3M-SF Mixed Use Project Planned for NH

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HUDSON, NH-A local developer plans to build one of the region’s largest mixed use projects along the Merrimack River in Hudson, NH, next year when it begins construction on a 3.3 million sf. The project known as RiverPlace, will cost more than $100 million and will put 2.2 million sf of retail shops, 200,000 sf of office space, 600 residential units and a 400-room hotel and conference center on the 375 acre swath along the Merrimack River.

The project’s developer David Fleming, with W/S Development Associates, tells GlobeSt.com that RiverPlace will be among the largest mixed use projects in New England once it is completed in 10 years. The project will be just 1 million sf less than Westwood Station, considered by many to be suburban Boston’s largest mixed use development with 4.5 million sf.

Groundbreaking on RiverPlace is planned for the summer or fall of 2007 when the Chestnut Hill development firm expects to begin work on the retail phase, which will feature a Town Square and Main Street surrounded by small shops, restaurants and entertainment venues. Several large anchor stores will also be part of the plan, although no lease deals have yet been inked Fleming says.

The site will also feature a number of amenities, including an ice skating rink, a waterfront park, an amphitheater and boat slips that will give area residents access to the river.

RiverPlace is one of 15 to 20 new and expansion projects that W/S Development Associates is currently working on throughout New England, Fleming says. The firm broke ground this week on Wareham Crossing, a 675,000-sf open air shopping center on Route 28 in Wareham, MA that will open in the fall of 2007. Last month, the developer began construction on Mansfield Crossing, a 400,000-sf retail complex in Mansfield, MA and plans to soon begin building a $90-million, 735,000-sf lifestyle center known as Legacy Place on 40 acres in Dedham, MA.