Rhino asks Lakeville to submit municipal grant request to clean up former state hospital landfill

Rhino Capital representatives asked the Town of Lakeville Select Board on Monday, Feb. 24, to let the town act as the municipal applicant for state grants that would pay to remove an unpermitted landfill and help build wastewater infrastructure at the former Lakeville State Hospital property.

The developer’s presentation described a multi-part redevelopment plan that would include 90 senior living units (the Wingate Residences), a 200‑unit multifamily project under Chapter 40B (Cranberry Heights Residences) and a 68‑unit active‑adult cottage community (Fox Estates). Rhino said the site needs a 75,000‑gallon‑per‑day wastewater treatment plant and removal of a roughly 1.1‑acre, 11,000‑cubic‑yard unlined landfill before construction can proceed.

Rhino said the project is not financially feasible without outside capital for remediation and infrastructure. John O’Leary of Rhino told the board that state funding through the Community One Stop for Growth portal — specifically the Brownfields Redevelopment Fund administered by MassDevelopment and the Housing Works Infrastructure Program — is the most viable path to move the cleanup and wastewater work forward. Rhino requested permission to…