Settlement Offer in Home Depot Case Rejected

Evarts, who is backed by the 200-member Mystic View Task Force, rejected the offer, calling it a "bribe," according to Bill Shelton, president of the Task Force. "She felt that it was a bribe to allow some people to avoid obeying a law everyone else has to obey," he tells GlobeSt.com. Evarts's lawsuit contends that the 173,000-sf proposed Home Depot requires a site plan review permit, while the city gave it a special permit. A judge has not yet ruled on the case but has asked the city to explain the reason for its decision.

But Peter Merrigan, of Taurus, tells GlobeSt.com that the Task Force asked for a settlement offer and that his group "crafted a solution" that they thought would make everyone happy.

Merrigan says that the offer involved taking the profits associated with the Home Depot property--approximately $2 million--and putting it into a trust that would support the Task Force's vision of the future of Assembly Square. "They called us greedy developers but when we offer them our profits, they call it a bribe," says Merrigan. "Our hands are tied."

Merrigan is referring to the fact that the Assembly Square Mall, which is on part of a 26-acre parcel owned by ASLP, can only support retail development because of the original lease that was written for Kmart, which is located there, nearly 25 years ago. Mystic View wants to see Assembly Square have mixed-use development but Merrigan points out that the all-retail use restriction cannot be changed.

The city already has a 135,000-sf Home Depot on the waterfront but with the relocation of this Home Depot eight acres of waterfront land will be freed up for a mixed-use development on that site. "Everyone is happy except Mystic View," says Merrigan. "I've never been involved in a situation like this before."

Shelton contends that his group was looking for "creative solutions to the design of Home Depot," and the cash settlement was not what they wanted.

Meanwhile, the city's planning board has decided to uphold its original decision not to require a site plan review permit for the Home Depot store. A decision on the case is expected by the end of the year.

As for Merrigan and his team, they are now entering their fifth year of trying to get this store built. He says that if the case goes against them, he is not sure what he will do. He notes that they can try to re-tenant mall but because this was already a mall that failed once the chances of it succeeding are not good. "There are not a lot of opportunities her," he notes.

A spokesman for city mayor Dorothy Kelly Gay says that the mayor "is still hopeful for a resolution because the project is very important to the city."