Vacant South Shore Plaza Store Could Become Office Space

BRAINTREE, MA — The former Lord & Taylor store at the South Shore Plaza may get turned into office space. The Braintree Planning Board on Tuesday night approved a special permit and site modification to mall owner Simon Property Group.

The permit allows a mix of uses inside the 118,000 square feet of space at the former store. Braintree's Lord & Taylor store closed last year when the national retailer got rid of its brick-and-mortar outlets.

Eighty-five percent of the former store will be used for office space, 10 percent will go towards retail, and five percent will be designated for food and beverage sales, project consulting engineer Diego Villareale told the planning board. It wasn't made clear what tenants would lease the space.

Villareale said some modifications will be made to the two-story building to set up the former store for mixed-use. Modifications include installing windows, skylights and landscaping changes. The building would still have three main entrances, including two from the parking lot and one from the mall.

Board members asked Villareale how office space would affect traffic. According to Villareale, there would be more traffic in the area in the morning, but traffic will lessen in afternoon peak hours and on Saturdays.

The board voted 4-1 to approve the special permit. The lone vote against the proposal came from William Grove, who said he was concerned about parking. District 2 Councilor Steve Sciascia said he wanted the board to hold off on approving the permit to try to get Simon Property Group to increase the buffer between the mall and abutting neighborhoods.