By Bob Salsberg, Associated Press

November 14, 2011 7:19 PM

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BOSTON (AP) — A long-stalled plan to redevelop a former Naval air station south of Boston appears ready to move forward after the U.S. Navy reached final agreement to sell the remaining property it owns for $25 million, Massachusetts officials and members of the state’s congressional delegation said Monday.

The SouthField development calls for construction of nearly 3,000 homes, along with retail and office space. The project is expected to create about 10,000 permanent and temporary construction jobs over the next decade, backers said.

The deal with the South Shore Tri-Town Development Corp. was expected to be formally signed on Tuesday, with a closing scheduled for next month.

Negotiations over the future of the former South Weymouth Naval Air Station have dragged on for well over a decade. The station shut down in 1997 after falling victim two years earlier to a round of military base closings by the Pentagon.

South Shore Tri-Town Development, a semi-independent agency, was formed in 1998 to oversee development of the 1,400-acre site. In 2002, the agency picked LNR Property LLC to serve as the master developer for the site.

LNR already has built some homes on the more than 500 acres that the Navy had earlier transferred at no cost, but the sale of the remaining acreage bogged down over environmental and financial concerns.

“Good things come to those who don’t wait but negotiate, and in this case it’s going to mean jobs and economic development,” U.S. Sen. John Kerry said in a statement. “This day is more than 13 years in the making, and I’m as happy about this final agreement as any tough negotiation I’ve experienced in 26 years in the Senate.”

An environmental reuse plan for the former base was approved by the Navy in 1999 but later rejected by state environmental officials. A revised plan won approval in 2008, but the recession and real estate crash complicated negotiations to reach a final sale price, Kerry said.

“We can now bring the full master plan, the full development to fruition, to allow a live-work-play experience that will be very unique in New England,” said Kevin Chase, regional vice president of LNR. The plan calls for a golf course, sports and recreation facility and 2 million square feet of commercial space.

Southfield’s location, about 12 miles from Boston and close to a commuter rail line, will make it an attractive residential option as the housing market begins to stabilize in the coming years, Chase said.

The total cost of the project, including the homes already built, is pegged at about $2.5 billion, the developer said. While most of that will come through private investment, including more than $100 million already invested by LNR, the project received a $45 million grant from the state last year and the late U.S. Sen. Edward Kennedy previously secured $8 million in federal funding for transit improvements.

“Southfield is the largest active development anywhere in this area, and its long term importance to the region and the Commonwealth cannot be understated,” said U.S. Rep. William Keating, who represents the district.

In its heyday, the air station was a training ground for more than 1,500 military personnel and 300 civilian employees.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press.

Whittington, left, says for her SouthField was “an exciting opportunity to be a part of something new.”

By Christian Schiavone

THE PATRIOT LEDGER

Census figures show SouthField had a population of zero residents in 2010.

Steve and Molly LeMott made it two on Friday.

The LeMotts officially became the first residents of the new community on the site of the former SouthWeymouth Naval Air Station. Developers hope they will be the first of thousands taking up residence in the community of homes and businesses.

“We’ve never lived in a place so nice,” Steve LeMott said, standing in the couple’s new home on Thistle Lane.

The couple sold their home in East Lyme, Conn., in April 2010 after Steve LeMott was forced into early retirement at Pfizer.

They decided to move to the Boston area to be closer to their two daughters but couldn’t seem to find the right place.

They stayed at a family cottage in Scituate and then with Molly’s brother in Plymouth before they contacted Whitman Homes, one of the first builders to buy land at SouthField. Despite some hesitation, they signed a purchase-and-sale agreement in November for what would be one of the first completed homes.

“It was frightful and a little intimidating. We were the only ones,” said Molly LeMott, who first visited the property when it was still a snow-covered former runway.

“With all the snow I thought, ‘What did we do?’ Then it just came to life.”

The couple had never heard of SouthField before that, although they have South Shore roots. Molly LeMott’s mother and extended family grew up inWeymouth field next to the and the couple lived in Stoughton before moving to Connecticut in the 1980s.

From the windows of their threebedroom, two-anda- half-bath home, the view is of heavy construction equipment and workers building the townhouses and singlefamily homes. Outside, the hum of machinery and the whine of electric saws filled the air.

But the couple said they are already looking forward to the day when the area is transformed into a completed neighborhood.

