In fact, prep work would begin that week, said Papantonis.

But for residents who live in the nearby neighborhood, the scene is anything but busy. Twenty days after Starr made his “solid” promise to the Planning Board, the lot remains open for parking, there is no fencing at the site, and the only activity is people leaving Starbucks with a hot mocha in a red cup. 

Once again, Chris Starr failed to make a “milestone” for the troubled project.

“The bottom line here is that the deadline was missed,” confirmed David Kale, town administrator on Wednesday, Dec. 23.

One neighbor, who has been following the Cushing Village saga for many years, said he has been reviewing land registry activity in Belmont and has not seen any evidence that Starr or Wells Fargo has begun the process of securing the deed for the lot.

What next? Kale said the Planning Board can request an agenda item concerning Cushing Village is included at its next meeting, “but that would be up to the board to do so.” 

An email was sent to Elizabeth Allison, the current chair of the Planning Board, concerning such a request. 

But it appears that a solution may come to pass before the Planning Board’s next meeting. It seems the missed deadline has less to do with a major failure on the developer’s part but rather what has cursed the project from the time Starr first initiated plans in 2008; simple incompetence. 

According to sources within government circles, the lack of a signature on an important set of papers at a time when officers of the bank and development company are decamping for an extended holiday recess was the culprit. 

The result is an inexcusable delay of several weeks, up until the first week in January, before the team can come together to sign off of the payment to Belmont for the municipal lot.

Three more lost weeks is but a drop in the bucket when the developer said in July 2013 the first building (on the parking lot) would welcome residents and retailers by the late fall/early winter … of 2014. 

A Contrite Developer Promises Action on Long-Delayed Cushing Village

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Photo: Developer Chris Starr (photo 2012)

Apologetic and contrite, Chris Starr stood before the Belmont Planning Board and said he was sorry.

“I can’t begin to tell you how much each of these delays really impacts me,” said Starr.

“I’ve seen the frustration of people in Cushing Square, and I’ve seen the residents and the business owners … and I certainly empathize with what they are going through right now. And I share that frustration,” said Starr. 

Starr, who in 2010 sued each member of the Belmont Board of Selectmen and threatened in 2012 to develop a 40B housing development if the Planning Board would not move on the development, was penitent at the Dec. 3 meeting as he sought for the third time in the past four months either an extension or modifications to the proposed project that was approved nearly 30 months before.

“I want first to start off by apologizing for having to come back for yet another request. We are deeply sorry to do this … the simple fact is that there were some lender requirements that needed to address.

The Planning Board approved Thursday night the three “modifications” to a one-year extension to the special permit granted in July 2013 passing Starr’s Smith Legacy Partners to obtain the town permits to construct the residential/commercial/parking complex running from Belmont and Common streets onto Trapelo to Winston roads. 

The two-and-a-half year delay in construction was due in large part in the difficulty in securing a primary lender who would assume the risk in a project led by an inexperienced developer. 

Starr also announced Thursday that he is now to meet three agreed to “milestones” with the town to begin the initial construction phase of the project. 

“So we are really committed to making a change in Cushing Square and getting Cushing Village done,” said Starr.

The three strict milestones with deadlines as part of the agreement:

  • The developers must close on the deed for the municipal parking lot at a cost of $850,000 by Friday, Dec. 11,
  • Begin initial demolition on Friday, Jan. 15, 2016, and
  • Seek a building foundation permit from the town by Monday, Feb. 1, 2016. 

One of the modifications deals directly with the very first milestone, delaying the Dec. 11 closing of the sale of the municipal parking lot adjacent Trapelo Road by a week.  

Starr said he and his family is “committed to closing on the 18th” ending by thanking the Planning Board for “your understanding, your patience and I’m sure it won’t go unrewarded.” 

Mark Donahue, the Smith Legacy attorney, outlined the modifications that he noted was being required by Wells Fargo, the developer’s lead lender who will commit $15 million at the start of the project.

The first is a “force majeure” provision that allows the three milestones will be extended in the event of an extraordinary incident; relating to acts of God and not mere neglect or if the developer seeks a better deal.  

The second is what Donahue called “the lender saving provision” where the milestone dates are set aside if the lender exercises its rights of taking control of the property if it is determined the developer fails to meet his obligation to the bank. The lender, Wells Fargo, will then have the ability to negotiate a sale or a new deal with the town within the one-year extension, preventing the project from falling into “a black hole.”

The benefit of the second alteration is it “reassures the town” the project will be ultimately completed, with or without Starr at the helm, said Donahue.

“This is not to suggest in any fashion that the developer is walking away from these milestones,” said Donahue.

The third is the delay by a week of the first milestone. 

“We have frankly lost time as we … were communicating with the lenders,” said Donahue. 

