Northborough Crossing made way for mixed-use sports complex
Courtesy of Activitas Inc.
Developers of the New England Baseball Complex at the junction of routes 9 and 20 in Northborough say a range of tenants, from a small coffee shop to a large medical services provider, have expressed interest in developing retail space located at the front of the site.
Developers of the planned New England Baseball Complex under construction at the junction of routes 9 and 20 in Northborough are watching a vision come to life.
And although the impetus for the project, in the works for several years, was a desire to create a true home base for the youth baseball team known as the New England Ruffnecks, it has the makings of a successful retail destination in its own right, according to Jason Kosow, chief financial officer at New England Baseball Enterprises, the developer.
A vision for retail
“We’ve always kind of had this vision of having retail on our property,” Kosow said last week. “The baseball fields were an easy first thought as to how we approached the bigger site.”
The New England Baseball Complex, which will open this summer in time for the 2014 season, will cater to elite youth athletes. With its three baseball diamonds and a planned performance institute, Kosow said it will allow the Ruffnecks to host home games at a facility akin to those in other states the Ruffnecks travel to for games, like New Jersey and Georgia. To date, the team has been playing at various fields throughout Greater Boston.
But the complex will stand out, because those out-of-state fields don’t have adjacent retail space. Kosow likened the Northborough project to a much smaller version of Patriot Place in Foxborough, a restaurant, dining and medical destination next door to Gillette Stadium.
But being located adjacent to Northborough Crossing, which opened in 2011 and is anchored by notable tenants like Wegman’s, Kohl’s and BJ’s Wholesale Club, makes the site’s planned retail pads viable, even without the added draw of a recreation destination, according to Kosow.
Baseball foot traffic 'a bonus'
“Additional foot traffic driven by the baseball complex is almost like a bonus,” Kosow said. “Really, the surrounding area will support (the retail).”
It also paved the way for a project like the baseball complex. Andrew Collins, project manager for New England Baseball enterprises, said the land falls within the commercial overlay district the Town of Northborough approved for the construction of Northborough Crossing.
New England Baseball obtained special permits needed for the various businesses that might locate on the site. And retail space, which will occupy up to three parcels within the 30 acres, will be pad-ready when the baseball fields are complete this summer, Kosow said, streamlining the building process for prospective tenants.
As for would-be tenants, Kosow said the company has been approached by people interested in opening a 1,000-square-foot coffee shop, a 30,000-square-foot medical facility, and everything in between, though no leases have been signed.
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