Obici Place survey unveiled
Published 9:53 pm Tuesday, June 23, 2015
A public survey to gather opinions on the types of business citizens most desire at the Obici Place site has been unveiled.
The former Obici Hospital site will have about eight acres of developable land after the back half of the site is sold to Waverton Associates for a 224-unit apartment complex.
The survey asks citizens what types of restaurants, clothing stores, grocery stores and other types of stores and services they would like to see on the site. There’s also a space to make open-ended comments.
Located at 1900 N. Main St., the site held the hospital until the hospital was moved to the current site on Godwin Boulevard. The old building was demolished in 2003. Several attempts to sell and develop the property have fallen through, including one by Robinson Development, which bought it in 2006. After failing to get a theater operator to anchor the mixed-use site, the group sold the site back to the city in 2008.
The city transferred the site to the Economic Development Authority in 2013. Earlier this month, City Council voted to rezone the site as a mixed-use development in order to allow the apartments along with retail and commercial uses on the site.
According to the survey, the commercial parcel cannot hold a big-box retailer but does have the capacity to house as much as 60,000 square feet of restaurants, retail, service and offices.
The goal is to create a “walkable community” by locating businesses that will be of use to those living, working at and visiting the site as well as the larger community.
The survey can be found on the City of Suffolk website.
City spokeswoman Diana Klink said the city anticipates keeping the survey available for at least 30 days.