The developers of 10-30 Manley Way, off Pleasant Street, announced a community meeting about plans to redevelop the former trampoline park into space for lab/R&D/non-nuisance manufacturing.
The following announcement came from The Seyon Group:
PROJECT DEVELOPMENT NOTICE
Notice is hereby given that the Petitioner will be holding a Public Information Meeting related to the 10-30 Manley Way Redevelopment Project on September 5, 2023.
PROJECT DESCRIPTION and LOCATION:
The project proposal entails the redevelopment and adaptive reuse of an existing vacant, 95,000 SF light industrial building. The existing building was previously part of the Raytheon campus, then converted to a warehouse for multiple retailers and most recently housed a trampoline park and gymnastics school, along with a Saks 5th Avenue warehouse. The trampoline park and warehouse use terminated during the pandemic and the gymnastics school has decided to lease alternative space in Waltham.
The proposal is to repurpose the building for lab/R&D/non-nuisance manufacturing use; as part of the project, the building façade will be significantly upgraded. Numerous improvements to the site are also proposed, including new landscaping, the installation of a new stormwater retention system, and fostering connectivity through the site from Pleasant Street to the City’s recently acquired land (on Walker Pond) to the rear of the site.
The meeting is presented by the project team, sharing existing site context, conditions and the redevelopment plans. The meeting also provides time for the community to ask questions and learn more about the project and development process.
The Project is located at 10-30 Manley Way (off Pleasant Street). Additional project information may be found on the City’s website at:
https://www.mapsonline.net/watertownma/forms/standalone.html.php?&id=970826649&jump=a4332b400ed6b2cb44dfd4f983428c26#
MEETING LOCATION AND TIME:
Meeting Date: Tuesday, September 5, 2023 (Zoom)
Meeting Time: 6:30 PM to 8:00 PM
URL: https://bit.ly/manley-way-redev-mtg
[note: if typing, use all lowercase]
Meeting ID: 810 4153 2567
Passcode: 02472
Telephone Dial-in (646) 931-3860
First-time Zoom help: https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/360034967471-Quick-start-guide-for-new-users
PROJECT TEAM AND CONTACT:
Proponent: The Seyon Group
Architect: RODE
Civil Engineer: R.J. O’Connell & Associates
Landscape: Michael D’Angelo Landscape Architects LLC
Legal: Hemenway & Barnes
CONTACT: For more information contact Joe DiRienzo at jdirienzo@seyonmanagement.com, or (508) 414-6462
Reminder to sign comments with your full name.
This article states that the Developer is hosting a community meeting which to a certain extent is misleading. My understanding is that the Developer is “required to hold a community meeting.” However, based upon other recent community meetings the value of those “required meetings” appear to be in question. Some people have even referred to Developers as being tone deaf based on their lack of response to community input.
My guess is that no one will show up for a project that doesn’t abut residential neighborhoods. That said, the Sterritt Lumber project didn’t evoke much response despite being located directly across the street from the busy Bemis Park Neighborhood. From what I heard many neighbors don’t think anyone is listening to them with one permit after another being granted for new lab space in Watertown. (BTW…anyone else wonder what the delay is on this project being started?? Rumor has it that the a significant amount of empty new lab space in Watertown combined with recent bank failures which fund new tech startups might be affecting investors insatiable appetite to build new space in our community.)
Anyone else have an opinion?
Yes, developers of certain size projects are required to have a community meeting, and this would seem to be one that is required to have one.
I hope both Watertown and Waltham residents will attend this meeting tomorrow eve (Tuesday Sept 5), even though this project doesn’t directly abut a residential neighborhood.
This project abuts Walker Pond, a significant natural area which at long last has been purchased by the city of Watertown. Careful municipal planning for the future of this significant green space has great potential for enhancing the well-being of our increasingly densely built-up city. It also has great potential for preserving and enhancing the existing value of Walker Pond for migrating and resident birds and for other native wildlife.
If you can attend, please take the opportunity to make this developer aware of the importance to our community of preventing polluted run-off from this development into Walker Pond soil and water, both during construction and later. Landscaping plans that expand and support native habitat would also be very welcome next to Walker Pond.
Minimization of nighttime light pollution in this natural area is another design priority that community voices can help underscore. We would like to see this development take the opportunity to fully incorporate Dark Skies guidelines. See https://darksky.org for a tutorial on how harmful light pollution is. The US Fish and Wildlife Service has a helpful article for homeowners at https://www.fws.gov/story/2023-07/dim-lights-pollinators-and-plants-night .
Lenny, there was a good turnout for the Sterritt site meeting, but as you said, people feel and felt that they weren’t being listened to. Since then there have been greater numbers of people showing up with serious concerns about having labs located near their residences and we seem to be making some progress in implementing some changes.
I am hoping you are wrong that there won’t be a lot of people participating in tonight’s meeting, September 5, on Zoom at 6:30 p.m. The people living in the Mews and Repton Place apartments and condos will be living in close proximity to a lab where they won’t know what types of materials will be used there.
To have this meeting on the Tuesday after a holiday is a challenge as Watertown children are going back to school today and many people may be coming back from vacations and may not be well informed on the various meetings coming up in September.
With this lab building being near Walker Pond, an extremely expensive land acquisition for Watertown, this may add to concerns for our citizens.
People, we need you to take part in this meeting either by Zoom or on the dial-in number provided in the agenda link so you can express your thoughts. The Planning Board meeting on this site is on September 13. If you can’t attend tonight’s meeting, please tune in or attend that meeting.