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Attleboro downtown plans moving ahead with land buys
Top Headlines The Attleboro Redevelopment Authority has completed the purchase of several pieces of property owned by Automatic Machine Products on the northern edge of a 32-acre swath of land to be transformed by transportation, residential and commercial improvements, said ARA executive director Michael Milanoski. The ARA paid $594,176 for a factory building on 1.2 acres of land at the corner of Wall and South Main streets in the latest purchase, he said. The property is assessed at about $719,000 but the ARA got a lower price because of pollution, which will have to be cleaned up, Milanoski said. An Automatic building on the south side of Wall was bought by the ARA in November for $1.6 million. A small Automatic building, also on the south side of Wall, was bought by the ARA in 2006 for $225,000. That structure was demolished last fall. The latest acquisition will allow the ARA to begin clearing almost 4 acres of the 32 included in the first two phases of the downtown project, possibly by early next year, Milanoski said. Milanoski said Automatic plans to be out of its buildings and into its new Taunton facility by sometime in November. A plan to move Automatic into the new industrial business park fell through because of timing issues and unexpectedly high development costs. Automatic's withdrawal from the park cost the ARA cash from land sales and made the park's financial problems worse. All told the ARA paid about $2.4 million for all the Automatic property that encompasses 3.7 acres. The ARA is also paying Automatic $1.2 million in relocation costs. Money for the deal comes from grants issued by the Federal Transit Administration that has been obtained by U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern D-Worcester, over a number of years. All told, the ARA has more than $10 million in federal money and matching state grants to use on the first phase of the $60 million multi-decade revitalization effort. The first phase is expected to cost around $14.7 million. The city will add $2.4 million to the $10 million contributed by the federal and state governments. Land sales are expected to cover the remainder. Meanwhile, the ARA and the city's administration are trying to find their way out of a financial morass with the new industrial business park now under construction off County Street that came about partly because of skyrocketing land costs. A jury recently awarded a landowner $1.2 million in an eminent domain case over property taken by the ARA for the park. In another blow a second business, NeedleTech Inc., which planned to move into the park, withdrew because of delays in construction costing the ARA more money in land sales.
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atticus wrote on Aug 25, 2008 5:01 PM:
" attlebrockton....What happened to Automatic was a darn shame and totaly not necessary. I was told by company spokesperson that due to very high cost of site development and the time frame they are working in.....he was left no choice but to find a ready to go site....he did, out of town. Totally mishandled by ARA. Of course the ledge didn't grow there overnight. This should have been known at the beginning when there was time to go to plan B...if there was one. "
RE: "the ledge". Ask any digger in town, most of our hills are not "glacial erratics", they are stone. "
why not wrote on Aug 14, 2008 9:19 PM:
I wonder if there are any provisions if the only thing that gets moved is a couple of desks??
So $3.6 MILLION was paid so they could move out of town!!
Remember this 10 years from now when you drive buy and look at a pile of rubble! "
joehall wrote on Aug 14, 2008 8:33 PM:
attlebrockton wrote on Aug 14, 2008 8:26 PM:
October 2007
ATTLEBORO - "If you build it - they will come" is ringing true so far for the city's new industrial business park.
While the park at Ides Hill is nowhere near complete, businesses are on the way, an Attleboro Redevelopment Authority official told city councilors Tuesday.
Michael Milanoski, ARA executive director, said he expects 20 percent of the park's building space to be sold by next month.
Milanoski made the comment during an update on all ARA projects.
With the park containing 805,000 square feet of building space, 20 percent represents about 160,000 square feet. Of that amount, a new plant for Automatic Machine Products, currently located on Wall Street, will take 45,000 to 55,000 square feet, he said.
Milanoski would not reveal what other businesses plan to use the remaining 105,000 to 115,000 square feet the ARA expects to sell, but said an announcement would likely come over the next two months.
"We're moving along pretty well," he told the council. "I would anticipate in November or December we'll have announcements for you about who these companies are."
. "
attlebrockton wrote on Aug 14, 2008 3:39 PM:
doug wrote on Aug 14, 2008 3:19 PM:
attlebrockton wrote on Aug 14, 2008 2:42 PM:
i'm sure if all concerned make out like Automatic we will have no problems at all. What did the Old barn building go for ? "
doug wrote on Aug 14, 2008 2:22 PM:
We can guess on spending millions on this and that and project how much revenue will be generated. It's speculation and thats all. The dollars are already available to move forward with downtown re-development. Once the ARA is brought into line we should be able to complete the project at hand. How successful we find that will determine and at least have effect on our plan from that point forward. "
attlebrockton wrote on Aug 14, 2008 1:01 PM:
VAdeveloper wrote on Aug 14, 2008 12:32 PM:
The problem is simple math.
Lets suppose for the sake of conversation the total aquisition and infrastructure will equal $60,000,000 dollars (Which by the way with inflation and interest rates will be closer to $150,000,000 - Guranteed)
And lets suppose on the low side the cost of construction is 200 sf for 300 condo units at 1000sf per on average, plus an additional 30,000 sf of retail space, the total costs of construction is $66,000,000.
