The Latest Developments with the Malden Hospital Site
Source of Aerial Image and Listing Information, current as of early 2017, from:
http://www.loopnet.com/Listing/17948862/184-Pleasant-Street-Malden-MA/
A chronology of events since 2015 can be found on this timeline
The "deep history" of Malden Hospital can be found on maldenhistory.org
The Latest Developments
July 26, 2018, only minutes for the Januuary 16, 2018 MHSDC meeting had been posted.
July 6, 2018 - Advocate runs a story, Hospital site debate heating up, at this link
July 4, 2018, three meetings of the Malden Hospital Site Development Committee (MHSDC) were held between its establishment in Nov 2017 and July 4, 2018. No committee minutes had been posted during this seven month timeframe. (See link.) Written requests were submitted seeking minutes.
June 28, 2018 - Advocate article "Public comments on hospital fail to sway City Council" at https://advocatenews.net/public-comments-on-hospital-fail-to-sway-city-council/
June 27, 2018, the Ward 3 Councillor held a ward meeting and unveiled and advocated for his own development proposal at the hospital site which he referred to as "The Matheson Plan". This was held after the last Council meeting before summer recess. The plan requires zoning changes. See http://www.maldenhistory.org/W3June2018/.
June 26, 2018, a number of residents spoke in favor of untabling 224-18, in ordre to review and vet all proposals for developing the Malden Hospital site through the Rules & Ordinance subcommittee. (All proposals known at that time required some form of zoning change.) One resident, the President of Friends of Fellsmere Heights, spoke in opposition. The City Council refused to act on the untabling - one councillor made a motion to discuss this based on citizen input raised as part of Public Comment, however, no second followed. The Advocate story covers this at: https://advocatenews.net/public-comments-on-hospital-fail-to-sway-city-council/ - Video of the 6/26/18 meeting is at http://cityofmalden.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=2&clip_id=206
June 11, 2018 (or thereabouts) City Council President Debbie DeMaria, Councillor John Matheson, former Malden City Clerk Karen Anderson met with Bobbi Carbone, MD, MBA Interim President and CEO, MelroseWakefield Healthcare
June 7, 2018 - Meeting hosted by Fellsmere Housing Group at Malden Family Health Center - invitation announcement linked here
June 6, 2018 episode of Mr. Ed Lucey's 02148 show, airing on MATV, focused on the various proposals circulating around the Malden Hospital site. You can find that hour-long video http://vp.telvue.com/preview?id=T01001&video=335502
On May 1, 2018, the "Hospital Hill" proposal was submitted to Council members, and the Friends of Fellsmere Heights proposal was presented at the Council meeting. Notes at https://www.facebook.com/MaldenNewsNetwork/posts/2023903764514952
4/27/18 - Details of a new proposal, titled "Hospital Hill" were shared publicly. You can find those early details at this link.
4/17/18 Council meeting, a plan was reached for the City Council President to send a letter to the owners of the hospital site, indicating a desire to follow-up. See a related article at https://www.facebook.com/MaldenNewsNetwork/posts/2017875891784406
April 17, 2018, item 224-18 was introduced by At-Large Coucnillor Craig Spadafora during the City Council meeting. The action called for "The Fellsmere Housing Group and Friends of Fellsmere Heights to present their proposal of a zoning overlay allowing clustered mixed of residential housing at the former Malden Hospital Site to the Rules & Ordinance Committee." Councillor John Matheson moved to table the item, which was seconded by Councillor Barbara Murphy, and it was tabled.
At this meeting Matheson put forward a new “Committee Report” from the Ad Hoc Committee he chairs. This item had not been listed on the official Council agenda along with the other “Committee Reports”. This led to a seven minute discussion, with multiple references including important city communications involving the City Solicitor, reference to Executive Session, and discussion of past and future correspondence with the owners of the Malden Hospital site. It is likely some of the attendees who left earlier in the evening would have stayed longer had they known in advance this item would be discussed. See more details at this link
April 3, 2018, the Fellsmere Housing Group provided a brief, informal presentation (during the guest section of the agenda) to the City Council. This described the latest updates to their proposal for the hospital site. You can see additional notes at https://www.facebook.com/MaldenNewsNetwork/posts/2011910725714256.
A letter was read into the record from Secretary Jay Ash of the Executive Office of Housing & Economic Development. A transcript is here, and a scanned copy of the letter is here.
