News

According to an article on Wicked Local Mansfield, the town is planning to develop more apartments and retail near train station to grow the community:

A proposed mixed-use development has the potential to help revitalize a triangular hunk of land just past the train station and North Common, Mansfield Planning Director Shaun Burke said.

“That area of North Main is kind of the forgotten part of downtown. I think this will add to downtown and draw people to those businesses,” Burke said.

Local developer Marco Crugnale is proposing to construct two, four-story buildings on the 1.4 acre site bounded by North Main Street, Mansfield Avenue and Crocker Street. One building would be mixed-use, containing approximately 7,000 square feet of retail space and 50,600 square feet of residential space with 39 apartments. The other building would be all residential and contain 37,280 square feet with 42 apartments, Burke said. All would be one- or two-bedroom and market rate. About 40 people – including neighbors, business owners and landowners – attended the Planning Board meeting earlier this month when the project was discussed, Burke said.

“I didn’t see a big contingent saying yes or no. I saw the biggest contingent saying ‘We’re willing to listen. We want to hear more’,” Burke said.

The biggest concerns about the $15 million project dubbed “North Common Estates” seemed to be parking and traffic, Burke said. The Planning Board did not ask Crugnale to make any specific changes to his proposal but said, in effect, “Convince us that it works,” Burke said. He is before the Planning Board for site plan approval for the mixed-use building and for a special permit for the all-residential building. The property is zoned business, with residential multi-families allowed but only with a special permit, whereas mixed use structures are allowed of right. The site is currently made up of half a dozen smaller parcels with various owners. Two of the properties are business only; two are mixed-use duplexes; one is residential only; and one is a vacant lot. The businesses include Mass Glass, the Regent Cafe and a car dealership. Over the years the duplex on North Main has housed a bead shop and a barbershop, Burke said. All of the existing buildings would be torn down under Crugnale’s proposal, Burke said.

“There really aren’t any historic buildings over there. It’s not like the chocolate factory or St. John’s Episcopal Church, which are historic structures and part of the neighborhood,” Burke said.

Those have been targeted for reuse instead of demolition and fall under the town’s adaptive reuse bylaw. Crugnale said he would like to attract a restaurant to the rounded corner that faces the train station and North Common at Mansfield Avenue and Crocker Street, Burke said. Burke compared it to the building with the rounded corner on City Hall Plaza in Boston.

To read the full article, please click here.