Watertown Council authorizes purchase agreement for former Sterett Lumber at 148 Waltham St.

Watertown City Council on Feb. 25 authorized the city manager to sign a purchase-and-sale agreement to acquire the former Sterett Lumber property at 148 Waltham Street for $9,200,000 plus fees and approved a $500,000 transfer from the council reserve to lock the purchase.

The action followed an extended presentation by City Manager George Proakis, who said the council negotiated a purchase-and-sale agreement requiring a $500,000 deposit and that the city plans to fund the acquisition primarily from certified free cash. “Now we have the possibility to purchase 148 Waltham Street,” Proakis said, describing prior attempts to redevelop the site as housing and later as a permitted lab project and noting that market changes made the current price range feasible for the city.

The purchase matters because the two-acre site previously carried a lab permit that sharply increased its market value during the lab-building boom. Proakis told the council an FY24 appraisal placed the property around $9.3 million as the lab market softened; earlier when the site carried an active lab permit comparable parcels were selling in the $30–40 million range. The manager said the city certified roughly $43.65 million in free cash and has set aside about $22.6 million for stabilization and tentatively reserved up to $14.7 million for the middle school project, leaving roughly $9 million for other capital opportunities.

Proakis outlined short-term and long-term possibilities for the site, including temporary municipal uses such as snow storage and DPW overflow with screening and fencing, and longer-term uses including affordable housing, a senior center (possibly combined with senior housing), or splitting the parcel for multiple civic functions. He said the city will consult with neighbors and the community on development options.

City Attorney Rich described the purchase mechanism as a negotiated, non-adversarial “friendly taking,” a process that uses the statutory order-of-taking framework while relying on a willing seller and buyer. “This is what we call a friendly taking,” Attorney Rich said, explaining the purchase-and-sale agreement locks terms and addresses title and procedural issues while avoiding an adversarial eminent-domain process.

Councilor Rizzo, who had been active on the issue since 2020, thanked residents in the West End for advocacy and expressed support for working with neighbors on a future plan. “This purchase by the community is an opportunity to, again, work with the residents of the West End and hopefully make it a space that will complement the neighborhood and serve the community,” Rizzo said.

Formal actions taken at the meeting: the council voted to authorize the manager to sign the purchase-and-sale agreement and voted to transfer $500,000 from the council reserve to the acquisition account to fund the deposit. The manager also presented a first reading of a budget amendment to appropriate $9.3 million from free cash—$8.8 million for the land acquisition and $500,000 to reimburse the council reserve—which the council advanced as a first reading; the amendment will return for public hearing and final vote at a later meeting.

What the council approved does not by itself complete the acquisition: Proakis said the purchase-and-sale agreement and deposit secure the city’s position, but the full funding and the formal order-of-taking (the municipal vote that effectuates acquisition under the statutory procedure) will be presented to the council at a subsequent meeting. He said the $500,000 transferred from council reserve will be reimbursed to that reserve from free cash if the full appropriation is approved.

The manager emphasized that the city does not currently have a fixed redevelopment plan for the parcel and intends to seek community input before deciding a final use. He said immediate site management would include fencing, screening and limited municipal storage to reduce neighborhood impacts while the city studies long-term options.