WESTFIELD — The Westfield Town Council unveiled plans on Tuesday to revise the One Westfield Place redevelopment agreement to scale back the project and further mitigate its potential impact on the community.

Mayor Shelley Brindle said the proposed amendments to the plan will allow the community to move forward in good standing with the project’s redeveloper without compromising the “favorable financial agreement and key initiatives” that led the council to approve the initial project in February of last year.

Earlier this year, Mayor Brindle said, the redevelopment entity behind the project, HBC|Streetworks, determined that some of the 200 square feet of proposed commercial office space that was originally approved in connection with the project would need to be modified to better accommodate the needs of interested office tenants.

“We seized this as an opportunity to revisit the [redevelopment plan] and negotiate a series of changes that address many of the concerns we have heard from residents,” Mayor Brindle said.

Representatives from HBC|Streetworks were on site during Tuesday night’s regular council meeting to share a slideshow presentation with the governing body that outlined the proposed amendments.

As part of the new plan, HBC|Streetworks plans to reduce the overall scope of the project — which initially called for mixed-use development at several key sites along the railway line, 138 residential apartments and 16 town homes for the 55-plus community; 69 traditional and loft-style apartments; more than 300,000 square feet of office space; 25,000 square feet of retail space; and two public parking garages — by about 25 percent.

One of the office buildings, a 90,000-square-foot facility that was slated for construction at the South Avenue train station parking lot, will be removed from the plans and replaced with a third parking deck that will be reserved for an as-of-now unnamed anchor tenant during regular business hours and made available to the public on nights and weekends.

A liquor license that was purchased by HBC|Streetworks early on in the process was initially earmarked for use in the project’s West Zone, but will now be put to use on the south side, and an underground parking facility that was originally proposed for the Lord & Taylor property would become an above-ground parking deck to better accommodate the needs of the building’s potential tenants.

Building heights, especially those that will be connected to the Lord & Taylor building on North Avenue and those that will be constructed on the south side of town, will be reduced by between 15 and 30 feet.

The changes, Mayor Brindle said, will help to mitigate traffic concerns on the south side of town during peak commuting hours and cut back on construction-related delays throughout the area.

Some parts of the original agreement, town officials said, will remain intact.

The proposed public parking decks, which will add new parking spaces and replace those lost when certain municipal lots are absorbed into the project, for example, are still scheduled for inclusion, as are planned improvements to 10 different intersections and numerous pedestrian-access routes throughout the community.

The amended plan will reduce the amount of funding that the town will receive from the redeveloper as part of a 30-year tax abatement from $210 million to $157 million, but will also reduce the town’s bond obligation from $43 million to $34 million.

Matthew Jessup, the town’s bond counsel, said HBC|Streetworks will be obligated to guarantee any bond payments not covered by the anticipated PILOT (Payments In Lieu Of Taxes) funding under the proposed terms of the new redevelopment plan.

“There is a new requirement that minimum PILOT payments equal 100 percent of debt services on town bonds related to the project,” Mr. Jessup said. “This is an extra level of security that we felt was important.”

Projected interest rates on municipal bonds, Mr. Jessup said, are expected to remain consistent at roughly 4 percent.

Now, the proposed amendments will be sent to the town’s planning board to be reviewed for consistency with Westfield’s Master Plan. The town council is expected to hold a public hearing and final vote during its next meeting on Tuesday, November 12.

The vote to formally introduce the amended plan via ordinance was split along party lines, with Mayor Brindle and the other Democratic members of the governing body — Michael Dardia, James Hely, Linda Habgood and David Contract — voting to advance it and Republican council members Todd Saunders, Michael Armento, Michal Domogala and David Kiefer voting against it.

“I don’t believe that three weeks gives us enough time to talk to the residents,” Councilman Saunders said. “There are major changes here. I don’t see the downside in waiting three to six months to give us a chance to get more feedback.”

Councilman Armento, meanwhile, questioned claims by the redeveloper about the relevance of community feedback and said the introductory process lacked transparency.

“If everyone was so concerned about listening to the residents, why didn’t we stop this a year and a half ago?” he asked. “I think it’s disingenuous to say you’re listening to residents. I think it’s the economics of the times that changed this project, and I’m not pleased with the way this was presented.”

In April of last year, an ad hoc citizens group known as the Westfield Advocates for Responsible Development filed suit against the town in relation to the project, citing the redevelopment’s size and scope among its chief concerns.

A state Superior Court judge ruled in favor of the town in February, noting that the Advocates lacked proper standing.

Carla Bonacci, one of the organization’s founders, said Tuesday that the proposed amendments have not changed the Advocates’ position.

“We know that the first offer is not always the best offer, but the town has not seemed willing to seek alternate proposals or negotiate a better deal for Westfield’s residents,” she said.
The Westfield Advocates for Responsible Development have filed an appeal and, as of the date of publication, continue to raise funds to support the group’s efforts.

“I want to remind everyone that this is an amendment to the existing redevelopment plan, not a replacement,” Mayor Brindle said. “If this smaller, amended plan does not pass the council, the existing redevelopment plan for the larger [project] that was approved and adopted in 2023 remains in place.”

The next meeting of the Westfield mayor and council will be held at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, November 12, in the council chambers at town hall.