Rich Whittington, president of Whitman Homes, applauded the LeMotts for being the first residents.

“It takes a lot of courage to be one of the first ones in,” he said. “We believe once the masses find out about SouthField and the concept of a planned community, it’ll take off.”

Whittington said Whitman Homes expects buyers to close on two more homes in a few weeks. Developers John M. Corcoran and Co. and Interactive Building Group are also building homes and apartments at SouthField. In addition, the William B. Rice Eventide Home plans to build senior housing and a nursing facility there.

Plans for the project, which has suffered multiple setbacks, include 2,800 homes and 2 million square feet of commercial space.

AMELIA KUNHARDT PHOTOS

New England’s newest community and a national model of smartgrowth and transit-oriented development is growing again.  John M. Corcoran & Co. announced today that it will develop 226 units of apartment housing and 8,700 square feet of first-floor retail space at SouthField Highlands, the community’s first residential neighborhood located only a short walk to the on-site South Weymouth commuter rail station.

“Corcoran understands New England and will bring that unique style and high quality craftsmanship to SouthField,” said Kevin Chase, regional vice president of LNR Property Corporation, SouthField’s master developer.  “This is another great milestone not just for LNR but for the surrounding communities who share in the revenues and new jobs created by development at SouthField.”

The project will have a total development cost of $44.6 million, produce 200 construction jobs and generate $1.39million in so-called host community payments from the developer LNR to Weymouth, Rockland and Abington.  Corcoran plans to begin construction in early May and the first residents are expected to move in during the spring of 2012.

“We chose SouthField because the combination of transit-oriented development and the excitement surrounding this new and vibrant community is unmatched anywhere in New England,” said Rick High, president of John M. Corcoran & Co.  “Our construction and permanent lender, UBS, one of the country’s largest and most successful investment institutions, agreed with us that SouthField presents a terrific opportunity to create the newest rental apartment community in the area.”

Sixty single family, townhouse and garden court homes are currently under construction at SouthField by two of the South Shore’s most popular custom homebuilders, Whitman Homes and Interactive Building Group, and Rogerson Communities is scheduled to begin construction on the William B. Rice Eventide senior independent living and skilled nursing facility.  Residential sales offices are open on-site and SouthField’s first residents are expected to move in this summer.

The closing of the Corcoran land sale will trigger an $821,000 payment from LNR to the Town of Weymouth, a $432,000 payment to Rockland and a $136,000 payment to Abington.  With these payments,  the neighboring communities of Weymouth, Abington and Rockland will have received $7.2 million in host community payments from LNR to date.  LNR also paid an entitlement fee of $775,000 to South Shore Tri-Town Development Corporation as a result of the Corcoran land sale.

The Corcoran project will feature 226 studio, one, two, and three-bedroom apartment homes, featuring fine interior details such as Berber carpets, washer-dryers, ceramic tile, and crown molding.  On-site amenities will include a full fitness facility, swimming pool, community room, indoor parking, and access to the award-winning SouthField development.  In keeping with the “green” vision of SouthField, Corcoran intends to certify the apartment homes with the U.S. Green Building Council under its Leadership in Energy Efficient Design requirements.

Formerly the site of the South Weymouth Naval Air Station, SouthField will feature, at full build-out, 2,855 units of housing and 2 million square feet of commercial and retail space, including Massachusetts’ first full scale movie studio, SouthField Studios.  The plan also includes more than 1,000 acres of neighborhood parks and dedicated open space, a links style golf course, and a $30 million indoor/outdoor sports and recreation complex to be developed by former Red Sox general manager Dan Duquette and soccer star Kristine Lilly.

John M. Corcoran & Co. is one of the Boston area’s largest privately-owned developers and managers of rental apartment homes.  Corcoran Management Company, Inc., its property management affiliate, currently manages more than 11,000 apartment homes in six states. Corcoran has owned and managed multi-family rental housing in Weymouth since 1970.

Kevin Chase, Robin Daniels, and Steve Wynne of LNR Property Corp.

by Susan Diesenhouse

BisNow

In the Boston area, you know building 500 residential units is a big deal.  But what do you call SouthField, a $2B project going up at the former South Weymouth Naval Air Station, which starts with that and then includes a 1,400-acre site for stores, offices, film studios, a golf course, and sports complex?   If nothing else, a lead story.

