Mixed-Use Project In Berlin Heats Up
Courtesy photo
This rendering shows how Riverbridge, a mixed-use development project located at the South Berlin rotary, will look upon completion. The owners say they're close to finding buyers for a planned hotel and apartment complex.
A mixed-use development project in Berlin may soon realize its potential with the arrival of a new tenant and other development prospects within reach.
The owners of Riverbridge, the planned mixed-use village that abuts Solomon Pond Road off Interstate 290, are preparing to celebrate a groundbreaking for their second tenant, and more deals to build out the rest of the development, which includes retail, housing and open space, are on the horizon, said Matthew Senie, partner and general manager for Riverbridge.
Daycare Is 2nd Riverbridge Tenant
The arrival of Growing Room Daycare, which Senie described as an upscale child-care franchise, signals continued progress after plans stalled in the economic downturn. The 12,500-square-foot daycare center with capacity for 200 children is expected to open Jan. 1, 2014, Senie said. The existing tenant, a gas station that houses a pizza shop and a Dunkin Donuts, is busy from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., according to Senie, who said it’s the only place around for miles where a motorist can fill up.
“We’ve been waiting for the economy to kind of kick in before we went crazy building out the rest of the property,” Senie said.
With a groundbreaking ceremony planned for Growing Room on May 22, Senie said Riverbridge is also looking forward to the possibility of clinching owners of two major pieces of the project – 115 apartments and a hotel.
The company is talking to a couple of potential buyers, and Senie hopes to have a deal in play by the end of the summer, though he declined to name the potential buyers. Riverbridge is still searching for an owner for a planned assisted-living facility, which will include 90 housing units.
Changing Public Opinion
The 470,000-square-foot village has been a long time coming. Senie said his brother and partner, Christopher, had his eye on the property for a while. The town kept voting down proposals for “big box” retail, so the Senies saw opportunity for a mixed-use project. Berlin voters did not approve the project the first time it went to a vote at Town Meeting, but they later passed it in December 2009 with the two-thirds majority required for a zoning change.
Asked why public opinion on the project turned in time for the second vote, Senie said Riverbridge was clearer about the purpose of the project during the second vetting process, which is to create needed housing for the aging baby boomer population, which, in turn, would generate new tax revenue for the town and needed retail amenities for the area’s workforce.
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