A Marlborough City Council committee has begun reviewing a proposed 188-unit residential project on a long-undeveloped site on Route 20 east of downtown.
The project, called Wolcott Heritage Farms, would be built on a stretch of Boston Post Road east that’s largely commercial except for one stretch: McGee Farm. Waypoint Real Estate Investments, a Florida firm with regional offices in Connecticut, is proposing multifamily housing there while keeping more than 20 acres — about 70% of the site — preserved as open space.
Wolcott Heritage Farms has already received approval from the Zoning Board of Appeals and Conservation Commission, and now awaits a special permit from the City Council.
The council’s urban affairs committee began a hearing on Wednesday and is expected to hold further meetings on the proposal to hash out details of the project and any concerns or questions from officials. A special permit is required because the site sits in a floodplain and wetlands protection district.
Waypoint is proposing 70% of the 188 units to be single-bedroom homes for a limited effect on the city’s public schools. The project will have an estimated fewer than 15 school-aged children moving in, the developer said. A plan calls for 15% of the units to be set aside under affordability restrictions for those earning 80% or less of the area’s median income.
The roughly 26-acre farm site at 339 Boston Post Road is owned by a limited liability corporation registered to Mintz Levin, a Boston law firm. Waypoint says it has 28,000 housing units in 23 projects across the country. The Marlborough project would be its first in Massachusetts.