The meeting opened with the City Clerk reading a letter sent from Mass Works to Mayor Christenson into the record (https://www.mass.gov/service-details/massworks). That letter offered financial support from the state to the City of Malden - in the amount of $2.5M - tied to the redevelopment of the Malden Hospital site.
March 28, 2018 - The Malden Hospital Site Development Committee held a meeting with agenda posted at https://cityofmalden.legistar.com/Calendar.aspx - The agenda is here.
Wicked Local covered the meeting with an article: "Medford, Malden councilors meet to discuss future of Malden Hospital" at this link
February 28, 2018 - The Malden Hospital Site Development Committee held a meeting with agenda posted at https://cityofmalden.legistar.com/Calendar.aspx - The agenda is here.
January 2018, Malden's Mayor Gary Christenson wrote a letter to the council encouraging a review of the Fellsmere Housing Group's proposal for the hospital site.
January 23, 2018 meeting, a communication was read from the Mayor regarding the Malden Hospital Site. The letter stated: "I am requesting that the City Council refer this matter to the Hospital Site Review Committee for public discussion since this committee is tasked with identifying and recommending proposals that make sense for our community." The letter continued describing the overall importance and scope of this matter: "From a financial perspective, the level of private investment will approach $100 million and when completed, the project will generate an estimated $1.2M in tax revenue after expenses on an annual basis. The proposal also includes nearly $500,000 in one-time infrastructure improvements that could be used to make further enhancements to the nearby pond and park and/or be used for affordable housing. Moreover, I believe that this proposal will be attractive to the state and serve as a catalyst to the City's ability to seek Massworks funding for associated infrastructure improvements ..." That letter is linked to here. Itemlive covered this story (on 1/25/18): "Developer Makes a New Bid for the Old Malden Hospital Site", at this link.
Two members of the Malden Hospital Site Deveopment Committee (MHSDC) - the Chair and the Resident Member - met privately with Fellsmere Housing Group, not in open meeting and without other members of the MHSDC. As of July,no further public discussion reviewing the Fellsmere Housing Group plan was taken up by the Malden Hospital Site Development Committee, as anticipated by the Mayor's letter of 1/23/18.
January 21, 2018 - Itemlive posted an article "Malden and Medford Could Join Forces on Malden Hospital Site", see that link here
January 16, 2018 - The Malden Hospital Site Development Committee met with an agenda as posted at https://cityofmalden.legistar.com/Calendar.aspx The agenda is here. The meetnig minutes as initially posted are here, however, they need to be updated with corrections.
January 3, 2018 - WHAT SHOULD BE BUILT AT THE OLD MALDEN HOSPITAL SITE? A NEW COMMITTEE WILL DECIDE - "The Jan. 16 ad hoc Committee on Malden Hospital Site Development is expected to be held before the Malden City Council meeting."
https://www.itemlive.com/2018/01/03/built-old-malden-hospital-site-new-committee-will-decide/
12/17/17 - Order 552-17 was put forward by Councillor Matheson that "the Malden Hospital Site Development Committee meet with the Medford committee." At the March 28, 2018 Council meeting, that same order was tabled - "A motion was made that the Order be tabled and send a second correspondence to Hallmark Health and invite them to meet with the committee for further discussion regarding the property. The two Ad Hoc Committees set up a date of May 23rd to meet jointly in Medford to allow the residents to give their input. The motion carried by a unanimous vote." (The May 23rd meeting was never held.)
Years earlier, in approximately February 2015, the same Chair (prior to the establishment of the MHSDC) met in a closed meeting with a different resident and the Fellsmere Housing Group at City Hall.
11/17/17 - order 466-17 was sponsored by Councillor Matheson, "That the City Council establish an Ad Hoc Committee on Malden Hospital Site Development." Minutes of that meeting indicate that "A motion was made by Councillor Matheson that the Order be adopted and an Ad Hoc committee on Malden Hospital Site Development, consisting of four Councillors and one resident be formed. The motion carried by a unanimous vote."
5/11/17 - "What will happen to the old Malden Hospital site?" reported by the Boston Globe, "In 2013, Malden ordered Hallmark to make repairs to the structure, including upgrades to the sprinkler and fire alarm systems. Hallmark balked, saying the building was safe, and sued the city. Get Fast Forward in your inbox: Forget yesterday's news. Get what you need today in this early-morning email. Enter email address Sign Up In March, a jury determined Hallmark did not have to complete the repairs. The city will not appeal, Mayor Gary Christenson said."