Read the full article.

Whitman Homes and Interactive Building Group met with Congressman Keating and Mayor Sue Kay of Weymouth at the recent residential groundbreaking at SouthField.

Mayor Sue Kay of Weymouth, Rich Whittington (Whitman Homes), Tim Porter (Whitman Homes), Bart O'Brien (Whitman Homes), and Congressman Bill Keating

Jane Sheehy (IBG), Paul Abelite (IBG), Congressman Bill Keating, Gene Raymond, AIA (IBG) and Mayor Sue Kay of Weymouth

By Steven Dodrill, SDodrill@959watd.com

The Honorable William Keating, US Representative

Massachusetts officials say that the Southfield development could be used as a model for public/private partnerships like that between the state and LNR Properties, the company handling the re-development.

The state’s Housing and Economic Development Secretary Greg Bialecki made the comments Monday at a groundbreaking for the first townhouses and single family homes being built on the site. A large contingent of local political leaders gathered Monday afternoon at the sight of the former South Weymouth Naval Air station, for what developers called a milestone of private investment and job creation.

Read the full article

Invested in getting SouthField truly off the ground

By Casey Ross

The Boston Globe

Kevin Chase has one of the toughest jobs in real estate. As regional head of LNR Property Corp., he is in charge of building SouthField, a minicity on the former South Weymouth air base that will include nearly 3,000 homes, 2 million square feet of stores and offices, film studios, a sports complex, and a golf course. In a good economy, it would be a herculean task. In a bad one, it’s like climbing Mount Everest with a mule on your back. Chase recently spoke with Globe reporter Casey Ross about his efforts to advance the project.

Read the full article

LNR Property today announced the latest in a string of residential development deals at SouthField, New England’s newest community and a national model of smartgrowth and transit-oriented development.

Quincy’s William B. Rice Eventide Home will expand to a new facility at SouthField which will include 192 units of senior independent living and a 46-bed  skilled nursing facility on 9.4 acres in SouthField Highlands, the community’s first residential neighborhood, only a short walk to the South Weymouth commuter rail station.

The project will produce between 300 and 500 construction jobs. And as with previous deals, the Eventide closing will generate more than $1 million in new host community payments from the developer LNR Property to Weymouth and Abington under the host community agreements signed recently by the two communities. LNR Property previously announced that two of the South Shore’s most popular custom homebuilders, Whitman Homes and Interactive Building Group, will construct dozens of new homes in SouthField Highlands.

“SouthField provides us with a unique opportunity to create a wonderful new campus that offers our residents the vibrant surrounding community they seek with easy access to public transit and the amenities of Boston and the entire South Shore,” said Joyce Haglund, administrator of Rice Eventide.

At SouthField, Rice Eventide, whose Quincy facility was named one of U.S. News & World Report’s 2010 “America’s Best Nursing Homes,” will expand into independent senior living and provide a broad spectrum of services across a continuum of care. The spacious new senior community is being developed by Rogerson Communities, a leading provider of senior housing and services in Greater Boston, designed by Sheskey Architects in Quincy, Mass., and projected to begin construction in 2012. The total development value is estimated between $45 and $50 million.

“The residents of Rice Eventide will contribute a vital element to the SouthField community,” said Kevin Chase, regional vice president of LNR Property. “This project will create hundreds of jobs on the South Shore and send more than a million dollars to local communities as SouthField continues to be an economic growth engine on the South Shore.”

The closing of the Eventide land sale will trigger a $829,676.30 payment from LNR Property to Weymouth and a $137,007.58 payment to Abington. Rockland has yet to sign a new host community agreement.

Over the course of the development of SouthField, the neighboring communities of Weymouth, Abington and Rockland have received more than $5.8 million in host community payments from LNR, including $3,567,318.89 to Weymouth, $1,727,400.42 to Rockland and $506,526.32 to Abington.

Formerly the South Weymouth Naval Air Station, SouthField will feature 2,850 units of housing and 2 million square feet of commercial and retail space, including Massachusetts’ first full scale movie studio, SouthField studios. The plan also includes more than 1,000 acres of neighborhood parks and dedicated open space, a championship golf course, and a $30 million indoor/outdoor sports and recreation complex to be developed by Red Sox general manager Dan Duquette and soccer star Kristine Lilly.