RICHARD W. GREEN/For The Patriot Ledger

An overflow crowd listens last night as California-based Lennar Partners explains its plan for development of the former South Weymouth Naval Air Station.

BIOTECHNOLOGY INDUSTRY

New plan changes emphasis on jobs

WEYMOUTH – Fewer on-site jobs and an emphasis on the booming biotechnology industry distinguish the latest proposal for the future of the South Weymouth Naval Air Station.

Biotechnology workers earning an average annual wage of $70,000 comprise more than half the estimated 2,533 permanent jobs on the site, according to a plan presented last night.

The proposal unveiled by California-based master developer Lennar Partners bore little resemblance to a rejected plan for a shopping mall, which would have created 8,843 full-time jobs, mostly in retail.

Illustration of the Transit Village in Lennar Partners’ plan. A shuttle would circulate every 15 minutes from the village to the five other villages on the site.

By contrast, Lennar’s pitch centers around small-town villages flanked by biotechnology firms. The result is a plan that calls for creation of one-third of the jobs that would have existed with the shopping mall.

“This cannot be a successful community unless there are jobs on site,” said Evan Rose, a Lennar design consultant.

Creating jobs has been a chief requirement of U.S. Navy officials, who have yet to give South Shore Tri-Town Development Corp., the local redevelopment agency, the final 835 acres of the base property.

“The Navy is not going to transfer this thing on a no-cost basis unless we can establish creation of jobs,” said Greg Morrell, a Lennar vice president.

Illustration shows a four-lane parkway that would run east to west through the former air base property.

One Navy official connected with the environmental cleanup on the base suggested the Navy would want to see more jobs created as a condition for handing over the land without charge.

“The Navy would like to have more jobs than are being proposed,” said Mark Leipert, project manager for the environmental cleanup team.

The plan foresees employing from 2,874 to 6,049 union construction workers at any given point over the course of a 12-year building effort, a fact that appeared to delight dozens of labor guild members at the presentation.

Additional on-site employment includes 444 retail jobs, 462 office jobs, 200 hotel staffers, and 33 golf course workers, according to the proposal.

Illustration shows how Lennar Partners envisions the development of light industrial, biotechnology research and production facilities as part of its plan for the development of the site.

Jessica Van Sack may be reached by clicking here.