Norwood officials considered offering a tax break to a local developer planning to build an upscale shopping mall on Route 1.
The Board of Selectmen was scheduled to review a proposal from the Economic Development Committee recommending approval of a tax increment financing agreement with developer David Spiegel. The agreement would reduce a portion of the additional property taxes Spiegel would owe if he invested in the site. Officials estimated the savings could total $569,000 over 20 years.
Norwood was able to offer the agreement because the area had been included the previous year in a state‑designated economic target area. The tax reduction required approval from both the Board of Selectmen and Town Meeting, and acceptance as a “certified project” by the Massachusetts Economic Assistance Coordinating Council.
If the local Tax Increment Financing, or TIF, plan were approved, Spiegel said he would pass the property tax savings on to future tenants. Those tenants would also qualify for a five percent state investment tax credit.
The Economic Development Committee voted 12–0 on January 6 to recommend the tax break, according to Selectman Denis Drummey, a member of the committee.
At the same meeting, the committee recommended approval of a separate TIF agreement with Campanelli Companies, which had purchased the former Polaroid campus off Route 1A the previous October. Drummey said the Braintree firm planned to invest $17.5 million at the site.
Drummey said the committee would ask selectmen to place both proposals before the March 8 Special Town Meeting.
The proposed mall would be developed at the former Home Quarters Warehouse site, which had closed several years earlier. Spiegel said he purchased the approximately 120,000‑square‑foot building and 25 surrounding acres in 2001. Several retail businesses leased space in the building.
Spiegel planned to develop a 400,000‑square‑foot high‑end retail mall. He had not decided whether the existing building would be reused or demolished. The plan also included a multi‑level parking garage, which would require a zoning change that might also come before the Special Town Meeting.
Spiegel operated three auto dealerships on Route 1 — BMW Gallery, Volkswagen Gallery, and Mazda Gallery — and held additional retail and commercial properties in Norwood and Dedham, including the Route 1 buildings housing TGI Friday’s, Kinko’s, Outback Steakhouse, Hibachi Steakhouse, and PETCO.
Spiegel said he was confident there was a market for a mall, noting that his current retail tenants were “very very busy.”
Drummey said the tax agreement made sense for the town. A shopping mall “is not in our normal mandate, which is to [attract] technology and financial services” companies, he said. “But in this case, it fills such a good niche because most people who want to shop in [a high‑end] store have to go the South Shore Plaza in Braintree or the Chestnut Mall, neither of which is close by.
“And given that we are getting minimal tax revenue out of that place now, we will have a substantial pickup of tax revenue for our commercial tax base,” Drummey added.
Selectmen Chairman William J. Plasko, also a member of the Economic Development Committee, supported the tax break because of the anticipated new tax revenue and because “it would bring in something that would be beneficial to the area.” He said he could not predict how the board might vote.
Drummey said the agreement required Spiegel to invest at least $30 million over 20 years. The tax break would apply only to the additional taxes resulting from an increase in the property’s value, which was assessed at $11.3 million.
Spiegel agreed to donate $50,900 of his savings to the town over the first 10 years to help fund an economic development officer, leaving him with a net savings of $518,000 after 20 years, according to Jeanne Babel, chairwoman of the Economic Development Committee.
Babel said the town would realize $13,871,000 in net additional tax revenue from the site over 20 years if the development proceeded with the TIF agreement.
“I think it’s an awesome deal for the town,” she said. “We certainly have a lot we can use those funds for. It’s going to provide the town with additional jobs. And it’s going to fill a need for a lot of people in town to have a nice place to shop.”
Source: The Boston Globe
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