North Reading gains $3.4M from Berry Center sale
BOSTON - A new law allows North Reading to receive close to 20 percent of the state's $18 million sale of the former J. T. Berry Rehabilitation Center.
House Minority Leader Bradley Jones, R-North Reading, said the money will help his town cope with the impact of the development of the 87-acre site into housing, offices and commercial space.
"This is a home run for North Reading," Jones said.
Gov. Mitt Romney signed the bill last week, which requires the state to share the cash proceeds from the pending sale of the state-owned property to Gutierrez Corp. The center, formerly a home for mentally handicapped adults, was closed in the early 1990s.
North Reading will receive about $3.4 million. Since some of the property is in neighboring Wilmington, it receives around $200,000. The distribution is based on the amount of land the center occupies in each town.
Gutierrez and co-developer Lincoln Properties are proposing a 360-unit apartment complex along with 40 condominiums.
At a later date, Gutierrez plans on developing 600,000 square feet of commercial office space on the balance of the property.
Jones said a broader law affecting state land sales, which failed to pass this legislative session but remains under discussion at the Statehouse, could give North Reading and Wilmington additional benefits.
Jones said he pushed for this provision in the larger development law so North Reading and Wilmington wouldn't miss out on benefiting from the sale of the land.
"While we disagree over some parts of that bill getting done, we all seem to agree in this idea that our towns should be entitled to some part of the sales' proceeds," Jones said. "What I didn't want to happen was that, while we are waiting to have that broader bill done, this property is sold and North Reading is not entitled to that."
To balance the impact of the additional housing on city services, the developers and the state will provide financial support for a wastewater treatment plant at the site and to offset any increase in student population resulting from the development.
The plan has another benefit. With 25 percent of the residential space dedicated to affordable housing, the new development fulfills state requirements for low-cost housing.
Jones said the towns are now in the process of deciding how to spend the money. "It's like you won the Lottery: Don't spend it all at once," he said.
Dave Hanlon, North Reading's public works director, said the city doesn't have plans for spending the money yet but said the additional money will go a long way to compensate for the additional city services needed by the new development.
"It's obviously great news for the city," he said.