Hopkinton-based EMC Corp., whose Southborough property is shown above, is seeking approval for a 2.2 million square-foot campus that would straddle the Southborough-Westborough border.
Growing pains.
EMC Corp., a global information technology provider, wants to build a 2.2 million-square-foot campus on 445 acres on the Southborough/Westborough border. But more than two years after the project was proposed, the development is stalled.
Last week, the Southborough Planning Board delayed a vote on engineering waivers sought by the Hopkinton-based company. The decision was the latest setback in a project that promises 7,000 jobs. But with the jobs comes traffic, and the MetroWest communities are being cautious.
It’s not the first time Southborough has battled EMC. In 2006, the board rejected plans for the preliminary subdivision, saying the town needed more information on how the project would manage 15,000 car trips to and from the site, which is located at Route 9 and Interstate 495.
“Both towns rezoned property in 2001 to accommodate the project,” said Vera L. Kolias, Southborough’s planner. “But the scale of this development is huge. This project will contribute 15,000 cars daily, and that’s significant. Residents are experiencing lots of delays along Route 9 and more traffic than they are used to.”
In the last decade, construction along that stretch of Route 9 has included car dealerships, office buildings, a fast-food restaurant and an auto service facility.
“At the end of the day, the expansion of a world-class company in our backyard is fantastic and an economic boon for the town, but you still have to be able to get to and from your house,” said Kolias. “We don’t believe the roadway plan deals with the traffic.”
Last week’s vote comes on the heels of a lawsuit that EMC filed against Southborough in Massachusetts Land Court. The company alleged that the board failed to file a timely extension for the project’s subdivision plan and therefore the proposal automatically should have been approved. In February, Judge Harry M. Grossman sent the parties back to continue the public hearing process.
If approved, the sprawling complex would include 12 lots that would contain eight research-and-development and office buildings. The 3-story facilities would be located off Route 9 in a wooded, industrial section of the communities. In Southborough, EMC is seeking to extend Crystal Pond Road 3,000 feet to Flanders Road in Westborough.
EMC also faces major challenges in neighboring Westborough. While that community’s Planning Board approved the preliminary plan, the Conservation Commission rejected the company’s proposed wetlands crossing at the site. EMC lost its appeal to the state Department of Environmental Protection’s regional office in Worcester and has made a second appeal to the agency’s Boston office. A decision is expected in September.
‘Things Turned Around’
Lisa Ferdenzi, EMC’s director of real estate and planning, said the company bought the property in 2001. The sale included several buildings that housed Data General, one of the first minicomputer firms from the late 1960s that later was acquired by EMC.
“At the time, the dot-coms were booming, EMC was growing at 25-30 percent annually and we were buying up land to accommodate our expansion,” she said. “Unfortunately, things turned around. When the market went south, we pulled back and decided to take some time to regroup. We’re not about to put a shovel in the ground tomorrow.”
Ferdenzi said she understands the reluctance of the communities to fast-track the project.
“Both towns are unsure about the development because they’ve never permitted a site so large,” she noted. “We’re giving them the benefit of the doubt. They have to dot the I’s and cross the T’s, so we’re trying to work closely to make sure that we do everything the way we’re supposed to be doing it. We are not trying to be the 1,000-pound gorilla. We are trying to do what’s best for the towns while preserving some of the beauty of the site.”
Aside from traffic, perhaps the most controversial aspect of the project is a proposed flyover, an overpass that would connect Route 9 and I-495 to the campus.
Barry Lorion, district operations engineer for the Massachusetts Highway Department, said a traditional signal upgrade or the addition of a lane or two on Route 9 will not handle the new EMC traffic. As a result, the agency has proposed a flyover, which could cost taxpayers as much as $20 million.
“This EMC project will generate lots of jobs for Massachusetts,” he said. “But we understand that a flyover has aesthetic and private-property impacts, so we are not locked into it. When they are closer to full build-out, perhaps there will be other opportunities.”