Total Hard costs = $126,000,000.
Lets just suppose for a second that somone will pay $200,000 per condo, which will never happen, total revenue is $60,000,000 from condos.
Lets say someone will pay $300 a sf for the commercial, which will never happen, total revenue is $9,000,000.
So our total revenue is $69,000,000.
That means just on simple numbers at low development cost and high market value, the project is upside down almost $57,000,000.
That is the reason no private developer would ever become involved. The numbers just wont work. "
ricknkim wrote on Aug 14, 2008 12:02 PM:
khmass wrote on Aug 14, 2008 11:30 AM:
For the record, I believe there needs to be redevelopment of the downtown, but this whole mess underscores what happens when you turn government over to "independent" (read unaccountable) commissions. Since they don't directly answer to anyone, they go off into never,neverland. Look at similar projects like the MassPike, the MDC, etc. If the city had direct control, I can't imagain it would have ever got this bad. "
VAdeveloper wrote on Aug 14, 2008 11:06 AM:
1st government officials are involved, and when it comes to public projects, they always take 50% longer to complete and usually are 100% over the original budget. (Look at the Big Dig)
2nd the biggest problem which no one sees yet, and one day will be discussed, is that the plan for development is backwards. Nevermind the ARA's ability to get the project underway, quite frankly the longer that takes the better off the town will be; why does a town that is predominately multi-family property need more condos for? The reason no developer will touch this, is quite simply because it will fail. There already is an over supply of housing, and they will never be able to sell or rent the units because financially it doesnt make sense.
The project was doomed at the initial conception.
What Attleboro needs is a zoning change to allow for mid rise properties (10 - 15) stories in the MBTA parking lot.
With 300,000 - 1,000,000 sf of Class "A" mid-rise office and retail space, that, and that only, will bring in the companies, revenue, and people that can truly turn the tide of a once great blue collar city around. "
doug wrote on Aug 14, 2008 11:06 AM:
The Bates was located where Elco is today....in the Bates building. The Bates theater was elegent theater with VIP boxes and all....too bad we lost it. "
realist wrote on Aug 14, 2008 10:46 AM:
The thing is, this happened through an evolutionary process, not because of a naive central planning committee. North Attleborough has not leveled a downtown building in years nor have they forced out a productive business to make way for someone's dream. "
realist wrote on Aug 14, 2008 10:40 AM:
I also remember when a lot of people made a good living in the downtown area. I don't want to live in the past, but this project seems to be driving businesses away.
Could someone refresh my memory? What is the plan for the AM site[s]? Is the DPW still on Wall St? "
hope for attleboro wrote on Aug 14, 2008 10:22 AM:
attlebrockton wrote on Aug 14, 2008 10:13 AM:
attlebrockton wrote on Aug 14, 2008 10:11 AM:
hope for attleboro wrote on Aug 14, 2008 9:49 AM:
doug wrote on Aug 14, 2008 9:44 AM:
hope for attleboro wrote on Aug 14, 2008 9:43 AM:
If we ignore the downtown area it will only get worse and the # of low lifes will triple. Simple equation: Fix downtown / fix schools and you will see results.
I love my neighborhood in Attleboro, the people are great and there is such a sense of community. I think a lot of people would agree. More people would move here if it was more visually appealing. I am embarrassed currently by the downtown area. "
harry hindsight wrote on Aug 14, 2008 9:41 AM:
ricknkim wrote on Aug 14, 2008 9:41 AM:
doug wrote on Aug 14, 2008 9:38 AM:
The accumulation of blunders regarding the ARA can only be blamed on those involved in the creation of the ARA and those serving on it's board. The board was established to oversee and govern. They failed in that responsibility. The errors in judgement made by director Milanoski and the resulting problems did not rise overnight. Either the board wasn't looking or they had no comprehention of what was happening. A sad example of leadership and good management. The fact that the problem went on for so long suggests that the director(Milanoski)had them dazzled. A prominent business man and friend and supporter of the ARA, publically said in defending Milanoski when he was accused of having ruffled some feathers in Boston. "Your bound to ruffle feathers when you get things done." That statement was so far off base that it almost seems to be a mockery! In fact...as we now know...nothing is "done". "
attlebrockton wrote on Aug 14, 2008 9:25 AM:
harry hindsight wrote on Aug 14, 2008 9:19 AM:
Or am I wrong? "
hope for attleboro wrote on Aug 14, 2008 8:57 AM:
attlebrockton wrote on Aug 14, 2008 8:45 AM:
Land sales are expected to cover the remainder
that leaves 2.3 mil from land sales.
what land sales? can sombody explain that to me please. "
attlebrockton wrote on Aug 14, 2008 8:40 AM:
realist wrote on Aug 14, 2008 8:36 AM:
attlebrockton wrote on Aug 14, 2008 6:48 AM:
reason wrote on Aug 14, 2008 6:25 AM:
I assume the land sales are related to the condo development. Have those figures been reevaluated using current real estate values and demand or are the using 5 year old figures? "
attlebrockton wrote on Aug 14, 2008 6:15 AM: