Tuesday, May 14, 2013
The winning proposal seeks to tear down the school.
Selectmen voted 4-1 Monday night to approve a proposal to purchase the Bradstreet School property and demolish the school building to build mixed-use retail and residential units. Hearthstone's Option 3 was the one most appealing to selectmen, at $300,000. "I was very impressed with Heartstone Realty, Option 3, because it's the only one that takes Saunders Street into consideration," Selectman Tracy Watson said. "And what really impressed me was their vision for the future of the area." This plan maintains the streetscape and brings in more retail and office space and fewer residential units than the previous option. It calls for an enlarged plaza area and retail space along Main Street, 9,500 square feet of office space on the second …
Monday, May 13, 2013
After a year of discussion, a proposal has been advanced.
Selectmen voted 4-1 Monday night to declare a developer's plan to purchase and renovate the Bradstreet School property as a "preferred development." And that Hearthstone Realty's Option 3, with Oakgrove as second-place. So it looks like the Bradstreet School will come down. The Hearthstone plan maintains the streetscape and brings in more retail and office space and fewer residential units than the previous option. It calls for an enlarged plaza area and retail space along Main Street, 9,500 square feet of office space on the second floor, 6 townhouses and 6 flats, and 73 total spaces. The second-place developer, Oakgrove Residential Inc. -- which is currently working on restoration of mill buildings along the Shawsheen River in Andover…
Tuesday, May 7, 2013
The three options the company presented would bring retail space and townhouses downtown.
The town has received several proposals for purchase of the Bradstreet School property, and Monday night one of the interested companies presented their plans for the property. Hearthstone Realty actually submitted four difference proposals. Selectmen scrapped one of the proposals ahead of time -- option 1 -- at a previous meeting because, although it kept the school building intact, it requested $200,000 in CPA funds. The three remaining options offer $300,000 for the property and call for demolition of the school. Two call for the construction of mixed-use buildings and residential buildings, while a third calls for all retail space. Option 2 This plan maintains the streetscape and brings in retail space as well as 22 residential units…
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
The field is narrowing a little.
Selectmen voted 4-1 to eliminate a proposal by Coalition for a Better Acre to purchase the Bradstree School property. They also voted to scrap one of several proposals from Hearthstone. Selectmen recently rejected an offer by Coalition for a Better Acre to purchase the property for moderate income apartments, citing the desire to see more retail space there. Selectman Tracy Watson, who was the only selectman to vote in favor of that offer, suggested eliminating Coalition for a Better Acre Monday night, to save the organization time and energy. "Are we really going to put the Coalition for a Better Acre through what we already put them through?" she asked. "Other than me, not one person on this board is going to vote for them." Hearthstone …
Tuesday, April 9, 2013
The town got a better response this time.
The town has received five new propsals for the Bradstreet School property on Main Street, selectmen announced Monday night. Proposals were submitted by the following companies: Oakgrove Residential of Boston Water Street Retail LLC of Haverhill RCG LLC of Somerville Hearthstone Realty Corp. of Andover Coalition for a Better Acre, based out of Lowell Selectmen will review proposals and decide on April 22 how best to proceed with the process -- whether to hear the propsals on the same day or space them out to allow lengthier presentations. The proposals will then be checked for the minimum requirements in the request for proposals the town sent out, and from tat point the proposals will be rated based on criteria detailed in that request. "…
Friday, April 5, 2013
If commercial property goes into the Bradstreet lot, what would you like to see there?
There's been a lot of debate about what should go into the Bradstreet School location. Residential housing, apartments, condos, businesses... the options are plenty. The recent proposal to put moderate-income apartments and retail space there was rejected by the Board of Selectmen, but selectmen said they liked the idea of putting commercial property there. The Board of Selecten is scheduled to discuss proposals for the property on Monday. If businesses do set up shop in the Bradstreet School lot, what kind of businesses would you like to see go there? Discuss in the comments below.
Monday, March 4, 2013
Selectmen voted to reject the offer.
Bradstreet School is still standing -- for now, anyway. Selectmen voted 4-1 last week to reject the offer submitted by developer Coalition For a Better Acre, which offered $300,000 for the building last month. The proposal called for tearing down the school and building a three-story mixed-use building, with businesses on the ground floor and apartments on the other two floors. The town would have also had to pitch in more than $700,000 from the CPA fund or Affordable Housing Trust. Selectman Tracy Watson gave the only vote in favor of the proposal, citing the expense to the town for maintaining the property as well as the shortage of interested buyers. The other selectmen said they wanted to see more retail space at that location, to …
Saturday, February 16, 2013
Share your thoughts.
Big changes may be in store for part of downtown, depending on what becomes of the Bradstreet School. Residents voted at Town Meeting to allow the Board of Selectmen to sell the property. And one offer has been made, by Coalition For a Better Acre, which plans to tear down the building and construct apartments and commercial space there. The proposal would actually cost the town money. The purchase offer is for $300,000, and they are asking the town for more than $700,000 from CPA funds or the Affordable Housing Trust. The idea is for the property to bring in tax revenue and business to the downtown area, and the Bradstreet School costs the town tens of thousands of dollars each year to keep. The North Andover Historical Commission has …
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
The one proposal to buy the building includes a plan to tear it down.
Kathleen Szyska, chair of the North Andover Historical Commission, attended Monday night's Board of Selecten meeting to see -- and respond to -- the presentation by the group proposing to tear down te Bradstreet School. Szyska said the Commission strongly opposes the plan to demolish the building and construct new buildings with residential and retail space. Things became a little tense when selectmen asked Szyska why no one spoke out at Town Meeting when the vote to approve selling the building was taken. Szyska said they didn't know demolishing the school was part of a potential deal. But the possibility of demolishing the building -- as well as discussion on whether or not to put a caveat forbidding demolition in any sale contract -- …
The proposal calls for a couple dozen apartments and 5,000 square feet of retail space.
Details of the proposal by an affordable housing developer to buy the Bradstreet School are clearer today. Representatives from Lowell-based developer Coalition For a Better Acre -- which offered $300,000 for the building last month -- attended Monday night's Board of Selectmen meeting and gave a presentation about that organization's plans for the property. The town would actually be in for more than $400,000, however, since the proposal requests more than $700,000 to come from the town's CPA funds and Affordable Housing Trust as part of the $8 million it wouldneed for the project. The figure the organization is requesting is based on other projects the town has contributed to, such as the affordable housing development at Stevens Corner…
kathy Stevens
2:05 pm on Tuesday, May 21, 2013
Bradstreet Achool Alumni Group on Facebook is collecting memories and images. Check it out. Thank you Sean more ›