A.D. Makepeace proposes 180-unit rental project

A.D. Makepeace has proposed building two four-story apartment buildings at its Rosebrook Business Park property.

According to preliminary plans, the project would consist of a 180 rental units. The project site currently houses a Southcoast Health office building and the All American Assisted Living complex located behind Five Guys restaurant and Cape Cod 5.

Of the 180 apartments, 135 would be market-rate and 45 would be income restricted and available to households with an income at or below 80% of the area median income. Thirty-one of the affordable units could have a local preference, meaning existing Wareham residents would receive priority when applying.

The project, known as 200 Rosebrook, will most likely put Wareham above the state-mandated goal of 10% affordable housing. This means the Chapter 40B regulations, which relax local zoning requirements for affordable housing projects and lessens a town’s ability to restrict or reject development proposals, will be satisfied. 

A.D. Makepeace Vice President of Marketing and Communication Linda Burke described the affordable housing goal as a “moving target” dependent on the amount and type of housing available in Wareham at any given time. 

Currently the project does not have an estimated cost or a construction timeline. 

“This is the perfect location for such a development,” said James Kane, A.D. Makepeace Company CEO. “It’s close to shops and services, public transportation, and hundreds of jobs, while also in a beautiful natural setting that is development ready, with infrastructure in place.”

MassHousing, a quasi-public state agency, issued a project eligibility letter on December 11, 2024, determining that 200 Rosebrook meets state standards regarding income restrictions, unit size and configuration, and other details. Therefore, the project is now eligible to apply for a comprehensive permit from the Wareham Zoning Board of Appeals.

The Zoning Board has scheduled a public hearing on the project for March 26 at 6 p.m. After the public hearing, the board will make a determination on permit approval. 

Kane noted that aside from the residents of the existing apartments at 35 Rosebrook and the All-American Assisted Living residents, there are no residential neighbors.

“It is particularly beneficial to the town that this project helps meet affordable housing needs while potentially removing the threat of an ‘unfriendly’ 40B project that neighbors do not like,” Kane said.

In 2022 A.D Makepeace decided against building an office building on the same site after marketing the plan for 10 years.

At the time, Kane cited construction costs and increased strain on sewer facilities as well as lack of demand as reasons the office building project didn’t make headway.

“We’ve been talking about building that third building in that location since 2009,” Burke said. “It is clear that there is no market for office space so we started looking at a residential project as a result of that and it was well received by town officials.”