State hospital site now home to luxury housing
Robert Preer
The Boston Globe
LEXINGTON - The first tenants are settling in at Avalon at Lexington Hills, a 387-unit luxury apartment complex still under construction on a corner of the former Metropolitan State Hospital grounds in Lexington.
The rest of the nearly 500-acre property, which straddles the boundaries of Belmont, Lexington, and Waltham, remains largely as it has for decades - unspoiled woodlands, fields, and marshes, crisscrossed by rustic trails. The state Department of Conservation and Recreation oversees most of the property.
Fifteen years after the institution for mental patients closed, a much-debated reuse plan for the massive property is finally being implemented.
"I believe we are all pleased," Jeanne K. Krieger, chairwoman of the Lexington Board of Selectmen, said recently. "I've been walking through the site lately, and I am really impressed by the beauty of the land that was preserved in the three communities."
State Representative Thomas M. Stanley of Waltham, who also represents part of Lexington, said, "It was a long and arduous process, but in the end I think it was successful."
The deliberations over the fate of the parcel, located in a highly desirable suburban location, lasted nearly two decades. The three communities wrangled with one another and the state over issues of traffic, revenue, and demands on municipal services.
"When we first started this process, there was a lot of contention," said Peter Norstrand, deputy commissioner of the state Division of Capital Asset Management, the agency charged with disposing of state property. "I think we reached a great compromise."
National developer AvalonBay Communities paid the state $10.7 million for the 23-acre housing site in Lexington, one of the richest land deals ever for state government.
The fate of 50 acres, which the state transferred to Waltham, is still undetermined. The city has been exploring building a golf course on the site.
Waltham officials recently advertised for proposals for development of a golf course but received no bids. Mayor Jeannette A. McCarthy said she is reviewing the matter and will decide whether to pursue the golf course idea or leave the land as it is.
Opened in 1930 to house a growing number of individuals considered mentally ill in metropolitan Boston, Metropolitan State Hospital was set atop a hill between Trapelo Road and Concord Avenue. The large stretch of open land around it was thought to be an ideal setting for treatment of those with mental disorders.
The hospital closed in 1992, part of a broader deinstitutionalization movement that saw the shuttering of most state mental hospitals in Massachusetts and placement of patients in smaller group settings.
AvalonBay is attempting to preserve the history and features of the site by reusing some of the old buildings and situating new ones in the same layout as the original institution, according to Michael J. Roberts, vice president of development for AvalonBay Communities.
One-quarter of the apartments are set aside as affordable housing for people with low or moderate income. Ten percent of the units are reserved for clients of the state Department of Mental Health, which ran the former hospital.
The development has one-, two-, and three-bedroom units, as well as a mix of town houses and apartment-style units.
"It's a unique development," said Roberts. "You have 23 acres on top of a hill in Lexington, surrounded by 300 acres of open land. There are spectacular views from the upper stories."
Rents range from $1,500 to $2,700 a month for the market-rate apartments and $1,000 to $1,500 for the affordable units, according to Roberts.
As of early this week, 86 of the apartments have been completed and many of them occupied; 104 units have been leased. Completion of the entire project is slated for next summer.
The state built a parkway with a bike path across the property, from the housing site to Trapelo Road.
Although the property is still widely referred to as Metropolitan State, the state has renamed the conservation land the North Beaver Brook Reservation. The park abuts the 59-acre Beaver Brook Reservation in Belmont and Waltham.
The former state hospital property is used now mostly by hikers, dog walkers, and bird watchers.
"It's not heavily used," said Roger Wrubel, director of the Massachusetts Audubon Society's Habitat Education Center and Wildlife Sanctuary in Belmont. "It feels a little wild and unprotected. It's easy to get lost."
Wendy Fox, spokeswoman for the Department of Conservation and Recreation, said the grounds have "a lot of ecological diversity. It's a breeding ground for great horned owls."
Lexington is in line to get a number of benefits from the development. With the proceeds from the land sale, the state established a $750,000 fund to offset school budget hikes if more than 110 students from the development attend Lexington schools.
A theater in an old hospital building is being renovated and will be made available for town use, and there will be a space for a cable television studio, according to Roberts.
The new affordable apartments in the development will mean Lexington will have more than 10 percent affordable-housing stock in the community. Reaching this threshold means the state cannot override town zoning for new affordable housing under Chapter 40B, the state's so-called antisnob zoning law.
