BRAINTREE – It has stood empty and boarded up for the past three years at one of the town’s major gateways, but changes could be on the way for the former Motel 6 on Union Street, Mayor Charles Kokoros told the town council this week.
Kokoros said he spoke to the owners of the property Monday.
“They are working on putting a deal together,” he said.
The owners are aware of the town’s newly enacted Anti-Blight Ordinance, which provides for $300-per-day fines for commercial properties left with boarded-up windows. The town council approved the ordinance Nov. 3.
“It’s just an eyesore and not what we want Braintree to look like,” the mayor said of the former Motel 6.
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The motel closed for good in September 2018, more than a year after two police officers were shot trying to serve a warrant there.
Kokoros gave the council an update on his administration’s economic development efforts, such as last week’s planning board vote to allow the conversion of the former Lord & Taylor store at South Shore Plaza into office space.
Medical marijuana dispensary Native Sun Braintree LLC wants to move into the former Pier 1 Imports store on Granite Street, Kokoros said. A public hearing on the proposal is scheduled for next month.
Mass General Brigham has purchased the former Massachusetts State Lottery headquarters off Columbian Street and is planning to move medical offices into the building, the mayor said.
“This will be a huge benefit to the community and the surrounding area,” Kokoros said.
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Two years ago, the planning board approved the conversion of the property into medical offices for the Brigham and Women’s Hospital Group, now part of Mass General Brigham.
The property will house physician practices now owned by the hospital company, as well as an urgent care center and imaging and lab services. A spokesman said at the time that the renovated building would hold 350 employees, 50 more than the Lottery.
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