Ailing plan for hospital in Hanson may get boost; Developer may salvage senior housing proposal

HANSON - The town will have a clearer picture by Tuesday night of what will happen to the former Plymouth County Hospital.

Developers Baran Partners are expected to produce a last-ditch proposal aimed at salvaging its plans to build senior housing on 23 acres of the site in Hanson.

The company defaulted on the project last week, but may have some reassuring news Tuesday, Selectman Mark Gallivan said.

"I have been led to belive they will have correspondence with us at the next meeting," he said.

Gallivan said he could not predict if the developer's new plans will satisfy the requirements of the development contract selectmen awarded Baran two years ago. "I know they would like to (move forward), but I reserve my confidence until I hear what it is they have to propose," he said.

The idea of putting senior housing on the property was launched by an advisory committee in 1998. For years after it was closed, the hospital building was vandalized and neighbors wanted the property cleaned up.

A year later, the town bought the property from the Plymouth County Commissioners for $950,000. The purchase included the hospital building, five homes and about 60 acres of land.

Now, the deal could be dead, depending on what Baran's owners say Tuesday, Gallivan said. After a number of unforeseen and costly roadblocks, Baran is considering a partnership with Keen Development of Cambridge to resurrect its plans.

Some neighbors say if the plans don't look good Tuesday, it's time for the town to part ways with Baran.

"Several of the neighbors were happy to see them default," said Walter Gustafson, a resident of High Street for 40 years.

Gustafson, who lives across the street from the hospital stone gate, said a major problem he has with the deal is the price selectmen negotiated. Valued at over $4 million, Baran was going to get about one third of the property - 23 acres in all - for what Gustafson's house is worth.

"I just had this house assessed to see what I could get for it. They told me $450,000. I can't see how they'd sell all that for so little," he said.

High Street neighbor Gale Cavicchi said she took issue with the town extending the closing deadline for three months. She said she felt it was an unwarranted concession to a private developer. "Would they sell it to me for that much and then give me all this time? If I go to buy a house and the deal falls through, it falls through," she said.

Residents who were surveyed gave selectmen the idea to build senior housing. Residents also asked that the classic, Italianate hospital building be renovated.

Baran specializes in renovating old buildings into affordable housing for the elderly.

Gallivan said the insides of the 80-year-old building are filled with hazardous waste like asbestos. Baran would absorb the cost of removing it.

The restored hospital would be named Arbor House, a center of 70 assisted-living rentals, most of which are expected to be affordable. Surrounding it will be a community of regularly priced homes called the Hanson Gardens, which would produce regular tax revenues.

"To say that you could've gotten more for something else is revisionist history,'' Gallivan said. "Sure you could get more for open market condominiums, but that's not what the town wanted. The land use survey that went out said the town wanted assisted living, and that is what we asked for in the (bid proposals)."

Economics played a role in wanting to develop the property for empty-nesters and ill seniors, since older people require less in public services like schools. But the main impetus was to boost the town's lackluster elderly housing stock, Gallivan said.

What will happen to Plymouth County Hospital if Tuesday's presentation fails to make a good impression on selectmen?

The housing authority will surely take notice. That elected board bid on the hospital project two years ago, and might take another shot if Baran officially folds. "We really haven't discussed it at length but probably the consensus among us would be to look at it again," said housing authority member Paul Taber.

This article was written by Joe Mcgee and published by The Patriot Ledger on Friday, July 9th 2004 and NOT owned by nor affiliated with opacity.us, but are recorded here solely for educational use. The photographs featured in the article are randomly selected from the Plymouth County Hospital galleries on opacity.us unless noted otherwise; they may not directly relate to the article subject matter except for the site location - any other relation is purely coincidental.