Government road funds could jump-start Westwood Station

The delayed Westwood Station should soon get a boost from tens of millions of dollars in state highway spending, as the Patrick administration looks to kick-start the project and four more large private developments this construction season.

The state has preliminarily targeted .Westwood Station, SouthField in Weymouth, Assembly Square in Somerville, Waterfront Square in Revere Beach, and the Fall River Industrial Park to receive $20 million to $60 million in public infrastructure spending through a combination of federal stimulus money and state funding

"These five projects are a preliminary list, but we feel that they have a very good opportunity to move forward in this construction season," said Kofi Jones, spokeswoman for Gregory Bialecki, the secretary of housing and economic development.

She said the idea is to leverage public infrastructure funding - from the federal stimulus, regular federal funding, and state funding - to get the projects started.

"We are trying to bring all of the pieces together in our Mass. recovery efforts," Jones said Friday, adding that state leaders are "working together to lock down the pieces of the puzzle."

Jones said each project is set to receive a public infrastructure investment of between $20 million to $60 million - "some closer to $20 (million), some closer to $60 (million) - when you look at all of the funding sources."

All of the pieces are still pending for Westwood Station, she added.

Phase one of Massachusetts' federal stimulus efforts focused on road paving. In phase two, Secretary of Transportation James Aloisi and other state officials "are looking at projects that can unlock long-term job creation, long-term economic prosperity, and with the hope of creating some of these regional employment centers," Jones said.

"We're very excited. Obviously it was great news to us," said Michael Goldman, a spokesman for Westwood Station developer Cabot, Cabot & Forbes. "It is a very, very good thing that the 93-95 overpass and ramps are going to get built."

The state work is expected to include a new highway interchange between Interstate 93 and Interstate 95, just south of Westwood Station, that would improve traffic in the area. That interchange was first targeted as a project more than three decades ago, Goldman pointed out.

"If there was no Westwood development, Westwood Station project, the obligation to do the 95-93 interchange and the ramp would still be there," he said. "The need would still be there. The need is there for Canton, and for the area."

Along those lines, Goldman said Cabot, Cabot & Forbes has made progress in its talks with Canton, and working to resolve the town's concerns. The two sides have had a protracted, on-and-off-again dispute over traffic and infrastructure spending tied to Westwood Station.

Goldman said the state highway spending "absolutely" could be what gives Westwood Station visible momentum again. Work on the University Avenue site stopped over the winter as the developer focused its efforts on finding a construction loan and making its case to the federal and state governments for funding.

"We've been talking to them about this for a long while. Again, this is a piece of a giant mosaic, a very important piece, no question about it," he said. "It's an acknowledgment by the state that we can be in the ground very quickly."

Ambitious plans for the "smart-growth" project call for, ultimately, 4.5 million square feet of retail, residential, hotel and office space to be built on 135 acres, just across from the Rte. 128 Amtrak and MBTA station. If its promise were fulfilled, Westwood Station would bring thousands of jobs to the region, and expand Westwood's tax base and population, officials have said.

But the project has been stymied by last fall's financial crisis and the freeze of credit markets, which are still tight. Westwood Station's 1.1-million-square-foot first phase has been estimated to cost about $700 million.

The Cabot, Cabot & Forbes Web site gives one idea of how far the project has fallen behind schedule - it lists August 2007 as Westwood Station's groundbreaking date.

Goldman said there has been some work done on small projects on the Station site recently.

"We have had people out there, particularly maintaining the work that we did," he said.

Goldman had no comment on the developer's search for a construction loan.

Cabot, Cabot & Forbes President Jay Doherty sounded an optimistic note in a published report last week, however, saying, "We have one or two critical tenants that are still waiting to see what happens with the road system. And if these commitments come through, we can get financing to move the project forward soon."

Said Goldman, "We've really been focused on putting the pieces together and explaining to the state how this is a win-win-win," he said.

Daily News staff writer Edward B. Colby can be reached at 781-433-8336 or ecolby@cnc.com.