BROCKTON — The old Brockton Fairgrounds could see new life as a multi-use hub of housing, commercial and light industrial uses.
About eight months ago, developer Andrew Flynn reached an agreement with the Carney family, which owns the historic but now mostly abandoned property, Brockton lawyer Jim Burke told the city’s planning board on Thursday.
Flynn’s big idea? Turning the 66-acre spread into apartments, townhouses, commercial and industrial buildings and a park.
“We approach this project with a spirit of stewardship and partnership,” Flynn said in a videoconference, saying it would “catalyze longterm, sustainable economic growth.”
Burke estimated the project at between $600 million and $1 billion, all told. City Councilor Phil Griffin, who co-sponsored the zoning proposal that would undergird the project, estimated it could produce more than $12 million in taxes for the city. Brockton would need every one of those new dollars to finance downtown’s new public safety building and a possible renovation of Brockton High using $200 million from the city.
Flynn, a principal at Boston-based Copper Mill development, said shovels could go in the ground as early as mid-2025.
What has developer Andrew Flynn built before?
Asked which of his projects was similar to the fairgrounds idea, Flynn pointed to a 450-unit apartment building and theater his company completed across from Fenway Park. Flynn is partnering with design firm CBT on the fairgrounds proposal. Phil Casey, a principal for CBT, said the mixed-use development is comparable to the redevelopment of Suffolk Downs in East Boston and Revere. CBT did the master planning for that mammoth project, which is still incomplete.
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How many housing units will it have?
The developer gave a presentation showing what could be built under the zoning change they’re looking for. It shows 1,200 housing units. They’d be a mix of apartments along West Street and Forest Avenue, with townhomes in a corridor running along Thurber Avenue and Othello Street, which would be connected. The mix could include units aimed at people 55 and up, he said. The exact number of units would be hammered out as the project goes through further approval stages.
What will the commercial part be like?
The proposal wraps residential units in a “horseshoe” around 600,000 square feet of commercial buildings. The idea is to attract light industrial and tech companies to a series of separate buildings. Architect Casey said the single-story buildings would form an “innovation cluster” to attract research and development and manufacturing. It isn’t clear how many jobs would be created.
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Will there be public input on the project?
So far, Flynn said his group has discussed the project with city department heads, city councilors, the police chief, fire chief and assessor’s office.
Flynn received an important early approval Thursday as the planning board agreed 3-1 to recommend the zoning change. The proposal now goes to city council’s ordinance committee. Eventually, a super-majority of city councilors must approve the project.
Exactly how public input would be considered wasn’t clear Thursday night. However, the zoning change’s other sponsor, City Councilor Tom Minichiello, vowed there would be.
“We’re going to have to have public meetings,” the Ward 1 councilor said. “The public will have to have an opportunity to have a voice. We will be putting in safeguards.”
Planning Board Member Iolando Spinola, the lone vote against the zoning change, sounded a note of caution.
“There is a lot of planning that has happened to Brockton,” he said. “Residents want to have a stake and a say. Some further civic participation would be ideal.”
How will the developer finance the project?
The zoning change might sound dry and technical, but the developer argued that the normal process of asking for variances on the particular parcels and projects would doom the whole thing by scaring off potential lenders.
“If we had to start acre-by-acre with all the variances, we would never be able to finance the development,” said Flynn, saying a chicken-and-egg dynamic would wind up with nothing being built at all.
What will be allowed to be built on the old fairgrounds?
Once the zoning is finalized, specific projects would be brought back to city regulators for approval under Brockton’s “site plan review” process, a lawyer for the developer said. “What we’re asking for is really the construct of what we’d bring forward in great detail,” said attorney Jennifer Schultz. “It’s only meant tonight to give a concept for what could be built.”
City’s director of planning sounds note of caution
Several planning board members and two residents questioned why the proposed zoning was so permissive. In a dramatic twist, Brockton’s point person for development, Rob May, came out against the zoning as currently written.
“It’s too vague, it’s unfocused and untargeted,” said May, the city’s director of planning and economic development, who has been closely involved in discussions with the developer. “To say that the site plan review will take care of all this is not really the place where it should be taken care of, in my professional opinion.”
Concerns about traffic
The chairperson of the planning board said she’s pro-development, and voted yes on the zoning change. However, Toni Goncalves also said she lives within a mile of the site and already avoids going there when school is letting in or out. Brockton High and its thousands of students are next door to the fairgrounds. She voiced concern about adding 1,200 households and their traffic to that mix.
An engineer on the project team argued that overall traffic counts will be at least 40% lower than for an earlier, community-backed proposal for a casino. Bob Michaud of MDM Transportation also said that not all the units will be built at once, so the traffic could “gently integrate” with the community. Flynn said the plan is to begin with the residential units.
Wondering about a vacant building, construction site or other sign of change in or near Brockton? I’m veteran local reporter Chris Helms and I’ll help you find out. Email your questions and tips to [email protected] or connect on X at @HelmsNews.
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