The Planning Board on Dec. 3 held its first hearing for a developer looking to build a 116-unit assisted living and memory care complex dubbed Benchmark at Natick along North Main Street between Lake Cochituate and the Stop & Shop plaza. The meeting, held at the Morse Institute Library, drew a crowd of residents seeking to learn more about the proposal, which would be situated on property zoned partially for residential and partially for commercial uses (related documents are posted online).

Board Chair Terri Evans declared at the outset that this is only the beginning of the process, especially given the scale of this project, which one of the applicant team’s members described as a couple of three-story condominium buildings with a common area.

In a follow-up email from applicant National Development’s Katie Britt Snyder, she wrote that “Pending approval from the Town of Natick, National Development and Benchmark Senior Living will move forward with securing a building permit and anticipates beginning construction in the latter part of 2026. The MassDOT Route 27/9 interchange project is already underway, and we will coordinate closely with MassDOT as both projects progress together. Since that project will take considerably longer to build, our Assisted Living and Memory Care residence will be finished and delivered first.”

National Development seeks a special permit from the town for its project under Assisted Living Residence use in the Natick Zoning Bylaw, and had a slew of corporate, legal, consultant team members on hand to go over a 40-slide marketing presentation and answer questions.

A handful of other permits will be sought from other town bodies and the state, and the applicant also seeks a number of zoning waivers, not all of which Planning Board members were keen on from the start. The applicant has already begun a process of working with various town departments, including the Building and Fire Departments, to pave the way for this project, and is readying to communicate with neighbors. As with seemingly every project that goes through the town approvals process, less traffic is promised, and of course with an assisted living and memory care development, the argument can be made that most residents wouldn’t be driving. But that’s not to say staff, visitor, delivery, etc., traffic won’t exist.
 

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Notices of the meeting were published in The Metrowest Daily News… not that many (any?) of you would have seen those. We encourage you to urge town officials to place paid notices on our site, where we’re confident more people will actually see them.

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National Development has worked on a bunch of senior living projects, and Benchmark runs dozens of such facilities, including Avenu in Natick. They’ve gotten awards, it’s about community, and as we’ve seen with other pitches for senior living in the area (the Residence at Natick South next to the Community-Senior Center and the one that got shot down at the top of Pond Road), data shows an aging population that will have different housing needs going forward.

Benchmark’s Eric Gardner at the hearing extolled the virtues of the 8.8-acre site across 210 & 220 North Main St. (the old Fannon’s liquor store location, office space, and residential property). “Invariably the best sites for senior housing are transitional between residential and commercial uses, and this site fits the bill for that.” Plans are for 92 assisted living and 24 memory care units, with a mix of configurations.

The office building at 220 North Main St., which includes dental and other tenants, would remain as is under the plan, and 210 North Main St., would be the address for the senior development. About three acres of the property, furthest away from North Main Street, would be conserved as open space under the plan, and the applicant stressed efforts to make the project less intense near residential neighbors.

Part of the plan would be to have a couple of access points to Rte. 27, which already has been subject to seemingly endless roadwork, including at the current entry to 220 North Main St. across from Stop & Shop, and of course the big interchange redo at Rtes. 9/27 slated to be complete in 2030.

Following the presentation, Planning Board members commented and asked questions, as did members of the public.

Planning Board questions focused on areas such as parking, neighborhood buffers, and traffic, including the fact that the development would be near both Ben-Hem Elementary School and Wilson Middle Schools. A question from Board member Alan Cloutier focused on the open space at the rear of the property, and whether this wooded area could be an amenity for residents, with walking trails. National Development’s Snyder at the meeting said this was considered, but in the end it was determined it probably wouldn’t be safe for much of the development’s population and would be better left untouched to protect neighbors.

Board member Andy Meyer complimented the presenters and the proposed building design, but also cited history of a past pitch for assisted living in this general area in a residential neighborhood. “To say that it got beaten down at Town Meeting would be an understatement,” he said. Meyer said working collaboratively on this proposal will be key to gaining support from residents and town officials (this complex would be adjacent to the Lakeshore Road neighborhood and Mary Bunker Park). Changes to proposed lighting and more could help to address concerns.

 
Meyer also eyed areas of the property that he wondered whether could be developed into more of an amenity for residents and/or neighbors. “Living through the, God help us, bridge reconstruction and this reconstruction, the neighbors need something to say ‘Why would you bother living through this?’ Because I think it’s going to be a rough couple of years,” he said.

Overall, the tone of comments from neighbors and other members of the public was fairly supportive. Concerns that were raised included potential parking near residential neighborhoods. Several made pleas to leave the wooded acres in the back alone, as they say Lakeshore Road has already become more of a cut-through with the rise of the Cochituate Rail Trail.

The Planning Board hearing is being continued to Jan. 14.

This article was updated on 12/8/25 with follow-up info from National Development, as noted.
 

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