While the area currently primarily consists of office buildings, a new 140,000 square foot Wegman's will be opening along with plans for a host of non-chain restaurants along 3rd avenue. Plans also call for a bowling alley and 300 residential apartments. The project is designed to emulate a downtown area, with wide sidewalks and a main street. More details on this project can be found here.
3rd Avenue in Burlington. Click to View Larger Map
Comments:
This is a very interesting redevelopment project that seems to make sense from a land perspective. The downtown areas in most Massachusetts towns are deemed historic and thus are restricted from significant redevelopment. There is very little open land left for new malls or shopping centers while there is a glut of office space in older suburban style office parks. The challenge will be to gain a critical mass of restaurants and retail to make this a destination.
Do you think this is a good idea?