By June Valliere
june.valliere@waylandpost.org
Wayland residents are still looking for a town hub where they can congregate. They had looked to Town Center to meet those needs, but between the original concept plans never materializing and the composition of the businesses leasing space, it never happened. Town officials are hoping that the new Council on Aging/Community Center will provide a gathering space and help the foot traffic in Town Center. However, many residents and merchants feel the COA opening is not the total solution.
The Town’s Early Plans
The original concept plans included a play area, a seasonal ice-skating rink and a peace garden in the town green area and showed connecting trails from the green to the conservation area. The town, which now owns the green, has no plans to develop the amphitheater area, according to Select Board Chair Carol Martin. Town Planner Robert Hummel said that he was unaware of any plans to build a gazebo or a stage and that there was no water and electricity on the central town green. Although the Planning Board approved a work order on May 13 to extend electricity to a green space, it is limited to the area near the COA building, not the central amphitheater area.
Recreation Director Katherine Brenna said she was unaware of any plans to build a new playground on the green. However, if the new Capital Group decided to create a playground in the space, she would support it. “I am personally an advocate for free and accessible community spaces and am happy to support however appropriate,” she said.
Residents’ Perspectives
Residents who attended the Wayland Spirit Community Workshop in April 28 voted that the lack of community spaces where all generations can go was the number one problem that Wayland should address. The workshop, run by the Department of Justice, was to address residents’ concerns about the town and was attended by about 237 people. Although their concerns were not limited to Town Center, they expressed disappointment that it did not attract residents to that space or lend itself to people meandering about shopping, eating ice cream and sitting in casual cafes.
The One Spirit Subgroup focused on the central community gathering space. The findings noted that there are a range of potential spaces but there are obstacles to accessing these spaces. The town green in this complex has limited programming or use. The report also said that although the new COA building may help revitalize this area and improve traffic in Town Center, it is unclear how much, or what costs might be associated with using the space for other groups in town.
Other residents also expressed similar concerns about Town Center. Barbara Hoffman, who has owned a condo in town center for 13 years and was a long-time town homeowner before that, articulated what other original owners are feeling. “It’s a good place for restaurants but not much else,” she said, but the departure of Panera, Orange Leaf and Subway has left empty spaces.
With no places to linger and stroll around in shops, Hoffman said was disappointed that the ice-skating rink and the playground were not built and so she could not entertain her grandchildren in those areas. She felt that Sudbury was doing a better job with mixed-use development.
A couple of residents living in the Cochituate shopping area said that they did not visit the Town Center for various reasons — not having a unique anchor grocery store; lack of town coordination of activities; the need for more trees, flowers, lighting and benches; no paved bike path leading to Town Center; lack of an outdoor attraction; no foot traffic on Andrew Avenue; and a flawed design. Most felt that the COA opening could help, but there may be limitations. One resident said that the COA needs to be open during the weekend when people are not working or at school.
Other residents said that another supermarket might be a better anchor store and that they missed Whole Foods. “I like Stop & Shop but every town has a store like them, people would have traveled to Whole Foods from other towns,” said MaryAnn Borkowski. She recommended Andrew Avenue be used as a main street (“it’s not hard to close off”) for parades, holiday events and maybe an outdoor café.
Others thought resurrecting the plans for a seasonal ice-skating rink would be a good idea as it would attract kids and their families. Borkowski suggested creating a Wayland Green Cultural Committee like Natick which runs activities on their Town Green. Steve Garone, a frequent Wayland Rail Trail user, said, “It’s wonderful that the Rail Trail will be extended. However, those of us with ‘skinny tires’ are wary of the unpaved section alongside the Town Center.” Hummel said the town has received a grant to pave the rest of the rail trail but did not disclose when that would be.
Merchant Describe Issues
The retailers interviewed expressed similar complaints as well as additional problems: the limited foot traffic on Andrew Avenue, the failure to attract more business, high rents, traffic patterns, lack of visibility from Route 20 and inadequate signage. Three store owners said that they were not meeting their business quotas. Mauricio Umana, owner of Earthwise Pet Store, said his business is 20% below other Earthwise franchises.
