By MARK SARDELLA
WAKEFIELD — An economic impact study conducted for Cabot Cabot & Forbes concluded that the real estate giant’s proposed 485-unit apartment complex at the head of the Lake would have a beneficial impact on Wakefield businesses, particularly those in the downtown area.
CC&F’s local attorney Brian McGrail told the Zoning Board of Appeals last week that the study has been conducted after the ZBA requested more information on the fiscal impact of the project beyond just the impact on town services and taxes.
McGrail said that after consultation with the town’s economic development director Erin Kokinda, RKG Associates, Inc. of Boston was retained to conduct the economic impact study. RKG is an economic and real estate consulting firm.
McGrail introduced that Eric Halvorsen, vice-president and principal of RKG, to go over the report.
Halvorsen said that he first set about to quantify the spending capacity of the new households that would comprise the proposed apartment complex. He noted that Wakefield’s downtown has a “great business mix,” adding that it’s reasonable to assume that a significant portion of that spending capacity would go to the downtown.
He calculated that each household in the complex would spend about $36,000 per year on consumer goods. Multiplied by 485 units, that comes to about $17.6 million a year. Based consumer spending patterns and the downtown business mix, Halvorsen projected that about $7,000 of that per-household spending would happen in Wakefield’s downtown. Multiplied by 485 units, that comes to just under $3.5 million in additional spending downtown annually, he said.
He noted that the restaurants might see a higher percentage of that spending due to their prevalence in the downtown compared to other types of businesses.
Wakefield Economic Development Director Erin Kokinda told the board that she had provided Halvorsen with a number of past economic studies conducted by the town to help inform his research. While she admitted that economic impact can he hard to predict, she thought that Halvorsen did a great job with his analysis.
ZBA member Jim McBain noted that parking has long been an issue in the downtown. He asked how the shortage of parking might impact those spending projections.
Kokinda said that she has never had a problem parking in the downtown, adding that people shouldn’t expect to find a parking space directly in front of the business that they wish to patronize. She also suggested that people need to re-evaluate their use of cars and consider alternative transportation measures like walking and biking.
ZBA member Greg McIntosh asked if other nearby retail centers, like the one near Jordan’s Furniture, were factored into the calculations. Halvorsen said that the availability of other retail options in the area was the reason that only a portion of the projected spending was assigned to Wakefield’s downtown.
The hearing was continued to Sept. 8, when topic will be civil engineering on the proposed site.
McGrail said that his client was not ready to discuss traffic yet. He told the board that the town’s traffic consultant wanted more information and there will be at least one more meeting of the Traffic Advisory Committee before they will be prepared to discuss the traffic study with the ZBA.