The A.D. Makepeace Company built its fortune growing and harvesting cranberries. But a lot has changed since it was established in the 1930s. Thursday, April 29, ground was broken on the first phase of a medical office building and mixed-use commercial development called Rosebrook Park that company officials and town leaders hope will represent the future of the company and the future of economic development in Wareham.

"This project means jobs and tax revenues for the Town of Wareham, protection of our natural resources, continuation of Makepeace's agricultural operations, and significant private investment," said A.D. Makepeace CEO and president Michael P. Hogan.

"I hope that this is just the beginning," said Selectman Cara Winslow before the ceremony.  "This is jobs, it's clean, it's economic growth, it's absolutely fabulous."

The project's first phase includes a $13.9 million, 67,411-square-foot, medical-office building, nearly two thirds of which will be occupied by the project's partner, Southcoast Health System. The project thus unites the largest private-property owner in Massachusetts and largest cranberry grower in the world with the region's largest employer.  The medical office building will bring 157 permanent jobs, 41 of which will be physicians, to the site.  Construction will create approximately 90 jobs.

President and CEO of Southcoast Hospitals Group Keith Hovan told the assembled guests that the building will allow "expansion" for both Southcoast Hospitals Group and Wareham.

"This building will allow Wareham to expand with additional economic-development opportunities and jobs," Hovan said.  "South Coast will expand by offering consolidated primary-care facilities, specialty-care facilities...and lab and advanced imagery [facilities]."

Hovan also said that the building would be the headquarters of Southcoast Hospitals Group's award-winning bariatric (weight-loss) surgery unit, as well as offer diagnostic radiology services.  Southcoast Hospitals Group announced an affiliation with the prestigious M.D. Anderson Physicians Network, a subsidiary of the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, last Tuesday.

Many town officials attended the ground breaking, which was the culmination of a nearly decade-long collaboration between A.D. Makepeace and the Town of Wareham.

In 2001, A.D. Makepeace formed a Tri-Town Committee with representatives of Wareham, Plymouth and Carver to develop a master plan for the company's land.  In the discussions that followed, Wareham and Makepeace decided to focus on economic development.

To accomplish the goals shared between Makepeace and the town, the Selectmen and Planning Board worked to develop a business-development overlay district (BDOD), passing the zoning change with unanimous votes at three separate Town Meetings, which Hogan mentioned in his remarks thanking the town for its cooperation.

Selectman Brenda Eckstrom, first elected in 2005 and the longest-serving member of the board, was excited to see the project enter its final step.

"It's really exciting," Eckstrom said.  "I'm happy that I've seen it through to fruition."

And Thursday's event opened just the first phase of the project.

Two more buildings, at 68,000 square feet and 35,000 square feet, respectively, are planned for the Rosebrook Business Park section of the development.

A mixed-use retail center called Rosebrook Place is planned for the intersection of Route 28 and Interstate 195 and will include 240,000 square feet of commercial space slotted for a hotel, restaurant, retail, and a bank branch as well as residential apartments. The future development is estimated to create 360 new, permanent jobs, and the entire project at buildout is estimated to contribute $400,000 in annual net tax revenues.

"There's really a perfect fit for everything here," said Chair of the Board of the Selectmen Jane Donahue.

"This is the type of economic development needed in the Town of Wareham," said Hogan. "It is the first, long awaited step."