“If we didn’t have our online business, we would not be doing well,” said Pam Griffin, owner of Chocolate Therapy. Jeff Rogers, owner of Ace Hardware who owns two other locations, said his Wayland location has never hit their first-year projected business plan in the 10 years that they’ve been in Town Center.
Umana said there should be larger signs at the entrance listing the businesses. According to him, the signs in Wayland Town Center are much smaller than other comparable centers. Griffin said that other retailers look at space in the center but decide not to rent when they see only a few retail shops. Both Rogers and Umana felt that, besides the restaurants, the owner, Zurich Asset Management Group, is targeting health doctors’ offices and other affiliated health and wellness type businesses to fill up large spaces. Rogers said those types of businesses are a destination, with less opportunity to stroll to other stores.
All three merchants felt that COA would not be a silver bullet. The developer told Rogers that traffic would detour through Andrew Avenue from the busy Routes 20 and 27, but it has not. Customers are unaware that there is parking behind his store or that there is parking behind the other side of Andrew Avenue. He said that he asked for parking signage.
All three proprietors said that the owner ignored their requests for better signage. Griffin said that many people did not know where she was located or that she sold ice cream, and there were no benches nearby for people to linger with their ice cream. Becky Stanizzi, chair of the Economic Development Committee, said the town received a $100,000 grant for outdoor furniture. Still, they were trying to negotiate with the Town Center’s owner to put it on their space and maintain it.
Stop & Shop’s representative Stephanie Cunha did not answer questions regarding the Wayland location. However, passing by the store several times, their parking lot is not full. Some residents said that they did not shop there because of poor produce and that the produce looks fresh at the Natick location on Route 27. Wayland residents were spotted shopping in Whole Foods in Sudbury and Roche Brothers in Wellesley. These larger stores have florists, large prepared food sections, and large specialty and organic food sections.
Leasing Agent’s Responses
According to Zurich’s leasing agent, Chris McMahon of Summit Realty Partners, Zurich has never been able to fill all of the space since they first purchased the center. He attributed the low foot traffic to no one working in Wayland and to a small population. He admitted that Panera, Subway and Great Cuts did not make it in that location. However, he denied they were targeting only health and fitness types of businesses.
McMahon predicted that Boston United Volleyball Club would bring in more traffic. Scott Grandpre, owner of the volleyball club, said some of the players’ parents were happy about their new location. The mothers planned to shop at Stop & Shop and the fathers were talking about going to Golf X while waiting for their children.
Chris Reynolds from Summit Realty said that Arts Wayland signed a lease for space in Town Center on May 28. The space will be used as a gallery and as a staging area for events.
Zurich’s representative would only agree to respond to questions emailed to their leasing agent. The following answer was received in response to questions: “Coming out of Covid, we have found that the shopping center has started to hit its stride from a leasing perspective. We achieved 90%+ occupancy for the first time in 2022 and have since seen a large increase in leasing traffic at the center. Some recent success stories include the expansion of ADA Vet, Joint Ventures Physical Therapy and Wayland Personal Physicians; new leases with Earthwise Pet, Chocolate Therapy, and New England Eye; the conversion and relocation of Life Tech from a licensing agreement to a full-time lease; and most notably, the recent signing of Boston UVC to backfill the former Boston Sports Club space.
“In addition, we are working with Takara on an expansion that would more than double their size in the center,” the Zurich representative said. “Beyond the recent leasing success, we have developed a really strong working relationship with the town, including Arts Wayland and members of the Select Board and Economic Development, as we continue to find ways to collaborate on events such as the Holiday Stroll, Touch a Truck, and Music Fest. Going forward, the opening of the COA/CC as well as the town’s continued efforts to reimagine the Route 20 corridor give us additional optimism that this momentum will continue.”
Residents are still searching for a hub. Merchants are unhappy. The Town Center is for sale. What’s next?
