Jailhouse reno: MCI makeover could lift ideas from nearby towns
“Massachusetts has a track record of flubbing the development of new neighborhoods. Acton has a chance to show real leadership.”
The Point in Littleton boasts everything from a Market Basket to a movie theater.
Maynard Crossing includes restaurants and a “ninja gym.”
As leaders debate how to redevelop MCI-Acton, local leaders see things worth replicating from similar projects — and reminders of what not to do.
“We’re not trying to land the first man on the moon here,” Finance Committee member Eric Dahlberg told The Acton Bridge. “Other towns are doing this with varying levels of success, literally 10 minutes down the road.”
Dahlberg helped organize visits to The Point and Maynard Crossing this year. Officials have continued discussions, and the MCI-Acton Advisory Board was scheduled to discuss its work with the Select Board on December 22.
“Massachusetts has a track record of flubbing the development of new neighborhoods,” state Sen. Michael Barrett said, referencing separate efforts in Devens and Waltham. “Acton has a chance to show real leadership.”
Once a vacant lot, The Point roared to life in the early 2010s.
Acton Affordable Housing Trust Chair Keith Bergman was Littleton’s town administrator at the time and said officials opted against encouraging housing. He said a commercial hub “really fulfilled a need.”
In Littleton, as in Acton, Bergman said, sewer expansion was key. “It takes a sewer to make a village,” he recalled saying.
Although leaders didn’t site housing at The Point, Littleton now expects hundreds of units on a nearby former IBM campus. Bergman said officials zoned that project to keep tall buildings from directly bordering on residential thoroughfares.
He floated a similar framework for MCI-Acton and Commonwealth Avenue.
Dahlberg said The Point drew something resembling nightlife to Littleton. Until recently, a tenant offered ax-throwing.
“Where can I legally throw an ax in Acton?” Dahlberg joked during his spring interview with The Bridge.
As far as late-night eats, Littleton previously lacked options.
Some Acton restaurants now stay open until 11 p.m. Select Board member Mary Hartman said that the board would probably keep that cutoff at MCI-Acton.
Maynard moneymaking
Maynard Crossing sprouted a few years after The Point on a former Digital Equipment Corp. property.
The site includes luxury apartments and senior living units. Chains such as Market Basket, Michael’s, Tractor Supply Co., and Planet Fitness occupy box store spaces.
MCI-Acton Advisory Board Chair Dan Gainsboro called it another “auto-centric development.” With the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail and the West Acton commuter rail stop, he said, Acton shouldn’t focus solely on cars.
Hartman said she’s worried about Maynard Crossing’s effect on downtown Maynard and said leaders should be careful around West Acton Village.
She said Maynard Crossing is “a good moneymaker” for its town, thanks to its tax revenues, and leaders “did a really good job” of engaging abutters. But she said they have “too much parking,” and those retailers probably wouldn’t have the same appeal here.
The Point | Maynard Crossing | MCI-Acton
90 acres | 58 acres | 83 acres
(54 acres developable)
28 tenants | 21 tenants | n/a
0 housing units | 180 apartments
143 senior living units | n/a
‘This ain’t the 1600s’
While state officials and local advocates call for housing, FinCom has also urged Acton to diversify its overwhelmingly residential tax base.
Possible MCI-Acton revenue is “nothing to sneeze at,” Dahlberg said, but he cautioned that it won’t solve all town problems.
He said he heard from Littleton officials who used “tax increment financing” agreements to lure developers. These deals give property tax breaks, usually for a limited time.
He said his wife is “a Market Basket groupie” who shops in Maynard. After he slipped and hurt his arm while running, he said, he visited the plaza’s urgent care clinic — and then grabbed a cup of coffee in the same development.
Of the opposition to big box stores at the prison, he said, “I don’t think anybody is thinking along those lines.
“But you’ve got to do something,” Dahlberg insisted. “This ain’t the 1600s anymore.”
