Wakefield Elementary site favored for mixed‑use building with retail and upstairs housing

Councilors and members of advisory committees on Thursday discussed redevelopment concepts for the Wakefield Elementary parcel and generally steered toward a mixed‑use building that would place commercial space near Saugatucket Park with residential units above.

Union Studio’s Jeremy Lake presented four schematic options for the smaller Wakefield site (the school footprint is part of an 8‑acre parcel; the study area is about 3–3.5 acres). One option (Option A) showed about 5,000 square feet of ground‑floor commercial with 54 multifamily units above (a mix of one‑ and two‑bedroom units, roughly 81 total bedrooms under the consultant’s assumptions). Another numerical variant (Option B) removed the commercial and added units; other options tested townhouse and “manor house” stacked‑flat configurations intended to fit the historic Main Street context.

Several councilors and members of the Economic Development Committee said Wakefield is the most suitable of the three sites for mixed use because of its proximity to downtown. Councilwoman Patty Bergner and other council members described a preference for a scheme that would support small shops or services at the park edge and enable walkable access to Main Street. Lake cautioned that commercial uses raise parking demand and that the tradeoff between commercial activation and unit yield must be weighed carefully: “commercial space not only takes up space that could otherwise be residential units, uses also typically have higher parking requirements than residential,” he said.

Advisory committees gave mixed signals but three panels—the Historic District Commission, the Affordable Housing Committee and the Economic Development Committee—ranked the mixed‑use multifamily option highly. The conservation and planning commissions expressed caution and asked that any plan preserve parkland and the playground; those bodies flagged that the site’s open space and park function are town assets to protect.

Council members discussed unit mix and market types for Wakefield: several favored a larger share of one‑bedroom and studio units to serve younger workers and people seeking downsized, walkable downtown living, while others urged maintaining some two‑bedroom options. Participants also discussed the potential for modest increases in building height on the site’s lower ground to create a stronger Main Street presence while minimizing visual impacts on adjacent homes.

The council directed staff and the consultant to return with a refined option that emphasizes mixed use facing the park, clarifies parking and pedestrian connections to Main Street, and explores material and massing options that echo the town’s Bell Block precedent. No final land‑use decisions were made and no funding was authorized. Staff said they will coordinate with the planning board and other committees to build the more detailed schematic that a future RFP would use to test feasibility.