The new additions, said Belmont Selectman Chair Sami Baghdady, will be beneficial to Belmont as it will allow the development to move forward whoever is in control of the project.

Saying that “we’re all frustrated to be here again” Baghdady said when looking at the development “in the bigger picture, we have to say to ourselves, ‘OK, what’s best for Belmont?'” 

None of the proposed language affects the one-year extension “and it’s still ticking,” said Baghdady. If the developer misses any of the milestone conditions, “we don’t want the special permit to terminate. We do want the lender to have the opportunity to come in, secure the project, take it over, finish the construction, cure, remedy and proceed.” 

“We don’t want a hole in the ground … and if this developer can’t make it continue, it is good for Belmont to have some else move in and move this project forward,” he said.

Cushing Village, at 164,000 sq.-ft. encompassing three buildings and two town blocks, would be the largest development in Belmont in recent memory. When completed in 18 months, the $63 million project will include 115 residential units, 38,000 sq.-ft. of retail spaces and underground parking that includes 50 municipal spaces.

After the closing, the public will see heavy equipment come to the municipal parking lot, the first building site, a few days later as the lot will be closed for the final time on Christmas week, according to Tony Papantonis, president and founder of Needham-based Nauset Construction.

Demolition of the S.S. Pierce building (at the corner of Common and Trapelo) and the former CVS building at Common and Belmont would then begin as well as prep work on the municipal lot within two weeks, in the first weeks of January 2016.

Back Again: Cushing Village to Seek More Changes to Development Permit

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Photo: The proposed Cushing Village development (left) and what is currently at the location (right).

Only three weeks after receiving an extension allowing it an additional year to construct its long-stalled project, the developers of the troubled Cushing Village residential/commercial/parking complex at Common Street and Trapelo Road will be back once again before the town’s Planning Board on Thursday, Dec. 3, as the project’s money backers are expected to demand modifications to the agreement to provide them even more legal and financial cover in the event the deal falls apart.

While neither the developer, Smith Legacy’s Chris Starr, nor the town’s point person on the project, the Office of Community Development’s Jeffrey Wheeler, would indicate what section of the extension requires altering, the one-year deadline of the special permit itself would not be affected, according to Sami Baghdady, chair of the Board of Selectmen. 

Baghdady led the Planning Board when it awarded the special permit to Starr in July 2013 to build a 164,000 sq.-ft. three-building development with 115 units of housing, shops and underground parking in the heart of Cushing Square.

This time, it’s the developer’s financial backers who are demanding the changes.

“It is my understanding that the proposed modifications to the one-year extension of the special permit are at the request of the developers’ lenders,” said Baghdady, who said the thrust of the revisions is to allow the lenders the opportunity to protect their interests in the event that the developer does not meet the time deadlines of the conditions.

But even Baghdady said the public will know the exact implications of the changes when the agenda item is taken up by the Planning Board.

“It is difficult to comment any further without the benefit of the developer’s presentation at the hearing,” said Baghdady.

Thursday marks the third time since August that the development team requested and received extensions and modifications to the special permit issued nearly 30 months ago. 

The latest extension, for 12 months, issued on Nov. 17, also stipulated the developers meet three strict deadlines as part of the agreement:

  • The developers must close on the deed for the municipal parking lot at a cost of $850,000 by Friday, Dec. 11,
  • Begin initial demolition on Friday, Jan. 15, 2016, and
  • Seek a building foundation permit from the town by Monday, Feb. 1, 2016. 

The meeting’s timing is also somewhat interesting, as it will occur at the same time thousands of Belmont residents will be attending the annual “Turn on the Town” Holiday Tree Lighting Ceremony taking place in Belmont Center, a block from Town Hall. 

Belmont Police has issued traffic bulletins advising residents of road closures in the Center including Leonard Street being closed at 5:30 p.m., making travel to Town Hall difficult. 

Traditionally, the Planning Board holds meetings on Tuesday evenings.

Again! Cushing Village Developers To Seek 6-Month Extension to Begin Building

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Photo: The proposed Cushing Village.

Representatives of the development team of Cushing Village will be before the Belmont Planning Board on Tuesday, Nov. 17 at 8 a.m.  to make their third request to extend the special permit which allows it to begin construction on the long-delayed site.

Cushing Village’s development partners Smith Legacy Partners and Cambridge-based Urban Spaces was granted approval to construct a three-building complex comprising 115 apartments, 36,000 square feet of retail/commercial space and a garage complex with 230 parking spaces back in August 2013. At 164,000 sq.-ft., it would be Belmont’s biggest commercial/housing project in decades.

The head of the Belmont Board of Selectmen believes giving the development team even more time is the most prudent action to take.

“The extension is needed because the Cushing Village Special Permit expires on Nov. 19,” said Sami Baghdady, Chair of the Board of Selectmen and the former chair of the Planning Board when it approved the initial special permit.

