Planning Board OKs Division Of Wing School Site Between Town, Developer – CapeNews.net

The Sandwich Planning Board has approved a plan to subdivide the former Henry T. Wing School property on Water Street, separating the playing fields and rear parking lots from the rest of the property, which will be redeveloped into senior housing.

“We are officially splitting the property to determine what the town is retaining and what [the developer] is buying,” planning director Ralph A. Vitacco said ahead of the meeting. “There were so many questions, everyone was asking if the town is selling the fields and the playground.”

The board voted unanimously to approve the subdivision plan.

Stratford Capital Group (SCG) is buying the old school property from the town and plans to transform the site into affordable housing units for seniors ages 62 and up.

SCG’s plan is to tear down most of the existing buildings on the site and replace them with two- and three-story apartment buildings.

If all three of the planned phases are completed, the complex would eventually offer 128 units of affordable rental housing.

SCG’s plan to preserve the Wing School’s original red brick building helped townspeople accept the housing proposal after years of debate about how to use the school and the surrounding property.

The project has received approval from the selectmen, Town Meeting, the zoning board, the planning board and the town’s historic district committee.

The first of three phases will be built in and around the 1927 building and will contain 43 apartments, according to the plans.