State Hospital's Property Tax Potential: About $1.3M Per Year

Buying 95 acres of the Westborough State Hospital site and redeveloping it into “at least 1 million square feet of commercial, industrial and office space” would generate just under $1.3 million in annual property taxes for Westborough, Town Manager Jim Malloy said Monday night.

On the other hand, building about 500 single and multi-family homes there would cost Westborough “just under $6.5 million” per year in total annual costs associated with a new school and replacing the six soccer fields on the site, Malloy said.

Malloy spoke during the first of three public meetings on Westborough’s potential purchase of the 95 acres from the state Division of Capital Asset Management.

The town manager said town officials are working toward presenting the deal to voters at the October town meeting.

For now, the board of selectmen's Ad Hoc Westborough State Hospital Acquisition Committee is “in the process of completing negotiations with the state, and we’ve been asked not to divulge the exact details of the purchase,” Malloy said in the Westborough High School auditorium.

Town and state officials anticipate announcing in mid-July the signing of a purchase-and-sale agreement that’s contingent on the town meeting vote, Malloy said. The deal would be discussed with voters at the second and third public meetings, in August and September.

The state’s Westborough State Hospital Reuse Commission issued a report in 2011 that the "highest and best use” to maximize the state’s return on the state hospital, which closed in 2010, would be about 500 single and multi-family homes, Malloy said.

Residents attending a public meeting in the Westborough High School auditorium in 2011 strongly indicated they wanted Westborough to have a say in the site’s reuse, he said.

Selectmen then created an ad hoc committee to discuss why Westborough would want to buy the property, he said.

The reasons included the “very likely” need for a new school, based on the additional students from the new homes; the need to find space for the six soccer fields currently occupying about 12 acres of the state hospital property; and “we also did a very conservative estimate of what is the commercial redevelopment potential of this property,” Malloy said.

Two developers have expressed interest in the site, he said: DiasporaCapital CEO Anton Nel, whose concept has a film industry component; and a medical device firm.

“I think both of them are interested in buying the whole parcel,” Malloy said.

Westborough officials have agreed to “purchase the property for a negotiated amount that we have come to an agreement on” and with an “unrestricted” purpose “so that we can redevelop it as we see fit,” Malloy said.

Under the deal, the town could sell the land, and share the net proceeds with the state based on how soon Westborough sells the site, the degree that permitting is expedited, and the use of environmentally friendly “green” technology, he said.

Town officials also have negotiated “attractive financing” with the state, he said.

“Purchasing the property should, in the long run and short run, save the taxpayers money,” he said.

Town Planner Jim Robbins said that the state hospital includes just over 100 acres in Westborough. In addition, less than 25 acres are in Northborough, he said.

Malloy said Northborough is “not even in negotiations” for the land in its town.

Malloy said Westborough’s deal would not include Allen Hall, which the state Division of Youth Services will continue using as a boys detention facility.

Malloy said he will find out what would happen if Westborough voters say no in October.

“The real point here is we’re trying to prevent residential development on the property,” he said.

The purchase would not require voters going to the ballot, as Westborough is “about $5 million under our Proposition 2 ½ levy limit,” he said.

One man said that “I think it would be a terrible mistake for the town to buy this property unless it was absolutely certain” it was in “proper condition,” and not contaminated.

He suggested having a professional assessment done.

Malloy said an assessment has shown that “the property is clean as far as the exterior goes.”

That said, the deal would allow for another assessment if voters in October want one, he said.

One woman asked about potential town uses at the site, noting that “the cultural council desperately needs a place where they can hold Arts in Common.”

One woman asked about having an over-55 development on the site.

“The last over-55 development that we have here in town, they’ve come back a couple of times seeking to have that over-55 limitation struck so they can sell it to anybody, because they haven’t been able to market the properties,” Malloy said.

Malloy said Monday night’s slide show will be posted on the town’s website.