On March 23, 2017, a court decision was reached in the trial between Hallmark Health and the City of Malden. Rrelated notes and reporting can be found here
On March 8, 2017, a Planning Board meeting reviewed subdivision plans at the hospital site. The planning documents were photographed and can be found at this link. The subdivision plans were not approved. Related documents can be found for the 57 Hospital Road decision, the 100 Hospital Road decision, and the preliminary staff report used in the planning board review of the subdivision plan.
A PDF with property description can be found at the following URL:
http://x.lnimg.com/attachments/87A85FDE-37E7-435D-80D5-BC73F89C0CB9.pdf
- Overhead / aerial image of property here
- CCRC-Senior Housing-Medical Description here
- For sale information here
- Aporoved Project Summary here
- Colliers Info as PDF here
The online listing states
"In 2005 the City of Malden issued a special permit for a 300-unit CCRC facility on this 18-acre development site and the City of Malden has recently indicated that the special permit should be easily renewed if a qualified development firm submits a plan that is similar in the scope and scale to the plan submitted by the former development team."
Other Recent Updates
In early February 2017, Hallmark Health reportedly filed "preliminary petitions" to subdivide the property known ad the "old Malden Hospital site".
This type of filing goes directly to Malden's Planning Board for review and consideration, and a review is expected to take place in the March timeframe. After a preliminary petition is filed, a final plan can be submitted (expected to be within 7 months.)
We have requested a review of the "preliminary petition" filing and will share a copy of this as soon as we are able to obtain it.
On 2/4/17, the City of Malden held a public meeting on the Residential Building Moratorium. Citizens attending mentioned the Hospital Site quite a number of times, perhaps more than any other single topic mentioned at the meeting. Notes from that meeting can be found at the following sites (duplicate posts on FaceBook and the web):
- https://www.facebook.com/MaldenNewsNetwork/posts/1823399841232013
- http://www.publicactionnetwork.com/Moratorium/Salemwood/notes.html
11/15/16 - Malden residents and represntatives of the Friends of Fellsmere Heights prestned to a subgroup of the Medford City Council - see notes at this link
9/22/16 - Fellsmere Housing Group held a meeting at 100 Hospital Road with community - see https://www.facebook.com/MaldenNewsNetwork/posts/1763030237268974
6/10/15 - Malden Hospital development project opponents seek support from Medford officials, http://www.enterprisenews.com/article/20150610/news/150619776
3/20/15 - City of Malden Community Meeting on future development https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=amRKmDIOJ7A&feature=youtu.be&t=221
8/9/2009 - "Hospital property back on market Hallmark seeks new developer" at http://archive.boston.com/news/local/articles/2009/08/09/former_hospital_site_in_malden_goes_back_on_the_market/
8/10/1992 - THE MALDEN HOSPITAL v. LEONARD G. DUNN, JAMES A. McDONALD, JR., FRANK W. FITZGERALD, JOSEPH R. CIMINO and CLAIRE CROKEN, as they are members of the MALDEN BOARD OF APPEAL. MISC 164183, http://masscases.com/cases/land/1992/1992-164183-DECISION.html
News Stories, Events and other Updates
Hallmark Health v. City of Malden trial delayed (Feb 16, 2017)
"Before calling it a day Thursday, (Judge) Henry gave the parties one last nudge to discuss a settlement. "If you resolve it short of [March 13]," he said, "you'll make us happy, too."
Jury trial starts Thursday between Hallmark, City of Malden (Feb 15, 2017)
Hallmark Health prepares contingency plan on Malden Hospital site (Feb 8, 2017)
November 15, 2016 - Medford's "Malden Hospital Ad Hoc Sub Committee", Presentation by S. Keleti, P. Tamarro, with J. Cyr (Friends of Fellsmere Heights)
- Meeting Agenda (JPG)
- Photos from Meeting Photo1, Photo2, Photo3, Photo4
- TriFold Brochure (PDF)
- Funding, Grants, and General Plan (PDF)
Hallmark Health finalizes merger with parent of Tufts Medical Center (Boston Globe December 22, 2016)
Sylvester Baxter Delta plaque re-discovered at Fellsmere Park in Malden (Oct 14, 2015)
Hallmark, Partners review merger plans (March 30, 2015)
Hallmark Health sues city of Malden Dispute is over safety citations at closed hospital (Boston Globe November 3, 2013)