The center of the development includes a public "Greenway" similar to the one designed for Bedford Marketplace. You can click on any image for a more detailed view.
The development was built by Criterion Development Partners, which has built a similar type development in Andover and is currently involved in the much larger mixed use project - Westwood Station.
The retail space is located just off Middlesex Turnpike.
I recently spoke with Todd Alexander, a Vice President at Colliers, Meredith & Grew which is the company responsible for leasing out the retail space. According to Todd, they are most interested in finding businesses that will be catering to the residents of the development as well as the businesses in the nearby office parks. Todd also mentioned that unlike a lot of other retail space, this is "tenant ready" in that in most cases no additional work is needed for the business to open. In addition, two of the end units were designed with restaurants in mind and feature a cement patio that could be used for outdoor dining.
The new spaces feature 10 foot ceilings and is ready for tenants.
A patio for outdoor dining is available for a restaurant or coffee shop.
As far as what type of businesses, according to the property manager, residents are most interested in seeing a restaurant/coffee shop, a dry cleaner and a convenience store.
Bike Racks are located at both sides of the development.
Along with the 164 apartments at Heritage at Bedford Springs across the street, this adds up to over 350 new apartments with very few stores in the area. The Goddard School recently opened nearby and the Home Plate restaurant will be relocating from Billerica to 54 Middlesex Turnpike which is only a few blocks away. In addition, work will soon begin on Middlesex Turnpike to make it 2 lanes in each direction and add a much needed sidewalk. Although it may take awhile with the down economy, I think this bodes well for new retail space in this area. I think this area of town will continue to grow. It will be interesting to see if this "new area" (which I would consider Middlesex Turnpike as well as Crosby Drive) gets branded with a new name like East Bedford, a high tech sounding name to represent all the technology companies or something that incorporates the 3 towns (Bedford, Billerica and Burlington) that intersect. A new name might be helpful in attracting new businesses.
Middlesex Turnpike will soon be extended to 2 lanes in each direction.
The development features a paved walking trail that will be connected to a sidewalk on Middlesex Turnpike as part of a pedestrian path once the road widening has been completed.
In addition to the 6 residential buildings, construction is planned to soon start on a 3 story 5,000 square foot office building with first floor retail space. The new building will have a roadway and sidewalk connected to Plank Street.