Residents Consider Developer Proposal to Bring New Neighborhood to Medfield State Hospital Campus

On April 6, 2022, almost exactly one year after the Town of Medfield issued a Request For Proposals for the purchase of a portion of the Medfield State Hospital campus, Medfield residents are entertaining a developer’s proposal to transform the property into a new neighborhood of 334 rental units. The proposal also supports a longstanding hope of Medfield residents to bring a cultural arts center to the state hospital campus.

Last Wednesday, Medfield State Hospital Development Committee held a hybrid remote/in-person public listening session on Zoom and in the Medfield High School Library. The listening session was the first of more to come, as the town shares information about the developer’s proposal with residents. 

In a Special Town Meeting this June, residents will be asked to vote on whether to sell 46 acres part of the town-owned portion of the state hospital property to the developer, Trinity Financial. Other parts of the Medfield State Hospital property are owned by the state.  

Trinity Financial was one of two developers to submit a proposal. Pulte Homes also submitted a proposal with three different scenarios. The Medfield State Hospital Development Committee, and ultimately Medfield’s Board of Selectmen, favored the Trinity Financial proposal. One reason was because it proposes housing of less density than the Pulte Homes proposal which envisioned 600 or 700 rental units.

Medfield's RFP strongly encouraged proposals that would incorporate a “mixed-use approach with housing, educational, recreational, cultural and commercial uses, with open space and with public access,” which create affordable housing, and enhance the distinct visual character of the state hospital area.

Committee Chair Tom Trehubenko noted that the Trinity Financial proposal was responsive to the Town’s priorities. It would:

• Put Medfield State Hospital property on the tax rolls of the town for the first time, with an estimated $716,000 collected annually in taxes;

• Not require any cash outlay by the town;

• Resolve environmental and physical issues of existing buildings on the property;

• Remove liability from the town;

• Add housing consistent with the town’s housing production plan;

• Retain open space that will remain in town control;

• Be generally consistent with the town’s 2019 Master Plan;

• Help make a Cultural Arts Center a reality.

The land proposed to be redeveloped by Trinity Financial surrounds two buildings that are currently leased by the Cultural Alliance of Medfield (CAM) from the Town of Medfield. CAM holds a 99 year lease, and this portion of the state hospital property is not included in the RFP. Medfield intends to retain ownership of those buildings.

For a number of years now, CAM has been seeking funding to redevelop its leased space into a Cultural Arts Center, a home for the arts. As part of Trinity Financial’s proposal, the developer would contribute $1 million to rehabilitate the buildings being leased by CAM. Trinity Financial would also provide a future donation of $250,000 for Cultural Arts Center programming. The Trinity Financial proposal, with its offer of $1.25 million in contributions to support CAM's hoped-for cultural center, presents a significant opportunity for CAM to make meaningful progress on fundraising to fulfill that vision.

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