AMESBURY — The former home of Trader Alan’s Truck Stop near Interstate 495 has been dormant for years. But that may change soon after the city announced it is accepting proposals to reclaim the site.
The first step took place last week when the city published a request for proposals on its website.
The former truck stop at 21 Pond View Ave. sits on 6.8 acres zoned for an office park. The property was privately owned and the site of a truck stop that included a diner, motel and fueling station/service garage.
The property was abandoned in the 1990s and seized by the city through tax foreclosure in 2001. It is listed as surplus municipal property.
There are no known limitations for future use of the property, according to environmental assessments.
In March 2020, a proposal was presented to the City Council to declare the property as surplus and it was approved. The city’s Disposition Committee completed its work last fall.
The process, which lasted nearly 18 months, included multiple opportunities for community members to weigh in on the parcel’s future.
“Proposing this site for surplus was one of the first things I did after taking office,” Mayor Kassandra Gove said in a statement. “It’s an important parcel for redevelopment, the integrity of the neighborhood, and for our commercial growth as a community.
“We need to expand our capacity for commercial growth and have very few options to do so,” she added. “I’m hopeful we receive responses that work for us and look forward to continuing this process.”
Disposition Committee Vice Chairperson Adrienne Lennon described the process.
“This Disposition Committee was formed last summer after a long exercise between the Office of Community and Economic Development and the City Council to establish rules for the Disposition Committee and the process of disposition, knowing that the Trader Alan’s parcel was coming up,” Lennon said.
Lennon expressed gratitude to committee Chairperson Scott Kelley for his leadership. She said the committee “cast a wide net” for the request for proposal and hoped for a “pretty quick” transaction.
“We were looking for engineering, laboratory space, technology, that’s what the RFP really calls for,” she said. “We do have certain industry sectors in mind that we would like to see using that space, so if developers come in with a partnership that speaks to that, there is a point system on the RFP and they will definitely point higher.”
Lennon described the factors that make up the point system. She said the project types they are looking for are robotics, artificial intelligence, research and development, and medical pharmaceutical research and development.
Any proposal would need to fit the character of the neighborhood and community, Lennon said.
“We will be in compliance with the City of Amesbury zoning ordinance,” she added. “We do not really want to engage with something that will require waivers because it is a really easy site to redevelop at this point.”
She said the redevelopment and design should be as far along as possible and that the proposal should include a shared use path, public art or other features that are publicly accessible and celebrate the neighborhood.
The developer and future owner must present financial capacity for the development as well as a schedule.
Completed proposals will accepted at the Office of Community and Economic Development at 39 South Hunt Road no later than March 27 at noon. Proposals received after that time will be rejected and returned unopened, according to the city.
A property briefing and tour of 21 Pond View Ave. is scheduled for Feb. 23 at 10 a.m. The briefing will be held in the Amesbury City Hall auditorium. The tour will occur after the briefing, weather permitting.
Matt Petry covers Amesbury and Salisbury for The Daily News of Newburyport. Email him at: mpetry@northofboston.com.