Hedlund asks developer for larger development in Weymouth Landing

WEYMOUTH – Mayor Robert Hedlund is asking a developer to scale up a proposal for an apartment building in Weymouth Landing that already faltered once amid criticism that it was too large to fit in with the neighborhood.

Hedlund requested that property owner Nick Delegas boost the size of the four-story building, which also includes commercial space, to help the town qualify for a state grant to uncover a section of Smelt Brook next to Delegas’ property in a process known as “daylighting.”

Obtaining the $2 million MassWorks grant could hinge on increasing the overall value of the building Delegas wants to put up, Hedlund said.

To meet the requirement for the grant, the project would need 30 more apartments for a total of 84, but the mayor said the design should suit the area. “I’m comfortable with what is on the drawing board. We’re not done with it yet,” Hedlund said. “I’m enthused about it in many ways.”

Delegas owns stretch of vacant property along Commercial Street on the Weymouth side of the neighborhood, which spans the border with Braintree.

He demolished a strip of vacant, boarded-up storefronts last November after years of butting heads with the town and neighbors about the deteriorating buildings and the future of the property.