Expansion of mall was a hard bargain
Fabric of community stretched in the process
Retired firefighter Dan Bartone, a lifelong Natick resident, was relaxing over coffee recently at the Bakery on the Common in the center of town.
His thoughts on the expansion of Natick Mall? It will become a magnet for people from all over the state, which is a "good thing for business," Bartone, 72, said. But he just couldn't stomach the mall's controversial bid to change its name to "Natick."
"I don't think the mall represents Natick, our old Natick, our traditional Natick," he said.
His friend, Bill Thomas, 71, agreed. "I just don't know why they'd want to call it 'Natick,' " he said.
The recent contention over the mall's proposed name -- which it dropped last week -- highlights the town's challenges in dealing with the increasing profile of the shopping center, a fixture in town for 40 years, which is expanding and going upscale.
The anchor Neiman Marcus storefront features a rolling gold sign that is inspired, designers say, by the folds of a women's skirt. The plaza where the old mall meets the new will feature a mezzanine "floating" above a water fountain. All around the expansion, birch leaves will hang from a glass skylight.
Bringing the latest retail vision to Natick -- with its companion traffic, parking, density, and aesthetic ramifications -- required years of intense negotiations at Town Hall, just around the corner from the Bakery on the Common.
The mall's developers have been on the Planning Board's agenda for most of its meetings over the last 4 1/2 years. Jim Grant, vice president of development at General Growth Properties, has made the trip from Atlanta for each of those meetings.
The Planning Board was no rubber stamp, Grant said. But, he added, "Everything we have suggested or filed with the town, we ultimately have been able to get approved in some fashion or another. They've never just chased us out of there and said 'No, we don't like that.' "
The Planning Board's overriding concern has been making sure Natick is compensated for the impact the expansion will have on the town, officials said.
"We believe that we've achieved the vast majority of mitigations that any municipality can expect to receive from a developer," said Julian J. Munnich, the board's chairman.
The developer estimates that for the retail and residential projects combined, it is contributing nearly $15 million toward road improvements, street signs, sewer improvements, and other town needs. In return for the right to build the 215 luxury condos, General Growth Properties will create $9 million worth of affordable housing in Natick.
"I don't think, four years ago, we expected it to be that high," Grant said of the total mitigation costs. "In every case, we said, 'Gosh, this is tough, but we can live with this amount.' "
Natick would not have received the concessions "unless the town could show they had the wherewithal to be serious in its negotiations," Munnich said.
While both Grant and Munnich described the negotiations as lengthy and detailed, neither suggested they were contentious.
If the Planning Board failed to predict the negative reaction some would have to the mall's proposal to rebrand itself simply as "Natick" -- which it had known about for at least a year -- it is because board members had more pragmatic concerns.
"The Planning Board scrutiny was strongly on protecting specific elements of the town and public safety," Munnich said. "I'd be concerned if the Planning Board let drop issues such as neglecting the effects of density," he said. How the mall chose to market itself was off the board's radar.
Calling the mall "Natick" seemed like a reasonable idea when first proposed, Grant said.
The company VP said about 600,000 people live in the area seen as the mall's primary market. While people living in Framingham and Natick just say "the mall" when referring to the retail complex, Grant said, General Growth's research showed that the majority of people outside those two towns say "We're going to Natick" as shorthand for the mall.
"There was no confusion with the town," he said. "That's what we decided to call ourselves, because that's what many people call us, thinking that was a compliment to the town."
Many residents and members of the Board of Selectmen saw it as anything but a compliment. Those concerns came from residents like Bartone.
Bakery on the Common and other locally owned stores around the crossroads of routes 135 and 27 represent the real Natick, said the men.
"I go to the mall maybe twice a year," Bartone said. "It looks like a very modern edifice there that I think is going to bring people from all over Eastern Massachusetts. That's a good thing for business, but a bad thing for traffic."
"The mall is almost like a separate little town," Thomas said.
Putting it more succinctly, bakery owner Ray Anzick said he considers the area around the town's common "like the heart of Natick and the shopping mall as the spleen."
Selectwoman Carol A. Gloff collected hundreds of signatures last week on a petition opposing the mall's appropriation of the name "Natick." She called Grant with her concerns.
"Having been on the board for almost two years, this is the issue that the most people have talked to me about," Gloff said.
The town was preparing to formally object to General Growth's trademark application when the mall owners relented, announcing last week that they would phase out use of the shortened name.
Grant said the mall was not about to blow a $24 million investment in good will with the town over a trademark fight.
"We made the decision that this is not worth it. We're not going to make enemies of the town," he said. "I guess we misjudged the offensive nature of it. "
The town and mall are moving on to the work of wrapping up approvals, finishing up construction, and developing the plan for income-eligible housing. A grand opening for the mall expansion is set for September, and the condos are scheduled to open in spring 2008. The mall has to come up with a new name, too.
The Planning Board is looking over plans for storefronts and restaurants along the Route 9 side of the mall. (These plans touched off controversy, too, when they were referred to as "a Main Street concept," but mall officials have assured they won't usurp the name 'Main Street' from the town.)
"This is the type of thing that can make or break a project," Munnich said of the mall's high-profile Route 9 facade. "It would be a shame for it to go wrong in the last minutes."
Illustrating their conviction to scrutinize these plans as they have the expansion and condo projects, the Planning Board voted to consider it as a major change, rather than a minor adjustment to already approved plans. It means an extensive review process is under way.
"We're not running out the last minutes of the clock on 65,000 square feet," Munnich said. "We're going to play this through to the end."
John C. Drake can be reached at 508-820-4229 or jdrake@globe.com. 
