New Balance unveiled its plan for a $250 million mixed-use development alongside its headquarters in Brighton, MA, that would feature a sports complex, hotel, park, movie theater, office buildings, and community space, along with a commuter rail station and access to the Massachusetts Turnpike.

New Balance, according to a report in the Boston Globe, does not own any of the 15 acres on which the project is planned, but said it has been in talks for months with various property owners, as well as with state and city officials.

About half of the acreage is already under agreement for Lowe’s to build its first store in the Boston region. The New Balance development plan,  presented last night at a neighborhood meeting, does not include Lowes.

“This project has a number of positive benefits to the community as a whole. It would be a true transit-supported mixed-use development,” Ty Hanlan, vice president of NB Guest Street Planning and Development, told the Boston Globe. “A big-box retail store is a big-box retail store. If that goes there, none of these other parcels could be developed into anything other than what they are now.”

The first phase of the project is expected to cost roughly $100 million
and include a new building for New Balance with about 175,000 square
feet, a sports complex with room for ice hockey, lacrosse, and soccer,
along with the infrastructure needed for the development.

David Wanger, president of Marathon Realty Corp. of Newton, which owns
the land Lowe’s is planning to build on, told the Boston Globe that he
has tried to talk with New Balance about working together with Lowe’s
for a mixed-use project, but New Balance has not expressed interest in
doing so.

“It’s inappropriate for New Balance to be presenting a proposal of what
they would like to do on property owned by my company unless it’s a
collaborative effort,” Wanger said. “Were not going to simply abandon
our plans because New Balance has new ones.”

Susan Elsbree, a spokeswoman for the Boston Redevelopment Authority, said: “We think that ideas coming out of the community and this New Balance plan can coexist with Lowe’s. Clearly, there is room for additional growth in the area.”