It’s called The Campus at 128, but it’s not a school. It’s a proposed one-million-square-foot laboratory, R&D and housing combo project planned for 57 largely wooded acres in Dedham off Route 135 — a two-minute drive from the Needham town line.
For its supporters in Dedham, the estimated $500 million project is seen as the vehicle for a much-needed infusion of new tax revenue and housing, including affordable and senior-directed units. Its detractors see unmanageable traffic, environmental degradation and the despoiling of a longstanding single-family neighborhood with many stately homes.
On the outside looking in is Needham, with residents and town officials alike noting that many of the project’s most concerning impacts will be felt more heavily in Needham than Dedham, but without any offsetting revenue or housing gains.
The site lies behind St. John of Damascus Church and currently consists of single-family homes and undeveloped land. The most notable address in the area may be Shultz’s Guest House, a nonprofit dog-rescue facility located on 200 or so acres of private land off Burgess Lane, adjacent to but not part of the development parcel.
The project proponent, Dedham-based Supreme Development, has assembled a site that is about 20% larger in land area than Dedham’s Legacy Place. In Needham terms, it is five times larger than the Muzi property that was originally planned as a life science lab/R&D space but failed to move forward when the sector cratered.
The original plan in Dedham also targeted life sciences. That was a necessity to conform with a town bylaw use requirement that 60% of any project’s square footage had to be dedicated to that sector. In 2022, that bylaw was amended to include “biotechnology, biomedical research, robotics, renewable technology and sustainable technology, computer science, electronic technology or medicine” as sectors that also satisfied the use requirements.
Environmental review required
Due to its scale, the project required a study to determine if it needed to be reviewed more robustly under the Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act, or MEPA. Supreme submitted a plan in its Environmental Notification Form that called for 10 buildings — five labs totaling 850,000 square feet, two multi-family residential buildings with 250 units each, a senior living facility, a hotel and a restaurant.
The MEPA process included a virtual site visit and a July 28 in-person tour of the project site that drew nearly 100 people. This included Needham officials from the Town Manager’s office and the planning and conservation departments.
Prior to the visit June 4, Town Manager Katie King submitted a long list of town concerns to the MEPA office, saying the project should be subject to “a detailed analysis of transportation, watershed, environmental and public safety impacts.”
King also forwarded the results of a traffic study conducted for the town by Greenman-Pedersen, Inc. to assess the impact of the project. The GPI analysis said the daily traffic count on the frontage of the project site, which currently carries 16,665 vehicles per day, would nearly be doubled by adding another 14,670 daily trips. It identified 15 intersections in Needham that should be further studied for likely impacts.
The tour also drew residents of nearby Needham neighborhoods concerned about the project’s impact on their own properties, Needham at large and the health of the Charles River. Many have joined Dedham residents in working to oppose the project.
That number includes Edgewater Drive resident Olivia Hurlock, who can access the Charles River from her backyard. She led a visitor on a walk along a riverside path she has shared for more than 30 years with hikers and occasionally deer and sundry wildlife.
The Hurlocks would not have a view of the new development on the other side of the river, but it would nevertheless be palpable to her and other residents. She worries about its impact on the wetlands and how approximately 15.5 acres of new impervious area would affect stormwater runoff.
With the “ledgy” topography of the area, she notes increased runoff from the development would inexorably flow into the Charles and negatively impact its overall health.
“This whole neighborhood is ledge — 18 inches below our foundation is ledge. So, all the water from that site and all its particles will be flowing into the river. That is going to be terrible for the environment as well.”
More studies to follow
The MEPA office received dozens of submissions during the public comment period listing similar concerns with the project, leading state Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Rebecca Tepper to decide on Aug. 14 to require the developer to submit a Draft Environmental Impact Report.
Under MEPA, this requires the developer “to detail a project’s potential environmental harm, evaluate alternatives, and propose ways to avoid or reduce damage before state permits are issued.”
MEPA is not a permitting agency and therefore neither approves nor denies a project. But DEIR reports can take as much as a year or more to complete, and the findings could alter the project plans.
A Dedham planning department staffer, Tyson Morton, noted that Supreme has yet to apply for a permit from the town. He said a “scoping session” with the Planning Board had been scheduled for June, but it was postponed.
“(Supreme) decided to delay that process because they wanted to finish the MEPA process first, as well as respond to comments that were generated during the MEPA process,” Morton said.
As for what’s next for Needham, Hurlock and town officials all acknowledge that Needham has little to no leverage over what is a Dedham process and decision.
“That’s the terrible position that we’re in, right now,” Hurlock said, but added that Dedham officials will be hearing from her and other Needhamites.
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