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Boston Mayor Thomas Menino told town officials last week the city is interested in annexing Dedham's half of the former Stop & Shop warehouse property if the town decides to part with it.
Selectman James MacDonald and Planning Board Chairman Michael Podolski met with Menino and Boston officials last Friday to gauge the city's interest in Braintree developer Campanelli Companies' plan to move the entire 71-acre warehouse property into the city and pave the way for a housing complex.
MacDonald said yesterday Menino is "amenable" to annexing the land, but also had a lot of questions about the plan to build 1,850 units of housing there.
"He was open to the idea, but there were a lot of 'what ifs,' " MacDonald said. "He respected what we had to say and understood that the property has worked well split in the past."
MacDonald said he could not give a more detailed account of the meeting until he had briefed fellow members of the committee studying the proposal for the town. He did say Menino had introduced some "innovative ideas" about how the city and town could deal with the property.
Podolski said although Menino was generally receptive to the annexation idea, he did have some concerns about the size of the proposed housing development. He said any deal with Boston was contingent on the developer satisfying Dedham's needs.
"The city has agreed that they will accept annexation if the town and developer can come to an agreement on compensation," Podolski said.
Attempts to reach the Boston mayor's office for comment yesterday were unsuccessful.
Menino lives near the proposed annexation site in Boston's Readville section.
Campanelli Cos. has offered the town of Dedham $2.5 million for its half of the property wedged between the Neponset River and Amtrak rail line to simplify the process of rezoning it from industrial to residential use.
Campanelli bought the land from Stop & Shop for $26.6 million in 2004. Currently the old warehouse, which Stop & Shop used as a shipping center until moving to Randolph, is only partially occupied by industrial tenants.
Dedham officials have said they are not interested in rezoning the property residential, because of the strain new families would place on the school system and the difficulty of providing emergency services to its half of the property, which cannot be reached without entering Boston.
Campanelli Cos. partner Daniel DeMarco would say by e-mail only that "we had a good, informal discussion with Mayor Menino and we are looking forward to continuing to work with Dedham and the City of Boston to appropriately redevelop the site."
MacDonald said the Committee to Study Boundary Change would meet during mid-July and a forum for residents to express their thoughts and opinions would be scheduled soon.
Daily News staff writer Patrick Anderson can be reached at 781-433-8336 or by e-mail at panderso@cnc.com.
Boston Mayor Thomas Menino told town officials last week the city is interested in annexing Dedham's half of the former Stop & Shop warehouse property if the town decides to part with it.
Selectman James MacDonald and Planning Board Chairman Michael Podolski met with Menino and Boston officials last Friday to gauge the city's interest in Braintree developer Campanelli Companies' plan to move the entire 71-acre warehouse property into the city and pave the way for a housing complex.
MacDonald said yesterday Menino is "amenable" to annexing the land, but also had a lot of questions about the plan to build 1,850 units of housing there.
"He was open to the idea, but there were a lot of 'what ifs,' " MacDonald said. "He respected what we had to say and understood that the property has worked well split in the past."
MacDonald said he could not give a more detailed account of the meeting until he had briefed fellow members of the committee studying the proposal for the town. He did say Menino had introduced some "innovative ideas" about how the city and town could deal with the property.
Podolski said although Menino was generally receptive to the annexation idea, he did have some concerns about the size of the proposed housing development. He said any deal with Boston was contingent on the developer satisfying Dedham's needs.
"The city has agreed that they will accept annexation if the town and developer can come to an agreement on compensation," Podolski said.
Attempts to reach the Boston mayor's office for comment yesterday were unsuccessful.
Menino lives near the proposed annexation site in Boston's Readville section.
Campanelli Cos. has offered the town of Dedham $2.5 million for its half of the property wedged between the Neponset River and Amtrak rail line to simplify the process of rezoning it from industrial to residential use.
Campanelli bought the land from Stop & Shop for $26.6 million in 2004. Currently the old warehouse, which Stop & Shop used as a shipping center until moving to Randolph, is only partially occupied by industrial tenants.
Dedham officials have said they are not interested in rezoning the property residential, because of the strain new families would place on the school system and the difficulty of providing emergency services to its half of the property, which cannot be reached without entering Boston.
Campanelli Cos. partner Daniel DeMarco would say by e-mail only that "we had a good, informal discussion with Mayor Menino and we are looking forward to continuing to work with Dedham and the City of Boston to appropriately redevelop the site."
MacDonald said the Committee to Study Boundary Change would meet during mid-July and a forum for residents to express their thoughts and opinions would be scheduled soon.
Daily News staff writer Patrick Anderson can be reached at 781-433-8336 or by e-mail at panderso@cnc.com.
