Planning Board opens hearing on first West Central Corridor zoning project

NATICK -- March 25, 2026, Natick Planning Board gets first West Central Corridor application, a 219-unit Gables project, and denies an ANR plan. Gables Residential presented site plan review for 273 West Central St., a four-story, 219-unit mixed-use building over a partially buried parking podium with 258 spaces and 4,000 square feet of non-residential space, the first filing under the West Central Corridor zoning adopted last fall. Attorney Jamie King said the project seeks no variances and no waivers. Tetra Tech's Courtney Sudak projected 86 morning-peak and 88 evening-peak vehicle trips. Direct abutter Chris Theron of 2 Tamarack Road called it "a beautiful structure, but this isn't the right place for it, not this big." The board unanimously denied an ANR plan for 1 HF Brown Way for describing itself as a subdivision and containing lot-acreage errors, and continued a contentious carwash hearing at 625 Worcester St. to May 6 after counsel Jonathan Silverstein and a board member clashed over missing studies.