Swampscott board: Hold onto surplus sites for now

SWAMPSCOTT – The sale of the former Temple Israel property and former middle school on Greenwood Avenue should be looked at more thoroughly before either property is sold, according to the Town Building Oversight Committee.At the Board of Selectmen meeting on Tuesday evening, Town Building Oversight Committee Chairman Martin Grasso told the selectmen the committee believes neither property should be sold in a vacuum.Grasso explained the town received two responses to its most recent Request for Proposals (RFP) for the Greenwood Avenue property and both bids were less than what was hoped for. He said the proposal submitted by Stratford Capital Group, which has offices in Peabody and Virginia, offered $400,000 for the former school and it plans to invest a total of $12 million in the project, which would consist of rental housing for seniors.”These guys really know how to get it done,” Grasso said. “They did the Brown School in Peabody.”The other response for the former middle school was from GBJ Construction of East Boston. Even though GBJ Construction offered $800,000 for the property, Grasso said it does not have a proven track record with these types of projects and did not provide the level of detail Stratford Capital Group offered.Grasso said after evaluating the proposals, the committee unanimously agrees Stratford was preferable but he recommended the selectmen not sell the property immediately.He said the committee believes it would be best to wait until the town has the answers it is seeking on the former Temple Israel property so it can look at both properties in terms of future tax revenue.The former Temple Israel property also had two responses to the RFP earlier this month. Grasso said the two bidders for the former temple were GVW Inc. of East Boston and the Hawthorne Partnership. He said both responses for the former temple site were for senior living complexes, but neither included enough detail about the projects for the committee to make an informed decision. The committee is preparing a detailed set of questions for responders and is planning on scheduling a meeting with the bidders within the next six weeks.Selectman Jill Sullivan said looking at both properties in terms of long term revenue for the term as opposed to looking at each individually could be beneficial for the town in the long run. The selectmen agreed not to proceed with the sale of either property until after the town has additional information about the former Temple Israel project and how much the Greenwood Avenue property would generate in tax revenue based on the proposals that were submitted.