"We are still committed to promoting affordable housing, but this means we can have affordable housing on our own terms," said Krieger.
The rest of the nearly 500-acre property, which straddles the boundaries of Belmont, Lexington, and Waltham, remains largely as it has for decades - unspoiled woodlands, fields, and marshes, crisscrossed by rustic trails. The state Department of Conservation and Recreation oversees most of the property.
Fifteen years after the institution for mental patients closed, a much-debated reuse plan for the massive property is finally being implemented.
"I believe we are all pleased," Jeanne K. Krieger, chairwoman of the Lexington Board of Selectmen, said recently. "I've been walking through the site lately, and I am really impressed by the beauty of the land that was preserved in the three communities."
State Representative Thomas M. Stanley of Waltham, who also represents part of Lexington, said, "It was a long and arduous process, but in the end I think it was successful."
The deliberations over the fate of the parcel, located in a highly desirable suburban location, lasted nearly two decades. The three communities wrangled with one another and the state over issues of traffic, revenue, and demands on municipal services.
"When we first started this process, there was a lot of contention," said Peter Norstrand, deputy commissioner of the state Division of Capital Asset Management, the agency charged with disposing of state property. "I think we reached a great compromise."
National developer AvalonBay Communities paid the state $10.7 million for the 23-acre housing site in Lexington, one of the richest land deals ever for state government.
The fate of 50 acres, which the state transferred to Waltham, is still undetermined. The city has been exploring building a golf course on the site.
Waltham officials recently advertised for proposals for development of a golf course but received no bids. Mayor Jeannette A. McCarthy said she is reviewing the matter and will decide whether to pursue the golf course idea or leave the land as it is.
Opened in 1930 to house a growing number of individuals considered mentally ill in metropolitan Boston, Metropolitan State Hospital was set atop a hill between Trapelo Road and Concord Avenue. The large stretch of open land around it was thought to be an ideal setting for treatment of those with mental disorders.
The hospital closed in 1992, part of a broader deinstitutionalization movement that saw the shuttering of most state mental hospitals in Massachusetts and placement of patients in smaller group settings.
AvalonBay is attempting to preserve the history and features of the site by reusing some of the old buildings and situating new ones in the same layout as the original institution, according to Michael J. Roberts, vice president of development for AvalonBay Communities.
One-quarter of the apartments are set aside as affordable housing for people with low or moderate income. Ten percent of the units are reserved for clients of the state Department of Mental Health, which ran the former hospital.
The development has one-, two-, and three-bedroom units, as well as a mix of town houses and apartment-style units.
"It's a unique development," said Roberts. "You have 23 acres on top of a hill in Lexington, surrounded by 300 acres of open land. There are spectacular views from the upper stories."
Rents range from $1,500 to $2,700 a month for the market-rate apartments and $1,000 to $1,500 for the affordable units, according to Roberts.
As of early this week, 86 of the apartments have been completed and many of them occupied; 104 units have been leased. Completion of the entire project is slated for next summer.
The state built a parkway with a bike path across the property, from the housing site to Trapelo Road.
Although the property is still widely referred to as Metropolitan State, the state has renamed the conservation land the North Beaver Brook Reservation. The park abuts the 59-acre Beaver Brook Reservation in Belmont and Waltham.
The former state hospital property is used now mostly by hikers, dog walkers, and bird watchers.
"It's not heavily used," said Roger Wrubel, director of the Massachusetts Audubon Society's Habitat Education Center and Wildlife Sanctuary in Belmont. "It feels a little wild and unprotected. It's easy to get lost."
Wendy Fox, spokeswoman for the Department of Conservation and Recreation, said the grounds have "a lot of ecological diversity. It's a breeding ground for great horned owls."
Lexington is in line to get a number of benefits from the development. With the proceeds from the land sale, the state established a $750,000 fund to offset school budget hikes if more than 110 students from the development attend Lexington schools.
A theater in an old hospital building is being renovated and will be made available for town use, and there will be a space for a cable television studio, according to Roberts.
The new affordable apartments in the development will mean Lexington will have more than 10 percent affordable-housing stock in the community. Reaching this threshold means the state cannot override town zoning for new affordable housing under Chapter 40B, the state's so-called antisnob zoning law.
"We are still committed to promoting affordable housing, but this means we can have affordable housing on our own terms," said Krieger.
This article was
written by Robert Preer
and published by The Boston Globe
on Thursday, October 18