In Lakeville, the former Island Terrace Nursing Home, off Long Point Road is a thing of the past with demolition having gotten started last week. Developer Jon Delli Priscoli's project team is putting the finishing touches on plans to construct two three-story buildings housing 66 upscale condominium units on the hilltop site that housed the well-known and well-respected nursing home for generations.
Island Terrace demolished, site plans being finalized
LAKEVILLE — The redevelopment of the former Island Terrace Nursing Home off Long Point Road officially got underway last week, with a pair of giant excavators spending two days last week tearing down the longtime local landmark overlooking Great Quitticas Pond.
Developer Jon Delli Priscoli’s project team is putting the finishing touches on plans to construct two three-story buildings housing 66 upscale condominium units on the hilltop site that housed the well-known and well-respected nursing home for generations.
The Planning Board is scheduled to begin its site plan review of the project on Feb. 13. The Zoning Board of Appeals has already approved the special permit needed for the high-density housing proposed.
Financial difficulties and bank foreclosure shut down the nursing home more than a year ago, leading to Delli Priscoli’s purchase of the property and his subsequent proposal to redevelop the site for upscale condominium housing units for residents 55 and older.
In November, the developer told selectmen that the redevelopment project would tie into the new septic system installed by the Tolles family just before the business closed. Concept plans shown to that board consist of two L-shaped buildings each containing 33 two-bedroom condo units and a number of common areas to be shared by future residents.
Delli Priscoli suggested then that the likely future residents of the condominium village would be active, working, or recently retired folks who will be eager to become part of their new community.
After reviewing the preliminary site plans, proposed building facades, and the suggested details of key architectural elements, selectmen voiced their overwhelming support for the redevelopment plan back in November.
Selectman John Powderly told Delli Priscoli, “It’s a good looking project” that will provided needed housing in Lakeville for over-55 homeowners looking to downsize and seeking the benefits of country living.
He was also looking forward to the town adding $250,000 dollars in new tax revenues from the redevelopment project, he said back in November.
At that meeting, selectmen made a pointed suggestion that some significant improvements to the private gravel road leading to the hilltop site will have to be made to insure the safety of residents and visitors. There are no guard rails marking the banks of adjoining cranberry bogs, and selectmen feared that new residents might end up in the bog ditches without safety improvements, they said.
The cities of Taunton and New Bedford, which use Great Quitticas as a public water supply under state license, have both had considerable input on the early concept plans, Delli Priscoli’s engineers advised town officials.
The pond is technically a state-owned reservoir licensed for use by the cities, and boating or swimming by future occupants of the condo village will not be allowed, his attorney has pointed out at past meetings. The development company has agreed to post signs to that effect along the shoreline, and individually advise residents of the restriction, the attorney said.
“They want to be sure this body of water, and this property, will not be abused,” Delli Priscoli said. Many of the cities’ initial requests were incorporated into the DEP-approved plan for the 66 units of housing, he noted.
Original plans floated late last year for the 8.2 acre site called for 84 condominium units. That number was lowered by the Zoning Board of Appeals permitting process, and cut again by the DEP review and approval process.
In addition to the Planning Board site plan approval process, the development company is always working on securing needed Board of Health approvals for the project.
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