Midway presents phased Bedford Commons concept; council asks for financing terms and community engagement

Midway, the developer the city is working with on Bedford Commons, returned to the Bedford City Council on Feb. 25 with a refined, conceptual plan that focuses on a small-scale, place-driven mixed-use center anchored by mature trees and a natural creek corridor.

Anna Deans, Midway, told the council the project is still under a one-year memorandum of understanding with the city and that the materials presented were high-level concepts: "This is just a starting point, to get the conversation started and hopefully tackle the big challenges first." The plan prioritizes preserving the site's mature trees and amplifying the creek as an amenity and possible stormwater-detention element.

Midway described a phased approach. The company proposed a first commercial phase of roughly 38,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space arranged around plazas and a central grove of trees, with single-family or townhouse residential used as a buffer between commercial areas and existing neighborhoods. Midway said the first-phase cost basis—shown at roughly $500 per square foot hard cost plus substantial tenant-improvement allowances—would put total first-phase costs in the low-to-mid tens of millions: "At 38,000 square feet ... that's about 26,000,000," Deans said. Based on underwriting assumptions and local rent expectations (Midway estimated a market rent "between 15 and $20 a square foot" for Bedford), the developer said the gap between achievable rents and construction costs could require an $1820million to $2020million subsidy or public participation to make the initial phase feasible.

Midway offered an alternative in which the city retains ownership and Midway develops the project for a fee, arguing that city ownership could capture long-term revenue while public incentives or land-sale proceeds could offset upfront costs. Deans said Midway prefers an "open book" process on costs and would work with the city on detailed budgets, community outreach and tenant recruitment.

City staff and council members discussed funding options and the project's fit with the Tourism Improvement/Tax increment funding mechanism referenced by staff as "TIRS." City Manager Andrea Roy said the TIRS (an adopted economic-development mechanism covering multiple targeted areas) is estimated to generate nearly $30 million and was established to be reinvested into public infrastructure and other public purposes in the district; those funds could support infrastructure and incentives for projects in the district. Roy added the city is conducting engineering and flood-plain analysis for the site before committing to design specifics.

Council members asked about phasing, parking and the site's visibility. Midway responded that a smaller initial phase with carefully curated early tenants improves the project's chance of success, and that parking should be included in a long-term plan with on-street and city facility sites providing near-term capacity. Council members expressed support for the design approach, tree preservation and phased strategy and asked Midway and staff to return with more granular terms and community engagement plans; Midway said it would return with proposed deal terms and that staff and Midway would aim to have a clearer plan by the end of the MOU period (the firm said July was a target for the next check-in).

Council and staff emphasized they want a project that reflects Bedford's character and protects adjacent neighborhoods, and directed staff to continue engineering due diligence and to work with Midway on high-level deal terms and community outreach that can be presented to the council in the coming months.