Natick, Mass.— A retail and office plaza adjacent to the West Natick commuter rail station is slated for demolition to make way for a 219-unit apartment building, according to reporting by the Boston Business Journal.
The proposed development, named Gables Natick Crossing, would span more than 250,000 square feet across five stories on the three-acre site at 273 W. Central St., immediately next to the MBTA’s Framingham/Worcester commuter rail line. The project is being developed by Atlanta-based Gables Residential, which has previously completed apartment projects in Boston neighborhoods including the Seaport, Watertown, and Westwood, as well as Watermark in Kendall Square, Hub25 in Dorchester, and Revington in Worcester.
As reported by BBJ, the Natick Planning Board is scheduled to hold a public hearing on the proposal on March 25. The plan is part of a broader push for denser residential development in Natick, which is one of 177 communities that have updated zoning to comply with the state MBTA Communities law. The law requires municipalities served by public transit to allow higher-density residential development to help increase housing production across the region.
The vacant two-story retail and office plaza, known as Natick Crossings, sits directly next to the MBTA lot for the West Natick station. BBJ notes that this development represents the largest residential project currently in the permitting pipeline for Natick, alongside a proposed 116-unit assisted living community called Benchmark at Natick, planned for 210 and 220 N. Main St.
Additionally, the Natick Planning Board is reviewing an expansion of the Zdorovie Adult Day Health Center to a nearly 8,000-square-foot building at 17 Strathmore Road, BBJ reports.
