The developer who hoped to build an apartment complex in the plaza where Benny’s department store once stood has scrapped the idea, bowing to fierce opposition from North Plymouth neighbors.
“We reached out to see if our vision of that site was one that the neighborhood would work with us to achieve,” said Jay Doherty, chief executive officer of Cabot, Cabot & Forbes, a Boston-based real estate firm.
“It was clear that right now their vision of the site does not match our own. That makes moving forward difficult at this time,” he said.
Doherty proposed building 200 to 240 market rate apartments along with some commercial space on the seven-acre Benny’s Plaza site. He said the apartments would cater to young, childless professionals, who wouldn’t strain town services and could afford high rents.
The plaza has been rundown and largely abandoned since Benny’s, a beloved Plymouth institution, closed in 2017.
At a meeting of the North Plymouth Steering Committee last month, Doherty was met by open hostility — with some people shouting obscenities, he said.
“A bunch of people took over the meeting and prevented any kind of dialogue,” said Doherty. “It was an introductory first session — here’s who we are and this what we’d like to do — what are your major concerns about the site?”
“We were blocked from having that dialogue. I’ve never had that happen before,” he said.
By the end of the meeting, some staffers who accompanied him to the meeting didn’t feel comfortable returning to Plymouth without security, Doherty said.
“I’ve had very robust meetings in place like Brighton,” he said. “There have been arguments, but no one shouting obscenities.”
Some at the raucous meeting, however, supported exploring the idea, including the owner of one of the few remaining businesses in the plaza, which is off Court Street.
They included Peter Balboni, owner of Pioppi’s liquor store. “Benny’s Plaza has been neglected for seven years,” he said on Thursday, leading to the dumping of trash, abandoned furniture, cars and boats.
The property is in “a state of extreme disrepair and the area is in urgent need of improvement,” Balboni said. “I was hoping the town would address this pressing issue.”
Select board chair Richard Quintal strongly opposed the plan and had urged residents to attend the Aug. 14 session at Cordage Park museum.
He called the real estate “very, very valuable and a link to the Plymouth waterfront that the town should buy” from the private development company that owns it.
Quintal on Thursday called Doherty’s decision to back out “probably for the better of Plymouth and the neighborhood.”
“Something of that magnitude — 240 units — can’t happen, even if the town doesn’t do anything with it,” he said.
He said he will organize a meeting with town officials and business leaders to try to formulate a new plan for the plaza.
“We have to be patient,” Quintal said. “I want to do my homework. Once it’s gone, it’s gone.”
Even if the town had been more receptive to the plan, the project would still have faced major hurdles. The site is zoned for commercial use and the developer would have needed Town Meeting to approve a change that would allow housing.
Robb D’Ambruoso, a lawyer for Cabot, Cabot & Forbes, was scheduled to meet this week with another steering committee — the Plymouth Center Steering Committee — but canceled.
The steering committees are advisory only — they advocate for the needs of their neighborhoods.
D’Ambruoso informed officials that Town Meeting need not act this fall on the developer’s already submitted proposal to change the town’s zoning law to accommodate the project.
Lee Hartmann, Plymouth’s director of planning and development, said the town has no plans for the parcel.
“The potential developer had a very high-density multi-family development proposal that was not well received by the community,” Hartmann said.
Andrea Estes can be reached at andrea@plymouthindependent.org.