Developer's plans for Marist site go to hearing
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Southborough-based Brendon Properties is seeking a special permit for the assisted-living portion of a project it's developing in partnership with Benchmark Assisted Living. The proposed site is the former Marist Retreat Center on Pleasant Street in Framingham, shown here.
The Southborough-based developer Brendon Properties will present to Framingham officials plans to build an assisted living facility and 55-plus residential community on the former Marist site on Pleasant Street.
A hearing before the town’s Zoning Board of Appeals is scheduled for Monday evening. The assisted-living portion of the project requires a special permit from the town because the site is in a residential neighborhood. The developer is also seeking a setback variance.
Known as Northside Meadows, the proposed project includes a two-story building 52 assisted-living units, 14 of which would serve residents with memory care needs. The 55-plus community plans include 60 townhome-style condos.
The 37.5-acre Marist site is owned by the Marist Fathers of Boston, a Catholic order of priests. It formerly housed a retreat center but has been vacant since 2011. The Marist Fathers have been seeking a buyer since Walden Behavioral Care, a Waltham-based health care company specializing in eating disorder treatment, withdrew its plans last year after the Zoning Board of Appeals denied Walden a request for a special permit.
All told, Walden spent about a year-and-a-half trying to get the project approved after signing a purchase-and-sale agreement with the Marist Fathers in May 2013, and even refiled plans as an educational entity, which would exempt it from the special permit requirement. The project faced significant opposition from neighbors, who opposed construction of an eating disorder treatment center in the residential area.
Brendon Giblin, owner of Brendon Properties, said he expects somewhat less resistance from neighbors over his project, which he is proposing in partnership with Benchmark Assisted Living.
"We think the two projects are quite different," Giblin said, noting that his project does not require a full variance as the Walden project did.
Meetings with neighbors have been productive over the last several months, Giblin added. He said neighbors have been "fairly supportive."
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