Construction may begin on the Nobscot Plaza project the first week of April, developer Peter Spellios told a City Council subcommittee tonight.
The project has a building permit in hand and environmental remediation work such as asbestos removal has been done, he reported.
“What people will see very quickly, you’ll start seeing the foundations and we’ll start seeing notable improvements,” Spellios said at tonight’s meeting of the Framingham City Council Subcommittee on Planning and Development. Construction was originally expected to start last fall.
Before that work begins, there will be a meeting with neighbors and others interested in the project to meet the on-site construction manager. Councilor Christine Long said the Police Chief should also be present to talk about the neighborhood’s likely number-one concern during construction: traffic.
Spellios, from Transom Real Estate, said there’s been a “broad swath of interest” in the project’s 10,000 square feet of retail space “from food and beverage tenants to physical therapy to medical office. . . We haven’t started actively marketing yet, but there has been public interest, which we find to be encouraging.”
There will also be 23 units of affordable workforce housing.
In response to questioning, Spellios said there will be a groundbreaking ceremony around when formal work begins but “we don’t have the details yet. We really look to you all. This is a community event. We’re the newcomers.” The project is located at the corner of Water Street and Edgell Road, next to the McAuliffe Library.
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