Despite Ruling, CEO Wants To Redevelop Marist Site
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Waltham-based Walden Behavioral Care LLC continues to pursue redevelopment of the former Marist Retreat Center in Framingham after the Zoning Board of Appeals voted against issuing a special permit for the project. Walden and the Marist Fathers of Boston have filed an appeal in land court.
Despite a denial for a special permit to renovate and expand the former Marist Retreat Center in Framingham, Walden Behavioral Care CEO Stuart Koman said he remains “firmly committed” to pursuing approval — this time through an appeal in land court.
Walden, a Waltham-based treatment center for people with eating and mood disorders, filed for a special permit to renovate and expand the site on Pleasant Street (Route 30), to accommodate its new headquarters and an 80-bed treatment facility.
Special Permit Voted Down 2-1
The building, located at 518 Pleasant St., has been vacant since 2011 after the Marist Fathers of Boston moved out, and Walden, a for-profit company, touted it as an opportunity to generate new real estate tax revenue and jobs for the town.
But the Framingham Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) did not approve the request unanimously (Only two of the three members voted “yes.”), a requirement since Walden was seeking a special permit to allow commercial development in a residential neighborhood. Chairman Philip Ottaviani, who voted against the project, said it was not in harmony with the neighborhood. Ottaviani said he could not comment on the matter because of the pending litigation.
Koman said that, based on the meetings he attended, he believes opposition from neighbors prompted Ottaviani to vote no. And he doesn’t think it will pass legal muster. With the appeal filed in land court Nov. 18 by both Walden Behavioral Care and the Marist Fathers, who own the property, Koman hopes a judge will see things their way and allow the project to proceed.
“I do understand, in general, that special permits are hard to overturn on appeal,” Koman said. But after consulting with his attorney, James Hanrahan of Bowditch & Dewey in Framingham, he believes the project still has a fighting chance.
The stakes are quite high for Walden. Koman said he searched for a property that would suit the facility for two years before the company entered into a purchase-and-sale agreement with the Marist Fathers in the spring.
Sticking Close To Home
Sitting on 37.5 acres and assessed at $4.8 million, the property offers a campus-like setting, set back from neighbors, and within a reasonable distance from Walden’s current headquarters in Waltham, Koman said.
“I’m limited because I need to keep it in a radius where I know my staff will come. These are highly-trained people that we’ve invested a lot in … (whom) we have to train ourselves, to a large degree. And I didn’t want to have to start over,” Koman said.
Walden told the town it would add between 25 and 50 new jobs in Framingham if the project were approved.
Now, Koman said the company is waiting for the land court to schedule a pre-trial conference so Walden and the Marist Fathers can proceed with their appeal. The Marist Fathers, for their part, feel their land has been devalued by the ZBA’s no-vote, according to Koman.
The renovation and expansion were to begin next month had the special permit been approved. Koman said the timeline has been delayed about six months.
But he still struck a hopeful tone.“We still are focused on getting this done,” Koman said.
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