Developers to pay $500,000 for engineers, inspectors
By Ken Powers Contributing Writer

Northborough - The Loop retail and AvalonBay housing developments are moving closer to becoming a reality.

The Board of Selectmen, at its July 16 meeting, voted unanimously to support a plan that included having the developers contribute $500,000 to help pay for special consultants, engineers and inspectors that would work, in the early stages of the developments, full-time on site.

For its part, the town agreed to subsidize any amount over the $500,000 out of the building permit fees of the project, fees that are estimated to be about $800,000.

"We're going to need to keep pace with the project and with the needs of the developers as the projects progress," Northborough Town Administer Barry Brenner said, "and we simply won't be able to do so with part-time inspectors and consultants and engineers."

In the 2005 memorandum of understanding agreed upon between the town and the developers, there was language that said the developers would be responsible for the cost of special consultants, engineers and inspectors for the project.

The memorandum of understanding, Brenner explained to the board, would only be tweaked to include the town's agreement to absorb any costs that exceed the agreed-upon $500,000 threshold.

Brenner said he thought those costs would surpass the $500,000 the developers are agreeing to pay, but only by about $100,000.

Developers of the project agreed in the memorandum of understanding to pay $2.1 million in mitigation. Brenner reiterated that that part of the memorandum of understanding remains intact.

Present at the selectmen's meeting was Kevin Giblin, owner of Brenden Properties Two LLC, the developer of the Loop part of the project.

Giblin was pleased the selectmen agreed to the amendment of the memorandum of understanding because, he said, it kept the project on track to break ground in late August, keeping alive at least a partial opening of what will end up being more than a half a million square feet of retail space by October 2008.

He did acknowledge, however, that the project has its work cut out for itself, with a real estate closing as well as a meeting with the town's Zoning Board of Appeals in the coming weeks.

Selectman Jeff Amberson asked Giblin for an update of stores and companies that have tentatively agreed to be tenants - Giblin previously revealed that Kohl's department store has signed on to be an anchor store in the project - but the developer politely declined to reveal the names of any more tentative tenants.

"That's really a question for the Wilder Company," Giblin said. "They're the one handling getting the stores and restaurants for the project, so I think it would be wrong of me to speak for them."

Giblin did say that other retailers and restaurants have indicate a strong desire to come on board and be part of the project.