Banner Park proposes 220‑unit residential redevelopment, planning board continues review

Banner Park Campus LLC presented a major modification to its 2022 special permit to the Braintree Planning Board on May 12, proposing to retain an existing 20,550‑square‑foot office building and build 220 residential units on the remaining ~30‑acre parcel at 60 Columbia Street. Attorney Adam Broaddsky said the shift from industrial to residential would reduce impervious surface and land disturbance, preserve more trees than the prior plan and generate net revenue for the town.

"By breaking the buildings into a series of smaller structures and keeping the existing office building, we significantly reduce impervious area and traffic generation compared with the previously approved industrial concept," said Carlos Sculty, civil engineer for the project. The applicant described a mix of housing types: one‑bedroom flats in a three‑story building, two‑bedroom cottages and three‑bedroom townhouses, plus a community hub and on‑site amenities. The team reported site metrics including roughly a 10‑acre reduction in impervious area compared with the earlier proposal, disturbance of about 11.4 acres, and a proposed parking program that builds 484 spaces with 106 additional spaces held in reserve.

Neighbors and abutters raised multiple concerns at the hearing, including the project’s proximity to wetlands and the Town’s New England Wildlife Center land, visual impacts and sight lines toward the Tommy Marks neighborhood, tree removal and buffer replacement, lighting and nighttime intrusion, traffic and pedestrian access along Columbia Street (Route 228), stormwater and long‑term maintenance of on‑site systems. Several residents asked for stronger, year‑round screening and requested that the developer demonstrate how tree replacement and buffers will meet earlier commitments made for a prior approval.

Officials from neighboring Weymouth attended and said they had discussed traffic mitigation with the developer; Weymouth’s planning director said the town generally prefers this residential concept over an industrial use for traffic and land‑use reasons, while still seeking design and traffic improvements. The applicant noted it has begun the conservation‑commission review required to amend existing orders of condition and said it will submit the stormwater, geotechnical and peer‑review materials the board requested.

The Planning Board voted to continue the Banner Park hearing to its June 9, 2026 meeting to allow time for peer reviews, additional materials and for the developer’s principals to appear and respond to neighborhood questions.

What happens next: The board requested additional traffic, stormwater and site‑plan detail, color elevations and clearer landscape screening plans; the applicant said it will provide those materials and engage peer reviewers before the continued hearing.