Gutierrez Co. Floats Marlborough Condo Project
Illustration/Courtesy
An artist rendering of a proposed condo development in Marlborough that's on hold due to the recession.
One of the largest developers in New England recently received initial town approval to build a $19 million, 60-unit condominium complex on Route 20 in Marlborough, but will wait until the real estate market improves before breaking ground.
Burlington-based Gutierrez Co. is the owner and developer of the property, which overlooks Lake Williams. The company also owns more than 500 acres in town, most of which is permitted for commercial, industrial and retail development.
The condominium project will have 15 buildings over 19 acres of a 31-acre site.
“We like the area and we think for this particular piece of land overlooking Lake Williams, its best use is for the proposed condominiums because it is adjacent to a residential neighborhood,” said Bill Caulder, the project manager for Gutierrez Co.
Site Plans
The project is called Overlook at Lake Williams and will be located between the Holiday Inn hotel and the Dunkin’ Donuts on Route 20. Each unit will have two bedrooms and a one-car garage. The average size will be 1,700 square feet, although they will vary slightly, Caulder said.
Traffic was also a concern in determining what type of project to put on the parcel, he said. Residential was determined to have the least impact in terms of traffic, Caulder said. As a traffic mitigation move, left turns leaving the project will not be allowed, he said.
The project received approval from the town council, but Gutierrez still needs to submit a site plan to the planning board and get an order of conditions from the city’s conservation commission.
“It will fill a gap in our housing stock, which we were really lacking,” said City Council President Arthur Vigeant. The city has housing on the high and low ends of the scale, but not a lot in the middle, which would be for young working professionals, with and without kids.
“It’s a well-designed, sharp looking project,” Caulder said. The prices for each unit are expected to be between $300,000 and $350,000, he said.
“Assuming all goes well, we might start construction in the spring of 2010, if the market has improved enough,” Caulder said.
It could be built in phases, as each building will have four townhouse-style condos, but hopefully all 60 would be built within two years of breaking ground, he said.
It’s hard to know how well received the condos will be among buyers once they’re built.
“Right now the market is saturated with prices half of what they were a year ago,” said Ernest Houde, owner of Ernie Houde Real Estate in Marlborough. “But once the market is cleaned out of foreclosures, they could sell well.”
It’s also hard to predict the project’s potential without more details about amenities, such as how many bathrooms and what materials are used, he said.
“But there’s usually a good market for townhouses, once the market improves and they’re in a great location that’s very handy to the highways,” he said.
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