“The requested six-month extension will ensure that the Special Permit does not expire as the developer prepares his site work. It is appropriate that the developer’s lender would want the Special Permit extended out of caution,” said Baghdady.

“However, this extension should not delay the closing on the financing and the purchase of the municipal parking lot in Cushing Square,” he added. The Selectmen voted on Aug. 18 to sell the parking lot to the team for $850,000. The town still is waiting for documents from the team on closing the deal.

Baghdady said despite the now continuous delays and postponements by the developers, “starting from scratch would not be productive since that will delay any project on the eyesore property for years.”

“For the sake of the local businesses, and the local residents who have endured so much, we need this project to proceed as permitted,” said Baghdady.

The Planning Board approved an initial 30-day extension in August and a two-month deferral in September. The first delay was requested after the team submitted a large and complicated package of finance documents that needed to be analyzed by Aug. 19, the two-year anniversary of the initial approval.

If approved, the third extension would likely see the project delayed by nearly 30 months from the time the special permit was initially awarded by the Planning Board in 2013.

“Shame on them,” Planning Board Chair Mike Battista said of Smith Legacy and Urban Spaces back in August. “They had two years to get it together and, at the 11th hour, they send the selectmen this voluminous package that needs to be waded through, town counsel must review and due diligence performed on the financing.”

 

‘The Final Countdown!’ Cushing Village Developers Must Close by Nov. 19

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Photo: After more than two years after being approved to build the project, Cushing Village remains a concept, rather than a development site. 

After a more than two-year hold-up on building the largest commercial development in Belmont in decades, the end – one way or another – appears in sight as the partnership seeking to construct the long-delayed Cushing Village project have less than three weeks to take possession of a valuable town-owned parcel before a special permit expires on Thursday, Nov. 19.

Now 27 months since Bedford-based Smith Legacy Partners won approval from the town’s Planning Board to pursue a building permit for the 187,000 square foot retail/residential/parking complex situated at the corner of Trapelo Road and Common Street, at least one town official is expressing cautious optimism the developers – Smith Legacy joined with the Cambridge firm Urban Spaces this spring – will meet the new due date.

“There’s still some T’s being crossed, and I’s dotted, as long as there’re no further substantive changes, then [this can move forward],” said Sami Baghdady, chair of the Belmont Board of Selectmen at its meeting held Tuesday morning, Oct. 27.

Yet Baghdady made his statement after the board voted Tuesday to approve revisions to a parking management and easement agreements the board approved six weeks ago with the developers after demands by the project’s potential bankers “requesting changes to the language in the documents to protect lender’s rights,” said Baghdady.

Town officials said later the modifications did not alter the 50 parking spaces the town will receive in the Cushing Village complex.

Baghdady noted that in addition to the $850,000 payment the development team must make to Belmont for the parking lot, the developers are required to obtain a building permit and close on the property’s ownership by the 19th.

While saying the board has been “frustrated by the process,” Selectman Mark Paolillo said the more than two years of deferred action “is not this board or the town. Unfortunately, it’s the developers. Hopefully, this is the final delay.” 

The development team is seeking to construct a three-structure complex comprising 115 apartments, 36,000 square feet of retail/commercial space and a garage complex with 230 parking spaces.

Cushing Square Municipal Lot Closing for Good in Fortnight

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Photo: The municipal lot in Cushing Square. 

A long-time landmark in parking scarce Cushing Square will soon disappear as Belmont Police announced Monday, Aug. 31, the closing of the municipal parking lot adjacent to Trapelo and Williston roads.

The lot, which serves neighborhood businesses, shoppers, overnight parking and commuters, will shut down in the next two weeks, said the release.

Police note that 50 underground spaces reserved for municipal use will be available to the public when the project nears completion in 18 months. 

The closure is due to the start of construction of the Cushing Village construction project, the long-delayed 167,000 sq.-ft. multi-use development that will occupy the lot, the location of the former S. S. Pierce store building at the intersection of Common Street and Trapelo Road and the former CVS site at Common and Belmont Street. 

After the lot is closed, area businesses that purchased town-issued monthly parking passes in the lot “will be allowed to park in the Cushing Square area free from time restrictions on parking with the exception of the following roads: Trapelo and Horne roads and Common Street. 

Belmont Police will work closely with businesses and residents to minimize the impact of an increase in vehicles in the surrounding neighborhoods. The department will rely on a similar plan in place during the reconstruction of the municipal lot in Waverley Square last year. 

Questions can be directed to Belmont Police Traffic Sgt. Ben Mailhot at 617-993-2538.  

Selectmen Agree To Sell Municipal Parking to Cushing Village Team

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Photo: The Belmont Board of Selectmen signing the agreement with Cushing Village.

