Lakeville approves 13-year TIF for Sysco Boston at Lakeville Hospital site

Town meeting voters in Lakeville on May 24 approved a tax-increment financing (TIF) plan and related authorizations for Sysco Boston to redevelop the former Lakeville Hospital site on Main Street, the town moderator announced after a counted vote of the assembled meeting.

The measure authorized the Board of Selectmen to approve and sign a 13-year TIF agreement with Sysco Boston, to submit a certified expansion project application and related documents to the Economic Assistance Coordinating Council of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts (EACC), and to pursue designation of the property as an Economic Opportunity Area under state law. The measure passed by counted vote; the moderator declared the tally 396 in favor, 140 opposed.

The vote advances the developer’s request for a TIF that, as presented at the meeting, would begin with an 80% exemption on assessed real-estate taxes and taper over 13 years under the schedule on file with the town. Sysco Boston representatives said the company intends to demolish the existing hospital buildings, remediate contaminated soils identified on the property and construct a refrigerated distribution facility and associated offices. "We are a distributor. We do not manufacture anything," Fred Casinelli, introduced at the meeting as president of Sysco Boston, said in his presentation.

Sysco representatives told the meeting they expect to invest up to $110 million in the project, including roughly $70 million for building construction, $20 million for machinery and equipment and $20 million in related costs such as demolition and cleanup. Company officials said Sysco currently employs about 830 associates in the region and plans to retain those workers while creating about 75 new full-time jobs at the Lakeville location; the company said the new jobs would have an average salary around $50,000 and include benefits.

Town counsel Rich Bowen, who advised the meeting, described four features of the negotiated deal that he said favored the town: a 13-year term rather than the maximum 20 years allowed by statute; a lower starting exemption (80% instead of 100%); a relatively rapid decline in the exemption schedule; and a negotiated requirement that Sysco register its vehicles in Lakeville, which Bowen said would yield roughly $130,000 annually in excise tax revenue to the town.

Town staff and Sysco officials also provided tax and revenue estimates: current taxes on the vacant hospital property were stated at about $52,427 annually; the presentation projected roughly $2.0 million in new tax revenue over the 13-year TIF period (with permit fees and excise tax potentially increasing total town receipts cited at about $2.69 million in one slide). The presenters also noted demolition and remediation costs on the site that were previously estimated in 2002 at about $2.4 million and that, with subsequent findings of contaminated soils, clean-up estimates have been cited as high as $6 million in more recent summaries on file.

Several residents spoke for and against the TIF during the public-comment portion. Concerns raised included the site’s current zoning and suitability for a large distribution facility, potential noise and truck traffic impacts, the adequacy of cleanup guarantees by the current owner, and whether the town would realize the projected long-term benefits. Supporters cited job creation, additional tax and permit revenue, removal of a long-vacant and contaminated site, and prior emergency assistance the company provided during local flooding.

The moderator and town staff clarified procedure: the vote taken was to authorize the selectmen to execute and file the TIF plan and associated state applications; final site layout, noise mitigation, and zoning changes (if needed) will be addressed in later hearings before the planning board and at required zoning hearings. Town officials also noted that the TIF and the Commonwealth’s certification are separate: the EACC must approve the certified expansion project for the TIF to take effect. Town counsel said if the state disapproves the application, the agreement would not take effect.

Following the vote, the moderator dissolved the special town meeting and recessed for five minutes before the annual meeting.

Votes at the meeting addressed only whether to authorize the TIF application and related actions; the planning board and future hearings will consider site-specific permits and any zoning changes necessary for development.