What's Going on With Cottages in the Woods?

Two new developments adjacent to Exit 32 have caught the eye of Boston Road motorists recently and today's Patch Answers column answers a question on one of those developments.

No, not Cornerstone. Today's question comes from a reader wondering about the Cottages in the Woods development across the street from Coldwell Banker, specifically...

"What's going on with Cottages in the Woods? It looks abandoned."

To that reader, we got the answer from Wescon president David Guthrie, whose company is overseeing the project.

According to Guthrie, the delay in construction came from two major factors: the economy and with National Grid's abutting infastructure, particularly easements related to nearby electrical poles and natural gas hookups.

"It was ugly there for awhile, and like any good developer, we fought for as long as we could," said Guthrie. "But like anyone fighting Goliath, there's no way they would be moved."

National Grid representatives say that they responded in good faith with Guthrie, with negotiations delayed due to nuances to settling the negotiation process.

With the real estate market slowly recovering, Guthrie will be continuing construction of the originally 20 planned units.

Currently four units are completely finished and five more are at least partially finished.

As a 40B project, the homes have also gotten eight entrants in an affordable housing lottery conducted by the Chelmsford Housing Authority.

Guthrie noted that six of the eight entrants qualified for 40B housing, with a total of two still remaining and one stating they may renew their interest in the development later.