Westborough Select Board Unanimously Approves Purchase of 1500 Union Street for Community Center

WESTBOROUGH, Mass. — The Westborough Select Board voted unanimously Wednesday to purchase the former community center building at 1500 Union Street and authorized board members to sign the closing documents, concluding a multimonth effort to acquire space the town plans to convert for public use.

The vote, made at 6 p.m. at a Select Board meeting that was live-streamed by Westborough TV, passed 5-0 after a motion to "purchase the building at 1500 Union Street and sign and execute all appropriate documents relevant to said purchase." The board immediately began signing a set of closing documents; the town manager said the legal closing will occur Tuesday, March 19, when keys will be handed over.

Town Manager Christy Williams said staff has already begun planning moves into the building and will present a detailed timeline at the board's first meeting in April. "We have advertised an RFQ for an owner's project manager today," Williams said. She told the board she expects RFQ responses in early April, plans to bring an architect on board and to conduct community engagement in late spring or early summer so the town can be prepared for the fall town meeting.

Board members praised staff and counsel for shepherding the transaction. One Select Board member said the building is mostly vacant and will require work before it is ready for public use, asking for patience as staff "move stuff forward in the right way." Another board member emphasized that the engagement process should solicit broad public input so residents' ideas can shape the design.

Representatives for the seller and the closing team reviewed the documents the board signed. Those included an acceptance of deed, a reciprocal easement agreement that defines parking, access and utility rights in the Bay State Commons complex, and an environmental indemnification agreement in which the seller (identified in closing documents as BSC Real Estate) agrees to indemnify the town against claims related to historical landfills that were not on town property and to be the first avenue for any such claims.

A closing representative summarized additional documents: a memorandum of indemnification to record the indemnity at the registry of deeds; a settlement statement showing the town's contribution to the purchase; assignment of the purchase-and-sale agreement to intermediary entities for tax purposes; a general assignment of permits and approvals to the town; a buyer's bring-down certificate confirming the town's representations and warranties as of closing; and a bill of sale transferring personal property found in the building as of March 19.

The board also noted that the property sits within a downtown complex owned by Grossman Development and that the reciprocal easement clarifies cost-sharing and operational responsibilities between the town parcel and surrounding parcels.

The Select Board adjourned after members signed the closing documents. Closing and turnover of keys are set for March 19; town staff will continue planning and will publish the community center timeline and project documents online.