by Frank Schroth

The Selectmen have posted an RFP for bids for purchase of the town owned portion of the Hendries property on Central Avenue. The ~7,000 sq ft piece of Milton history can be yours for $240,000, the minimum established asking price. The property is being sold “as is” and there are conditions and requirements for bid proposers.

The property was acquired by the town from the MBTA. It is essentially the parking lot and the building above the lot. The town had a P&S with with Carrick Realty Trust which owns the remainder of the Hendries property. That P&S has been nullified according to Town Planner Bill Clark. Carrick Realty had applied for a special permit to build a mixed use development which was denied by the planning board.

The town recently had the property appraised and has put out the RFP for bids. The RFP contains language specific to the abutting property which is currently owned by Carrick Realty Trust. It states:

should the parcel be combined with the abutting parcel(s), the following shall occur: (A) the combined site shall be developed pursuant to a Special Permit issued under Section III.J of the Zoning Bylaw, (B) the existing structure shall be demolished within sixty (60) days of the RE transaction closing, and (C) the parcel shall be redeveloped by the purchaser or his successor as a mixed-use development with a minimum of 4,000 square feet of street-level retail/commercial use and substantially permitted within nine (9) months of the Purchase and Sale Agreement.

If Carrick Realty, current owners of abutting property, are the winning bid then they would abide by above. Whether they intend to bid is not known. Should another party win the bid of town parcel it is possible that they might rehabilitate the existing structure. Regardless, the bidder needs to provide certain information in their bid including but not limited to: proposed reuse and how it complies with Milton zoning, parking space requirements, impacts on abutting properties and neighbors, a conceptual landscape plan, and cost projections for impacts on public services.

A Review Committee will examine the proposals received and make a recommendation to the Board of Selectmen. If a proposal is accepted then it will move to a P&S within 10 days of that acceptance. There will be no conference with interested parties. Any questions can be submitted to the Board of Selectmen by 9/12. No questions will be answered after that. Bids will be accepted unitl 3:00pm on October 7th.

Two open issues are Carrick Realty’s plans for the property and the “owner” of the portion of the building with the rood collapse..

Carrick Realty has expressed intent to propose a 40B development. A group of town officials had met with the principals, Jerry and Steve Connelly, on several occasions to discuss revisiting the mixed use development proposal and modifying it to conform to zoning and address some key concerns expressed by residents. This would assume purchase of the town parcel. Denis Keohane, Chair of the Board of Selectmen stated at a recent meeting that the Connellys were receptive to the idea. However there has been no statement from them confirming their intent.

Following is a site plan of the property for sale which also indicates the area of a roof collapse and the portion where the owner is “unknown.” Click on the image for a larger view.