Home sales in Westford for April and May 2008

May 31, 2008

Friends ask me all the time about what homes are selling for in our area, so I’m going to start charting the Sold Properties for single family homes in Westford. The table below shows what sold in Westford in April and May of 2008.

What conclusions can you draw from this chart? Pricing is the name of the game. I’ll write more about pricing in my next post.

Address Sale Price Orig. Price % of Orig. Days
50 Elm Street $235,000 $259,900 90% 24
103 Acton Road $267,000 $389,900 68% 391
12 North Street $270,000 $299,900 90% 286
8 Millstone Hill Road $380,000 $418,500 91% 481
36 Birch Road $390,000 $424,900 92% 55
7 Vine Brook $439,900 $439,000 100% 21
11 Heywood Road $441,250 $479,900 92% 161
8 Orion Way $565,000 $598,000 94% 56
52 Vose Hill Road $681,950 $749,900 91% 306
One Loon Way $730,000 $745,000 98% 14
15 Kylemore Drive $745,000 $815,000 91% 117
2 Coolidge $223,000 $223,000 100% 35
7 Pershing Street $338,000 $369,000 92% 154
7 Marie Ann Drive $425,000 $459,000 93% 71
17 Long Sought For Pd $430,000 $449,000 96% 21
61 Endmoor Road $510,000 $624,000 82% 102
304 Lot 4 Groton Road $599,900 $649,900 92% 380
16 Chandler Road $585,000 $604,900 97% 26
31 Heather Drive $616,000 $657,500 94% 179
18 Jennie Richards $630,000 $699,000 90% 60
55 Russells Way $660,000 $650,000 102% 23
76 Chamberlain Road $641,000 $680,000 94% 138
9 Rome Drive $826,430 $945,000 87% 312
2 Old Lowell Road $900,000 $1,250,000 72% 611
Averages $522,060 $578,342 91% 168

Posted by Susan Ernst | Filed Under Economy, Market, Selling a Home, Westford | Leave a Comment 

An Interview with the Developer of Cornerstone Square

May 1, 2008

Since the hearing in Land Court on the Cornerstone Square development has been continued to May 8th, I interviewed Robert Walker, the developer, to get his take on the issue. You never know if you’re getting both sides of the issues from the newspaper.  Here is the interview:

Susan: How would the town of Westford benefit from this project?

Robert: I appreciate your interest in our project, Susan. It is truly a loss not only for me but the entire town. We are convinced this project would have had all of the following benefits:
1. A new fire station in Parker Village
2. A new pumper truck for the fire station
3. A $1,000,000 “free” grant to the Town for sidewalks to the center and other uses
4. A $5,000,000 State investment to rebuild the roadway from Minot’s Corner all the way to Nixon road in compliance with the “Westford corridor plan”
5. A $15,000 gift from us to the affordable housing trust
6. $400,000 in building permit fees
7. $630,000 in annual taxes
8. $1,500,000 of roadway improvements paid for by us
9. 700 new jobs
10. A great new source of donations and sponsorships for local interests
11. A local developer with ties to the community
12. Increased opportunity to grow the commercial tax base with fortune 500 companies who demand these types of services
13. Increased housing value

Susan: When speaking to Westford residents about this project, most of the concerns that I am hearing are about traffic. How have you addressed those concerns?

Robert: The short answer on the traffic is that not only were the improvements listed going to deal with the Cornerstone traffic but they were going to address the problems that we face NOW and in the immediate future. As it stands now all of the approved projects do not address Minot’s Corner, so without Cornerstone, who is going to fix the roads? We received FULL approval for Cornerstone from Mass Highway AND the town’s own outside consultant, but some members of the Planning Board didn’t believe them.

Susan: If the Planning Board denied the whole project back in Feb, why are they now approving 3 of the special permits, what does it mean? What about the other 2?

Robert: As far as the permits from the Planning Board go we had requested 6 total permits, 3 of which were ultimately approved. The other 3 are under appeal and are sure to get approved once the land court hears the case. We submitted reams of documents supporting our case.

Susan: I would like to have a shopping and dining destination in town like Cornerstone Square, and so would many of my friends and colleagues. What can supporters of your project do?

Robert: The opportunity to save this is to support the passage of Article 21 at the Westford Town Meeting on May 10th, 2008.
—- End of interview —-

Once again I feel I need to say that I support this project. If nothing else, wouldn’t it be nice not to have to drive to Nashua every time you need a birthday present? With the price of gas rapidly moving towards $4 a gallon, I would really like the opportunity to shop & dine closer to home. I love Westford, and want to preserve its character and lifestyle as much as anyone, but the one thing I think we are missing in Westford is a “walking” downtown area like you find in towns like Concord, Lexington, and even Groton. As a Westford real estate agent, many of my clients look for this in a town.

Take a close look at the candidates for Planning Board before you vote in the May 6th election.

I know not everyone will agree with me, let me know what you think!

Posted by Susan Ernst | Filed Under Economy, Market, Recreation, Westford | Leave a Comment