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The developer of Westwood Station confirmed yesterday that it has stopped on-site work for the winter, but said it is nevertheless spending six-figure sums each month to keep the enormous development project "moving forward."
"We are spending hundreds of thousands of dollars per month on moving this project forward. That is not a project that has come to a halt," said Cabot, Cabot & Forbes spokesman Michael Goldman, disputing a Boston Business Journal headline.
The journal reported that Westwood Station's groundbreaking has been delayed until September, as Cabot, Cabot & Forbes struggles to land a construction loan. Cabot, Cabot & Forbes President Jay Doherty told the publication the troubled economy requires that things move "at a slower pace."
Goldman said the company is aggressively pursuing permitting, site design, acquisition of tenants and government funding.
"All that is moving forward. We will be back on site in the spring," Goldman said. "It's wintertime and the ground is frozen and we have literally taken every resource that we have and dedicated it now in the winter to help make our case" to the federal and state governments, he added.
The company has applied for I-Cubed infrastructure funding from the state, and Goldman said he is encouraged by the roughly $790 billion federal stimulus bill going through Congress, which he believes will help restore economic confidence.
"Being in the ground is a piece of the puzzle. It is not the whole puzzle," Goldman said. "Everything we're doing is to get prepared so when we get in the ground, we stay in the ground."
Goldman said CC&F's equity partner, Commonfund Realty Inc., is still providing funding in the six figures to pay for project costs each month.
Asked about the search for a construction loan, Goldman said the developers would not be spending so much money each month "if we were not convinced that in short order the markets will start to evaluate the advantages of this project and find it to be well worth their investment."
The 135-acre "smart-growth" project planned for University Avenue would ultimately include 4.5 million square feet of retail, residential, hotel and office space - promising thousands of jobs for the region and an expanded tax base and population for Westwood.
The project's 1.1-million-square-foot first phase is expected to cost about $700 million. In early December, Doherty, CC&F president, announced he was "value-engineering" that phase to reduce costs on Westwood Station, which once carried an overall price tag of $1.5 billion.
The developer of Westwood Station confirmed yesterday that it has stopped on-site work for the winter, but said it is nevertheless spending six-figure sums each month to keep the enormous development project "moving forward."
"We are spending hundreds of thousands of dollars per month on moving this project forward. That is not a project that has come to a halt," said Cabot, Cabot & Forbes spokesman Michael Goldman, disputing a Boston Business Journal headline.
The journal reported that Westwood Station's groundbreaking has been delayed until September, as Cabot, Cabot & Forbes struggles to land a construction loan. Cabot, Cabot & Forbes President Jay Doherty told the publication the troubled economy requires that things move "at a slower pace."
Goldman said the company is aggressively pursuing permitting, site design, acquisition of tenants and government funding.
"All that is moving forward. We will be back on site in the spring," Goldman said. "It's wintertime and the ground is frozen and we have literally taken every resource that we have and dedicated it now in the winter to help make our case" to the federal and state governments, he added.
The company has applied for I-Cubed infrastructure funding from the state, and Goldman said he is encouraged by the roughly $790 billion federal stimulus bill going through Congress, which he believes will help restore economic confidence.
"Being in the ground is a piece of the puzzle. It is not the whole puzzle," Goldman said. "Everything we're doing is to get prepared so when we get in the ground, we stay in the ground."
Goldman said CC&F's equity partner, Commonfund Realty Inc., is still providing funding in the six figures to pay for project costs each month.
Asked about the search for a construction loan, Goldman said the developers would not be spending so much money each month "if we were not convinced that in short order the markets will start to evaluate the advantages of this project and find it to be well worth their investment."
The 135-acre "smart-growth" project planned for University Avenue would ultimately include 4.5 million square feet of retail, residential, hotel and office space - promising thousands of jobs for the region and an expanded tax base and population for Westwood.
The project's 1.1-million-square-foot first phase is expected to cost about $700 million. In early December, Doherty, CC&F president, announced he was "value-engineering" that phase to reduce costs on Westwood Station, which once carried an overall price tag of $1.5 billion.
While building construction has not begun, CC&F had been spending millions each month on preparatory site work last year. Goldman said in mid-December that the developer spent $2 million in November and would spend $1 million in each of the winter months.
Yesterday's news that work has stopped on the site until spring is not surprising, said selectmen Chairman Patrick Ahearn.
"All you have to do is drive by there and see that there's not a lot of activity down there right now," he said.
These may be "very difficult economic times, but the project is still a strong and well-conceived project for that site, and we look forward to its progression and resumption," said Selectman Nancy Hyde. "We'll have to have some patience during some intervening months here."
Goldman said a $1.5 million development agreement payment due to the town for fiscal 2010 would not be affected by the construction delay.
"That is an obligation that we have every intention of meeting," he said.
The payment is crucial to Westwood's fiscal 2010 budget. Working on the assumption that it will come through, selectmen are planning a fiscal 2010 budget that maintains this year's spending levels.
Told Goldman's assurance about the $1.5 million payment, Town Administrator Michael Jaillet called it "an encouraging statement."
Jaillet noted the town has spent 2 1/2 years working with the developer to come up with a master plan and an accompanying Phase I plan, both of which are permitted and ready to proceed.
"I think we're all desirous of the same thing, to get the project to construction. And we're remaining extremely hopeful that that's going to occur," he said.
CC&F's retail partner, New England Development, has leased 80 percent of Westwood Station's retail space, said Executive Vice President Douglass Karp. Asked if any businesses have backed out over the last few months, Karp replied, "I can't say that there's been no fallout, but for the most part the tenants are staying with us."
He said, "Ultimately, all these tenants really believe in the project and in the site."
Karp said his firm is "extremely close" to wrapping up a contract with Wegmans, the supermarket slated to be one of Westwood Station's anchor stores.
"They are on board, and we're hoping within the next two to four weeks we should be able to announce the signing of the lease," Karp said.
The Westwood Station Wegmans had been expected to be the first store for the New York-based chain in Massachusetts, but it now appears another Wegmans in Northborough will claim that distinction when it opens, as expected, in February 2011.
Daily News staff writer Edward B. Colby can be reached at 781-433-8336 or ecolby@cnc.com.
