Buyer For Marist Site Would Bring Jobs, Revenue
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Walden Behavioral Care LLC of Waltham has signed a purchase-and-sale agreement with the Marist Fathers of Boston to purchase the former Marist Retreat Center on Pleasant Street in Framingham. If a special permit is granted, Walden will move its headquarters to the site.
The former Marist Retreat Center, the Framingham seminary made vacant after the Marist Fathers of Boston moved out in 2011, has found an interested buyer.
Assessed at $4.8 million, the 37.5-acre Marist Retreat Center property, located at 518 Pleasant St., caught the eye of Walden Behavioral Care LLC. The Waltham-based treatment center for people with eating disorders will likely use the site as its corporate headquarters, and to house most of its treatment facilities, according to the company.
Sale Pending During Permitting
If the deal goes through, Walden will bring 136 jobs to Framingham, which includes at least 25 new positions, and maybe as many as 50, according to CEO Stuart Koman.
Walden has filed for a special permit from the Framingham Zoning Board of Appeals, as the Marist site is located in a single-family, residential zone. Walden is waiting for approval in order to move forward with its plans, but Koman likes the company's chances.
"We wouldn't have gotten this far if we hadn't been given positive indication from the town," he said. "It's been quite an investment on our part."
And the investment will continue should the sale go through. Walden will spend more than $20 million between purchasing the property, renovating the building, and constructing new buildings on site, Koman said.
The broker for the property, Steve Woodworth of Wyman Street Advisors of Waltham, declined to reveal the asking price for the property, but said it was between $5 million and $10 million.
A Healing Locale
Koman said Walden, which was founded 10 years ago in Waltham, likes the Marist site for its functional building and rolling landscape. A former seminary, it lends itself well to housing the company's 80-bed, inpatient treatment center, according to Koman, and the tranquil environment is conducive to therapy.
"I really think it is somewhat healing in itself, just to be there," Koman said.
Walden plans to meet with neighbors this evening, the beginning of the public vetting process; Koman said some neighbors are concerned about the potential for increased traffic in the neighborhood.
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