After the approval of sewer usage for the Rosebrook Park development by the Board of Selectmen June 8, the A.D. Makepeace Company is readying for the second phase of the development- a mixed-use retail center to be called Rosebrook Place.

Located at the front of the Route 28 and Interstate-95 property, Rosebrook Place will include a hotel, retail space, a fitness center, restaurant, office, and bank. It will bring an estimated 369 permanent jobs and contribute around $234,400 in annual net tax revenues to the town. Ground was broken in April for the first phase of the Rosebrook Park project, a 68,000 square foot medical-office building, to be occupied by Southcoast Health System, that will bring in approximately 157 permanent jobs.

"We're seeking to attract higher-end jobs," said Linda Burke, A.D. Makepeace director of marketing and communication. The Wareham Career Center will help find employees for the positions created by the development, Burke said.

The Board of Selectmen voted last week to allow the development to tap in to the town sewer at a capacity of 50,000 gallons per day. Though members of the Board expressed concern about the toll the development would take on the sewer system, which currently has the capacity for the development. Members of the Selectmen worry, however,  that the system may not have the capacity to take on the development, all the neighborhoods slated for sewer service and much additional development. They voted 4-0-1 to approve the use and vowed to partner with Makepeace in the future to address any problems.

Without the approval of the Selectmen, Makepeace would have had to look at other septic treatment options, Burke said. "It may have meant that the project wasn't financially feasible in its current configuration," she added.

Makepeace will file proposed Rosebrook Place plans with the Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act (MEPA) in July. MEPA reviews how proposed development will impact the environment. After MEPA approval, Makepeace will seek local permits from the Planning Board.

The hotel is the key aspect of Rosebrook Place, Burke said. Makepeace is searching for a major hotel chain to occupy the site. "That business deal would be driving the train."
For example, the fitness center could be located inside of the hotel, instead of in a separate entity.

"We've got the basic parameters of what will be over there, but until the pieces stop moving, we won't do any kind of final planning" regarding the configuration of the site, Burke said.

Burke estimated that construction on Rosebrook Place would start in about two years, though she said that Makepeace would try to accelerate the permit process if a hotel chain were to take an immediate interest in the site.