Town Meeting to Vote on Reimagining of Mall Road Area

The Mall Road area has been a topic of conversation since the 1960s when the area was first developed. A center of commerce for residents and visitors alike, the area is now home to several commercial and retail buildings of all sizes, including spaces like the Kohl's plaza, The District, and a number of large office complexes. However, there are 100 acres, mostly in the form of underutilized parking lots, where creative development could benefit the town as well as its residents and visitors.

In recent years, in part accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, town officials have been working on a plan to revitalize the corridor. The success of the mixed-use 3rd Ave. Planned Development District, paired with a financial analysis that suggests the town could increase tax revenues by allowing mixed residential-commercial-retail uses in the area, has led the town to create a plan for a zone known as Mixed-Use Innovation (MIX) in the Mall Road area. The additional revenue potential is salient at a time when the town is has three major building projects planned, which will cost the town nearly half a billion dollars in coming decades.

The MIX zone would permit residential use, which is currently not allowed in that part of town, interspersed with retail and commercial parcels in an effort to bring a new vibrancy to that area of town that extends beyond the workday. The plan also includes design standards to create a sense of cohesion and connection among different segments. While similar, this proposal differs from a Planned Development District, which is proposed by an outside developer and approved by the town. Here, the town has worked with MassDevelopment to create its own guidelines; the plan prioritizes walkability and open space.

The area up for discussion at the upcoming Town Meeting is smaller than the originally-planned footprint, and Economic Development Director, Melisa Tintocalis, hopes development here can serve as a proof of concept for the larger area.

Some opponents to the proposal anticipate the majority of development will be residential, which is more lucrative for developers than commercial, though there there is a mandate in the proposal to keep the balance shifted toward commercial.

This proposal has been three years in development, and town officials are eager to see how Town Meeting receives it. For more history of the Mall Road area, check out our Buzz In-Depth Feature.

Burlington's January 2025 Town Meeting begins on Monday, January 27, at 7:00 in the BHS auditorium. Official Town documentation includes the Warrant, the Warrant Backup, zoning detail, and the town and school budgets as a reference.