Korff Sells Newton Development Site, Seeks Changes for Riverside

Image courtesy Elkus Manfredi Architects

Developer Robert Korff is selling off an approved development site for 292 multifamily units in West Newton and seeking changes that would potentially revive his stalled Riverside project.

Korff’s Mark Development said it’s selling the Dunstan Residences project that was approved in 2021 under the Chapter 40B affordable housing law to New Jersey-based Garden Homes. The project, which had begun site work, includes a cluster of parcels off Washington Street, including the former Shoe Barn store which relocated to Korff’s Trio development in Newtonville.

In a statement, Korff’s Mark Development said “high interest rates, increased construction costs and overall economic uncertainty” contributed to the decision to sell the project to Garden Homes.

“It was important to Mark Development that the community vision that drove this project be maintained. This includes building the project as approved and doing so as soon as possible,” Korff said in a statement.

Garden Homes, a New Jersey-based developer, will move forward with the construction, Mark Development said.

Korff also announced a potential shift to a housing-focused plan for the Riverside development, which included a large life science component but has been stalled since late 2022.

Mark Development is in discussions with state officials over an initial phase of development that is “housing-centric,” the company said.

In December, the developer asked the MBTA, which owns the parking lots next to Riverside station, for a two-year extension of its deadline to close on the ground lease for the 13-acre site. The site is approved for 550 apartments along with office-lab buildings.

Mark Development said the project would begin nine months after it secures financing, and that the 550-unit rental housing component of the project could be built before any life science space.

“Due to challenges in the office/lab market, the Mark Development team is collaborating with the Commonwealth to consider an initial development at Riverside that is housing-centric,” Mark Development said.

Mark Development declined to release any additional details on what changes it is seeking from state officials at Riverside.