It’s been more than a year since McLean Development, LLC proposed an idea for Heritage Square to Town of Sweden officials, and six months since they gained unanimous approval to rezone 130 acres of land on Redman Road, but Michael McLean, partner, said the project is moving along on schedule. “We’re getting ready for the first phase of site approval from the planning board,” he said. “We’ve been evaluating the market and economic conditions to ensure the success of the first phase before we move forward.” McLean said that the Heritage Square project is unique to the area. “When we look at a project, we’re looking for more than just real estate development - we are looking to enhance economic development in small communities. We believe we can help further development and foster small business growth in the area.” Heritage Square will be a mix of single family homes, town homes and patio homes for seniors age 55 and older. The rezoning was necessary because of the mix of homes proposed for the project. When the project is complete, it will be home to 1,100 units - 800 for those age 55 and above and 300 units that are non-age restricted. “We were looking to construct a community that was a mix of ages and offered first-time home buyers a place to settle down. Also the energy that comes from that mix will create a community ‘Main Street’ atmosphere.” At the October meeting, when the rezoning was approved, Town Councilman Rob Carges pointed out that the town had only issued five new building permits within the past year. “When Wegman’s first wanted to move into the town, there was public outcry,” he said. “We can’t remain stagnant and not offer opportunities to those who want to come in and develop within our town. If we want to live and stay here and to continue to provide the services taxpayers have become accustomed to, we have to look for controlled development. It’s been close to 32 years since something this substantial has come to the town,” he had said at that meeting. The Heritage Square project will take place over a span of 30 years and will include upgrades to the town park area, which it borders. A lot of background work went into the decision for McLean to locate its project in the Brockport/Sweden area because it is home to the college and facilities like the senior center and recreation center. Because the project has not come before the planning board for approvals, there are no tenants lined up for the professional office spaces that are planned in the first phase of the project, he said. “Our original idea was to offer retail space but there is so much quality retail in the town and village that we decided to stick to professional office space tenants.” There were concerns expressed by residents that Heritage Square would play home to “big box” stores and McLean said that was not a possibility. “The largest amount of square footage we will offer any single tenant is 20,000. The town board limited the size that any one tenant could have and that, I hope, alleviates the concerns residents had.” McLean said the developers hope to have the first resident moved in by summer of 2008. “That hinges on the site plan approval process,” he said, adding that the developers addressed town officials’ concerns on traffic patterns. When Heritage Square is complete, McLean said that 25 acres of the site will remain dedicated to woodland and the creek that is part of the 130 acre plot. “We would like to create a 365 greenbelt path to connect the new development to the college campus and the village. It would be open for walkers, bikers, cross country skiers.” Town of Sweden officials said that the Heritage Square project is not scheduled as an agenda item for the planning board yet. April 8, 2007 |
