All updates from the month of November 2005 are listed below.

Natick Mall to pay town $1.6m
Written by Justin on November 25, 2005 at 9:31PM

• The Natick Mall will make it's first major payment to the Town of Natick by December 1st. The payment of $1,624,543 is for two town initiatives: open space and roadways. In regard to roadways, the mall will be paying $1.2m at this time to add a new southbound lane on Speen Street, a sidewalk on Speen Street from Hartford Street (near the mall) to Edwards Road (near the former-Armed Forces facility), improved turning lanes, and signal modifications on North Main Street (Rt. 27) from the Wayland town line to North Avenue (downtown Natick), the latter of which appears to have little to do with the mall project.
• The MWDN's full story is online at http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=115236.
  

Happy Black Friday!
Written by Justin on November 25, 2005 at 9:11PM

• There are a few articles of news regarding the mall. First, General Growth Properties has changed the footprint of the yet-to-be-built Natick Mall Expansion. Approximately 40,000 sq. ft of retail space slated to be built close to the soon-to-be-shuttered Macy's store will be moved to the "south" end of the expansion, near Speen Street.
• Mall officials commented that the change was made as a result of the closing of Macy's. In an MWDN article, the mall's lawyer, Bob Davis, noted that the initial design of the Natick Mall Expansion was to allow for a connection to Macy's, which was part of GGP's settlement over Federated's appeal of the Expansion. Moving the 40,000 sq. ft. of retail will allow the later addition of a hotel or another retailer, but one must ask whether General Growth will use this free area and the Macy's anchor to create the "lifestyle center" mentioned numerous times by officials regarding the future of the Macy's building?
• The MWDN story is online at http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=114583.
  

Natick Mall condos approved by Natick Town Meeting
Written by Justin on November 5, 2005 at 10:07PM

• The proposed 220 condominiums at the former Wonder Bread site have been approved. Following discussion by the Natick Town Meeting, which was held at the Natick High School auditorium, town meeting members voted overwhelmingly to approve the construction of the condos.
• Following construction of the 120 foot residential towers, the Town of Natick will recieve between $11.5 and $12 million dollars, depending on whether the Chapter 40B affordable housing is constructed inside the towers or at another site in Natick. The condos still need to pass approval by the Planning Board, so GGP is not entirely done with Natick yet.
• Despite that this is not a website on the housing industry, the Natick Mall condos will certainly bring MetroWest developments to new heights (pun intended). The MWDN reports on the condos at http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=112889, and the Boston Globe has a story as well online at http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2005/11/03/condo_project_at_natick_mall_proceeds/.