[Ed note: My Southborough accepts signed letters to the editor submitted by Southborough residents. Letters may be emailed to mysouthborough@gmail.com.
The following letter is from the Southborough Select Board.]
To the Editor and Southborough Residents:
We are writing this to ask for your support for a zoning warrant article at the upcoming Special Town Meeting (on Monday, October 27 at 6:30PM at the Trottier Middle School). We believe that Town Meeting’s approval of this article is a critical first step toward reversing the recent shift of our local tax burden from commercial/industrial taxpayers towards residential property taxpayers. Another benefit will be opening the door for a major national retailer—Costco—to locate in Southborough and provide a very attractive shopping option (for both groceries and other goods) for our residents. We want to outline below why we believe that this is a very positive opportunity for Southborough, and why we are strongly recommending approval of this warrant article.
Atlantic Management Corporation has announced its intention to develop a portion of the Southborough EMC/Dell property located at the junction of Route 9 and I-495. Atlantic is a major real estate development firm which specializes in transforming under-utilized properties into very successful developments—with significant property tax revenue for the host towns. Atlantic has previously developed major parcels in Westborough (Otis Street Development Project), Marlborough (Marlborough Hills Development Project) and elsewhere. They have extensive experience working with towns to produce results that benefit all parties. For example, the Atlantic projects in Westborough and Marlborough each currently generate about $4 million of additional commercial tax revenue annually.
Atlantic’s current plans are to build a Costco store at 21 Coslin Drive. Portions of the 21 Coslin Drive parcel are located in Southborough and Westborough. At the request of the Select Board and our Town Assessor, Atlantic intends to site the Costco building in Southborough, and not in Westborough—to maximize the tax revenue for Southborough. The Westborough portion of the 21 Coslin parcel will be used for parking. Current plans are to open the Costco store in the summer of 2027. Expectations are for Costco to act as a magnet for other businesses to co-locate with Costco to attract Costco customers to their businesses—as has been the case with other Costco locations. When the entire project is completed, a significant boost to the commercial tax base in Southborough is very likely.
In order for this Costco location to be built, a zoning change to our Industrial Park zone that includes 21 Coslin is needed. This zoning change will be on the warrant for the Special Town Meeting on October 27th as Article One. This zoning change adds a new definition to the types of properties eligible to be built in our Industrial Park zones that would include retail stores like Costco. Because this Article is a zoning article, it requires approval from a supermajority of voters present— i.e., two thirds.
The Select Board is unanimously in favor of this project and is very supportive of Article One. For several years, both the Advisory Committee and the Select Board have spoken of the need to increase our commercial tax base to reduce the tax levy on residential properties. Over the past few years, Southborough has been heading in the wrong direction: the commercial tax base value has been either declining or growing more slowly than the residential tax base value. This has been placing an increasingly larger tax burden on residential homes—as many of our residents are very acutely aware of. This project can be the first significant step to reverse this trend and provide some real tax relief for homeowners. And going forward, it will make it easier to fund improvements for schools, roads, and public safety.
We understand that there is competition for this Costco location from other neighboring towns, particularly including Westborough. Approval of Article One on October 27th is important for keeping Southborough in the driver’s seat for this project. As with most real estate projects, time is of the essence for us to bring this project to Southborough. If we want to take advantage of this opportunity, it is very important that Article One be approved by a two-thirds majority of Town Meeting voters on October 27th.
There is much additional information about this project that we know our residents may want to understand. Over the next weeks, Atlantic will participate in meetings with various constituencies to explain their plans in greater detail. We will provide a calendar of these meetings on the Town website as they are scheduled. If the zoning article is passed, the developer’s project would then go through public hearings on an application for a special permit. That will provide residents a forum to address detailed concerns about parking, landscaping, stormwater, etc. But the critical first step is approval of the zoning article, without which the project will not go forward.
In closing, we ask that you attend the Special Town Meeting on Monday October 27, 2025 at 6:30PM at Trottier Middle School and that you support Article One. The Trottier cafeteria will be set up to accommodate parents with children. The Select Board will continue to discuss the proposed project at its next two scheduled meetings – October 7th and October 21st. Please reach out to any member of the Select Board if you would like to discuss the project with us.
Andrew Dennington, Chair
Marguerite Landry, Vice Chair
Kathy Cook
Al Hamilton
Tim Fling
