At the Jan. 25 Select Board’s meeting, member Peter Teitelbaum announced that the Wareham Redevelopment Authority had voted to ask the Select Board to issue a new request for proposals for a master developer for the Tremont Nail Factory property.

“They came back with a proposal that sort of altered the playing field,” said Teitelbaum. “They wanted a long-term lease that would involve Town Meeting action and so on and so forth, so we decided to pull it back and reissue the RFP, so that nobody could say ‘I didn’t know it would be this’... and to make the process a little more straightforward for anybody who’s interested in submitting a response.”

Teitelbaum later told Wareham Week that the town needs to re-issue the RFP in order to properly follow the legal procedures for long-term leases — not because negotiations fell through with the Bentley Companies. 

Teitelbaum noted that the Bentley Companies were the only respondent to the initial RFP, and said he anticipates the company will respond to the new RFP. The new request from the town references a long-term lease of up to thirty years, with the option to renew the lease for two more thirty-year terms. 

“Hopefully, we can finally get cracking on doing something with the property,” Teitelbaum said. 

The Select Board will vote on whether or not to issue the new request for proposals at the board’s next meeting.

For months, the town had been working to move forward with Bentley Companies as the master developer that will redevelop the property. The Tremont Nail Factory was originally built in the 19th century. As recently as 2006, steel cut nails were manufactured on site in the “steel building.” 

Wareham bought the Tremont Nail property in 2004 using Community Preservation Act funds, citing its historic importance to the town. Today, the property consists of multiple unused buildings in various states of repair and disrepair. 

In February 2021, Bentley Companies presented its initial vision for redeveloping the Tremont property. The first iteration of Bentley Companies’ plan envisions the site with office space, retail establishments and a brewery or restaurant of some sort. The developer’s proposal also includes a waterfront community park — complete with a pier, boardwalk and kayak rentals.

Editor’s note: This story has been updated with additional context.