Eight years after it was first proposed and 24 months since receiving the town’s go-ahead to begin construction, the developers of the proposed 164,000 square-foot Cushing Village multi-use project have the critical piece of town-owned property in its hand to possibly begin work on the long-delayed development. 

Without a representative of the development partners present for the landmark event, the Belmont Board of Selectmen voted at its Monday, Aug. 17 meeting to approve a purchase and sale agreement for the municipal parking lot at 116 Trapelo Rd. to Starr Capital Partners LLC., a Massachusetts Foreign Limited-Liability company based in Acton that registered in by the state in June.

“This is a major step forward for both Cushing Square and the town,” said Selectmen Chair Sami Baghdady. 

“It’s a long time coming,” said Selectman Mark Paolillo. 

The cost of the lot is $850,000 with total revenue to the town – including fees and permits – could reach $1.3 million, according to earlier estimates.

In addition, the town will “not tender the deed to the parking lot unless the financing closes … to give us the insurance that this project is actually going forward, and something doesn’t happen in the interim,” said Baghdady.

“I think that was key to the deal … and we did what was needed to be done,” said Selectman Jim Williams. 

According to the board, Wells Fargo Commercial is the primary lender with Cornerstone, one of the largest diversified global real estate managers, providing the secondary lending component. 

“We’re comfortable … with folks that we want to be involved with, and I’m happy that we are finally moving forward,” said Paolillo.

The agreement includes an easement to the town “in perpetuity” for 50 parking spaces in the project’s underground garage. 

In addition, the town will “not tender the deed to the parking lot unless the financing closes … to give us the insurance that this project is actually going forward, and something doesn’t happen in the interim, said Baghdady.

If the development is once again “unreasonably” delayed, the development team will be charged a monthly fee of $33,000 up to $800,000 in damages if the project ceases.

There is no information when construction will begin at the site at the corner of Common Street and Trapelo Road.

The project includes three buildings: at the municipal parking lot, at the corner of Trapelo Road and Common Street, and the intersection of Common and Belmont streets. The development will include approximately 38,000 square feet of commercial space, 115 dwellings units (60 two bedroom units and 55 one bedroom units) that includes 12 affordable units and 225 parking spaces as a result of the sale of the municipal parking lot. 

This is the second time the board has voted on selling the parking lot to a team led by Acton’s Chris Starr. In October 2010, the board voted to end negotiations with Starr’s Cushing Village Partners.

A week later, Starr files a lawsuit against the individual Selectmen alleging bad faith actions during the purchase negotiations. Six months after threatening the board, Starr and the town signed a preliminary purchase and sale agreement for a parking lot in March 2011.

It would take nearly a year before Starr submitted an application in January 2012. And it would take 18 months for the town’s Planning Board to approve a special permit to allow the project to be built in July 2013. 

The project was delayed another 25 months as Starr found it difficult to obtain financing for the project. After attempts to sell the project or find an equity partner, Starr joined forces with Cambridge-based Urban Spaces, in the spring of this year. 

Selectmen Decision on Long-Delayed Cushing Village Set for Monday

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Photo: The proposed future home of Cushing Village development. (Google map)

While many residents attending the Belmont Board of Selectmen’s Monday evening meeting, Aug. 17, are coming to see how the three-member council reacts to last week’s Special Town Meeting vote, it’s another decision before the board which will have long-lasting ramifications for town.

Monday will likely see the selectmen decide to accept what insiders are calling a “voluminous” and “complicated” financial plan for the long-delayed multi-purposed Cushing Village project proposed for the heart of Cushing Square at the corner of Common Street and Trapelo Road.

Cushing Village’s development partners Smith Legacy Partners and Cambridge-based Urban Spaces is seeking to construct a three-building complex comprising 115 apartments, about 36,000 square feet of retail/commercial space and a garage complex with 230 parking spaces. It would be Belmont’s largest commercial/housing project in decades.

The selectmen will meet in a “working session” with town officials early Saturday morning before going into a second executive session to discuss the terms for both the sale of the municipal parking lot at Williston Street and Trapelo Road for $850,000 to the partnership as well as their ability to finance the project.

Since winning approval from the Planning Board after an 18-month review, the project has stalled due to several reports that Smith Legacy – the development company which began pursuing the project nearly eight years ago – could not secure commercial financing for the project.

Earlier in the month, the Planning Board extended by 30 days the Special Permit allowing for the construction of the approximately 167,000 square-foot development beyond its two-year limit of Aug. 19.

After paying nearly a quarter of a million dollars in fees to extend its opportunity to purchase the parking lot, Smith Legacy found an equity partner in Urban Spaces in April of this year at which time the stalled project began moving forward.

Yet with distractions including Urban Spaces’ CEO being arrested for soliciting sex on Craigslist and a hurried filing of the proposed financial plan, the selectmen have the options of rejecting the proposal, accept it or tell the partners to clarify and resubmit sections of the proposal.