Former Hospital Site Rezoned and Ready for Development

FOXBOROUGH-Town Meeting has voted to approve the rezoning of the former Foxborough State Hospital site from residential to mixed use. The move is a crucial part of the state’s longstanding effort to redevelop the 150-acre parcel.

The state has sold 55 acres of the property to the town for public use. But the town wants to see a mix of residential, office and retail use on the remaining 95 acres and according to the legislation authorizing the sale of this property, the state must conform to the town’s re-use plan.

Marc Resnick, Foxborough town planner, tells GlobeSt.com that the plan for the site involves 203 residential units with 20% of those designated as affordable housing. A four- to five-acre parcel on the property will be used for office space while three acres will be used for retail space. Because of sewer restrictions, Resnick notes that office space will be limited to 50,000 sf.

Resnick points out that efforts to redevelop this site began as early as the 1970s but this latest reuse plan was passed in 1994. Legislation authorizing the sale of the land passed in 1996 and the intervening years were spent cleaning up the site and preparing it for development. With this latest approval, the state can put out a request for proposals from developers.