Mark Development Cuts 300K SF Off Riverside Station Proposal
Adding density around Greater Boston train stations is an oft-cited strategy to help combat the region’s housing shortage, but that argument isn’t flying in Newton.
Mark Development got pushback last year for its 1.5M SF mixed-use proposal at Riverside Station at the end of the D branch of the Green Line. The developer is back this week to propose a scaled down, 1.2M SF version to the Newton City Council, the Boston Globe reports.
Housing was a significant casualty in the 20% reduction. The developer is now proposing 526 residential units, down from 675. An 18-story building previously proposed has been cut, but a 13-story office building, more than 500K SF of retail and a hotel to replace the current Indigo hotel on the property are still part of the plan.
Critics are expected to oppose the project, which is still about double the size of a nearly 600K SF Normandy Real Estate Partners proposal Newton approved for the site in 2013. Normandy eventually canceled that plan, saying it didn’t pencil out financially. Normandy is still a partner on Mark Development’s proposal.
