University of Massachusetts Chancellor Robert C. Holub, left, former Amherst Town Manager Laurence C. Shaffer, center, and Amherst Redevelopment Authority chairman John W. Coull shake hands after signing the Gateway Redevelopment Project agreement. AMHERST - The University of Massachusetts will not be recommending that a parcel of land once seen as a catalyst to development of the Gateway Project but will continue to participate in the project.
Town officials, meanwhile, will be asking Town Meeting this fall to fund a marketing study and for a consultant to draft some language for zoning that would be appropriate for the site that would link the downtown and UMass.
Despite the UMass decision, "there's a lot of positive momentum," for the project, said Town Manager John P. Musante said. "The parcel is less of a catalyst than it might have been perceived to be."
Last year, UMass and the town signed a memorandum of understanding that UMass would recommend that the 2.1 acre parcel of what was once frat row be transferred to the town once a vision and plan were created for the area. The state Legislature would have had to approve that transfer. The understanding was that private student housing would be part of a mixed use project.
But after meeting with neighbors who strongly opposed any new student housing, consultants showcased a vision that included housing but for faculty and retirees, not undergraduates.
UMass deputy chancellor Todd A. Diacon said UMass decided not to proceed with recommending the transfer because the consultant's vision moved the heart of the project away from the parcel of UMass land toward Kendrick Park. Also with the building of the new Commonwealth College dormitory that will provide about 1,500 beds, they don't need more student housing now. That project was created after UMass had signed the memorandum agreement with the town.
But he said, "We can be full participants in the Gateway process without advocating for the transfer of the land. Gateway can thrive and proceed with participation from UMass."
He said UMass has no plans to develop the land within the next five years and will landscape the property into a park like setting. It will also pay for a traffic study that will look at the how the Gateway project would effect traffic in the neighborhood. That study will be done by December, he said.
The project is still attractive to the university because it would provide housing for faculty and graduate students as well as bring in the kinds of shops they are looking for, Diacon said.
"We're appreciative they're continuing to partner with us on this project," Musante said.
Musante said the marketing study would look at the economic impact of the project. He expects that hiring consultants for both zoning and marketing would cost less than $80,000 for both.