WESTBOROUGH – A Hyundai dealership may be heading to Westborough.
Automotive Management Services Inc., which is a privately held automotive group, appeared before the Select Board on July 19 to present its plans for the site at 180 and 182 Turnpike Road.
“We’re looking forward to developing the property,” said Facilities Design and Construction Director Nicholas Berndt.
What is proposed
Combined, the two properties would create a 9.34-acre site.
Project engineer Randy Waterman told the Select Board that there is a two-story office building at 182 Turnpike Road that is owned by Patriot Financial Group.
“The building was built almost 40 years ago,” he said. “So, it’s in pretty tough shape right now.”
The other property, 180 Turnpike Road, contains a two-story building and abuts the nearby CarMax dealership. The Villages of Walker Meadow, a residential community, are behind the two properties.
The developers propose to raze the buildings on the properties along with the existing parking and utilities, Waterman said.
In place of those structures, the developer wants to construct a 46,843-square-foot Hyundai dealership. Waterman said the first third of the building would be dedicated to sales, while the back would be a service center.
The developers are proposing to construct two levels of a parking deck on top of the building with about 198 parking spaces, Waterman said.
There would be a total of 435 parking spaces on the site.
Between both the dealership and the parking deck, the building would be three stories, according to Waterman.
The Highway Business zoning district, which this development would be located in, allows for four stories and 60 feet in elevation. These plans would comply with both of those limits, Waterman said.
Two existing entrances would be maintained onto Route 9.
Waterman said employees and car delivery carriers would come in through the westerly entrance, which would have a gate. He added that there was a deceleration lane coming into the site.
Select Board member Shelby Marshall asked for “really obvious” signs that the employee entrance wasn’t a customer entrance.
“I could see that being a very dangerous spot for people pulling in, realizing they can’t get through a gate, trying to back up but you’ve got Route 9,” she said.
The former railroad right-of-way for the Boston and Worcester Railway was added to 180 Turnpike Road several years ago as part of a land trade with CarMax, Waterman said. In their site plan narrative, the developers categorize this line as abandoned.
“This has long been proposed for our [Boston Worcester Air Line Trail] multi-use trail,” said Select Board Chair Ian Johnson.
Part of the BWALT trail has been proposed to run behind these properties as part of a section from Park Street to East Main Street.
As part of the Select Board’s comments to be conveyed to the Planning Board, Johnson requested them to discuss easements with the developers.
“That’s a big area for us to gain easements from the owner of the property,” he said.
Select Board weighs green technology
Select Board member Patrick Welch asked whether they were considering using green technologies or plans, such as for the building’s heating and cooling systems.
Project Manager Ashley Cino said they planned to have a lighting control system, but there weren’t any other specific green technologies being incorporated at the moment. Berndt added that their technologies would meet energy code and be high efficiency.
“With Hyundai, we’re also incorporating a lot of electric vehicle technology,” Berndt said. “So, there will be an abundance of EV chargers and things like available.”
He added that the EV chargers are in at least three different locations.
Welch asked them to keep it in mind.
“Our community is very green conscious, and we’re trying to drive as much of that technology into our buildings, our residences as well as our commercial industrial properties,” he said.
Next steps
This project will now move forward to the Planning Board for approval of the site plan and the Conservation Commission.
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