Walnut Hill Properties, a real estate holding company associated with Tufts, is one step closer to purchasing a nearby abandoned school building on Capen St. after outbidding several other local developers.
According to Vice President of Operations John Roberto, the administration has made tentative plans to house faculty in the 19,000 square-foot building. The building could also house graduate students among other possibilities, but neighboring residents concerned about noise have ruled out the possibility of using the space to as an undergraduate dormitory.
"We don't have sufficient graduate and faculty housing, and a lot of other institutions do," said Roberto, who worked closely with Walnut Hill to evaluate the building's usefulness.
If the house becomes a faculty residence, Tufts hopes it will entice prospective faculty members. Although the rent would not be subsidized, Roberto said that rates would probably be lower than other nearby housing. The building would be renovated and would be closer to campus than many other accommodations.
Walnut Hill, which owns numerous Tufts buildings, will finance this purchase. Bruce Ketchen, the property manager of Walnut Hill Properties and Tufts' director of real property services, declined to comment on the purchase until negotiations are complete.
In a sealed bidding process, Walnut Hill offered $801,852 for the building, $151,852 higher than Hillside Development, the next highest qualified bidder.
Walnut Hill's bid matched Medford's valuation of the building, but according to Catherine D'Orazio of the Medford Department of Planning and Development, the city was prepared to consider a bid as low as $550,000.
"We were quite happy," D'Orazio said. "We thought that the affordable housing components might drive the price down a little bit."
As part of a campaign to revitalize its school system, Medford is selling off many of its older school buildings. When the town decided to sell the building on Capen Street, a "reuse" committee made up of Medford residents and government officials decided that the building would best be used for residential purposes. After consulting local developers, the town also decided that any development should include low-income housing and preserve the exterior fa?§ade.
Though Walnut Hill's bid was remarkably high, the company's willingness to address most of the town's concerns made the offer especially attractive, according to Medford Mayor Michael McGlynn. The company's bid included 12 units, less than any other developer, and three low-income housing units, more than competing bidders had offered.
Abutting residents were concerned about the noise and the late-night activities that might accompany an undergraduate dorm, loss of street parking, and conserving a memorial plaque currently at the school. Walnut Hill agreed not to use the building for undergraduates, provide sufficient on-site parking, and maintain the memorial, said McGlynn.
"I can't believe how smoothly the process has gone," he said.
More important to the Medford, Tufts will not use its tax-free status as an educational institution to avoid paying taxes, including property taxes, to the city. According to D'Orazio, Walnut Hill Properties, which is not tax-exempt, agreed to pay the tax equivalent to Medford should the building be sold to a tax-exempt organization such as Tufts.
David Lilley, a DeWolfe realtor familiar with the local real estate market, said that Medford's requests were not surprising.
"It's not unusual for [communities] to ask for some form of affordable housing in any housing deal," he said. Of the tax requirement, he said "it's more tax dollars that they are going to be generating to spend on infrastructure and schools."
"It's a win-win for the city," he continued, "because they probably weren't collecting taxes on the building."
Walnut Hill's lawyers are still working with Medford's legal department to work out the specifics of the agreement, according to Roberto. The deal will then be presented to the seven-member Medford City Council, which will vote to accept or reject the proposal, according to McGlynn.
If the deal is approved, the building and grounds will be inspected to ensure that all parts of the agreement are still valid. Even after that point, both sides will be allowed to reconsider.
Once the sale is finalized, Walnut Hill will hire architects and designers to renovate the building's interior.
