Is Wayfair Considering North Andover's Osgood Site?

NORTH ANDOVER, MA — When representatives from Hillwood Inc. met with North Andover selectmen about the possibility of developing the Osgood Landing site for a partner, they cited a nondisclosure agreement that prevented them from identifying the e-commerce company. But they did drop a hint, saying they had already developed or was in the process of developing 30 similar centers for their client.

That hint points to Wayfair, the Boston-based online furniture retailer Wayfair that has already publicly announced similar joint projects with Hillwood in Hebron, KY and Jacksonville, FL. Local speculation has also focused on Amazon, which already has a regional distribution center on the south coast of Massachusetts. Regardless of which company Hillwood is working with, the proposal from the Texas-based real estate developer could be a boon for North Andover, bringing 1,500 jobs with starting wages at $15 per hour.

Most recently, Merrimack Valley officials pitched Osgood Landing in its long-shot bid to lure Amazon's second headquarters to northeastern Massachusetts. North Andover has been looking for a tenant for the massive property since Lucent scaled back operations at the facility in 2003. At its peak, 12,000 people worked there. The site has also been eyed as a possible site for a cannabis farm as the state continues its move to legalized, recreational marijuana and retail cannabis sales.

Under the proposal presented to selectmen, which would need Town Meeting approval, Hillwood would purchase and demolish most of the existing buildings on the property and build a new warehouse facility for its client. Selectmen will likely call a special town meeting for sometime this summer to consider the zoning changes that would be needed for the project to move forward.

Dave Copeland can be reached at dave.copeland@patch.com or by calling 617-433-7851. Follow him on Twitter (@CopeWrites) and Facebook (/copewrites).