Hotel At CanalSide Would Have Less Impact On Town

By DIANA T. BARTH
A hotel would provide more revenue and call for fewer municipal services than the Chapter 40B housing development that is proposed for the CanalSide Commons development, according to a draft of a fiscal impact study prepared for selectmen by Larry Koff Associates of Brookline. The first public look at the results of that long-awaited study is on the selectmen’s agenda for Tuesday.
The analysis of the development, proposed for land abutting both the Bourne rotary and Sandwich Road, compares the effect on town coffers of the more than 400 residential units proposed for the CanalSide property as opposed to an alternative scenario: a hotel or other large-scale commercial development.
Selectmen commissioned the study not long after CanalSide developer Lenord G. Cubellis brought developer Sam Park of Sam Park & Company, Boston, before them in August of 2007.
Selectmen had invited Mr. Cubellis to speak with them about alternative uses for the CanalSide site as Town Meeting voters had passed a resolution in October of 2006 asking that the town explore buying all or a portion of the property.
Mr. Cubellis told selectmen that he had, in turn, invited Mr. Park to the meeting because some selectmen had expressed interest in using the parcel for a hotel or some other revenue-generating project.
Selectmen then discussed with both men the possibility of replacing the proposed affordable housing development with, for example, a 400-suite destination hotel and convention center.
Mr. Park told selectmen that the site carries some high infrastructure costs, but he thought that, with the right mix, a hotel might be economically feasible. Selectmen, however, had no information as to the impact of such a development on the town.
According to a draft of the study, the Chapter 40B housing and retail complex scenario could generate modest net revenue or a deficit. Which one would depend on both the number of children living at the development, and thus using the Bourne schools, and the success of the proposed retail complex.
The consultants concluded in their draft that the hotel and retail complex scenario would generate comparatively more net revenue.
The hotel alternative analysis was based on 250 units of top-of-shop apartments and 100 two- to three-bedroom “vacation units,” along with a 480,000-square-foot hotel and 130,000 square feet of retail.
The residential alternative was based on 450 units, including top-of-shop, two-bedroom townhouses, one- and two-bedroom adult housing, and two-bedroom age-targeted units, along with the Cape Cod Commission-approved 85,000 square feet of retail space.
Last year at this time, Mr. Cubellis told selectmen that there was about a 12-month window in which an alternative could be explored. That window is up this month, but Mr. Cubellis had indicated that nothing is final until a spade goes in the ground. He also made it clear that any discussions concerning a hotel alternative for the property would have to be held directly between the town and the hotel developer.
Selectmen will hear the details of the financial analysis at their Tuesday meeting, held at 7 PM in the Bourne Veterans Memorial Community Center.