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Saturday, May 25, 2013
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Developer proposes commercial project for Outer Washington Street

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For the first time, Michael E. Lundy will propose commercial and retail stores for his sprawling Washington Summit medical and professional campus along outer Washington Street in the town of Watertown.

Mr. Lundy intends to present “sketch plans” to the town’s Planning Board on Monday night for his proposal to turn a 6.5-acre site off the busy highway into commercial and retail stores. He proposes tearing down the Fraternal Order of Eagles clubhouse and replacing it with commercial sites that might include a restaurant and retail stores, he said.

“If it’s well-received by the Planning Board, we’ll move forward with our plans,” he said.

Located adjacent to the campus, it would “tie into” and “complement” Washington Summit, which consists of a series of buildings that house mostly medical offices and soon will include a 288-bed elder care facility that Samaritan Medical Center is constructing on an 18-acre site there.

As an integral component of the project, Mr. Lundy plans to acquire the Eagles site and replace it by building a new 6,500-square-foot clubhouse for the organization at Northland Plaza off Eastern Boulevard.

The news of his plans for outer Washington Street comes just days after he presented preliminary plans for 390 one- to three-bedroom apartments, 150 two-story town homes, a big-box store, a restaurant and numerous other shops and businesses in the village of Carthage.

While plans are in the early stages on what exactly the outer Washington Street commercial venture would entail, Mr. Lundy said a couple of commercial businesses have indicated they want to be included, with several others expressing interest in the proposal as well. He also said his company has not started marketing the property yet.

“We’ve had a lot of interest,” he said, noting that the Washington Summit restricts commercial businesses on the campus.

His conceptual plans include either a 10,000- to 12,000-square-foot building or two smaller ones with direct entrances from outer Washington Street and two or three buildings that would be constructed behind them, he said. It depends ultimately on what kind of interest the venture generates, he said.

That section of outer Washington Street, dominated by car dealerships, “really needs” that kind of development because it does not include retail stores and a couple of small restaurants and convenience stores at either end, he said.

There is a demand for that kind of development along that part of outer Washington Street because of the 500 employees at Washington Summit and the traffic that will be generated by the elder care facility, he said.

Town Councilman David W. Prosser has been impressed with the development that Mr. Lundy has accomplished at Washington Summit in just a few short years. He also complimented the developer for his cooperative relationship with the town.

“He’s bringing in high-quality professional people who need buildings,” he said.

Meanwhile, Mr. Lundy said, he is also working with a pediatric dentistry practice and three medical practices to lease space at Washington Summit.

The town Planning Board meets at 7 p.m. Monday in the Town Hall, 22867 County Route 67.

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