Riverside Station proposal in Newton scaled back again

The lead developer behind a plan to plunk a multi-building, mixed-use project on a 935-spot parking lot next to the Green Line’s Riverside Station terminus in Newton has scaled back its plans again in an apparent deal with opponents, who objected to the development’s scope as well as to its emphasis on office space.

Wellesley-based Mark Development would now build to some 1,025,000 square feet rather than 1,234,000 square feet. The company had wanted to go as big as 1.5 million square feet on the parcel, but that idea was a nonstarter with some Newton residents and officials.

The latest proposal—agreed to ahead of a planned City Council vote on necessary zoning changes—makes the project 60 percent residential and 40 percent commercial. That translates into about 600 apartments, per the Globe’s Jon Chesto, with around 100 designated as affordable.

Opponents of the proposal as it was thought that too much office space would contribute that much more to congestion along Newton’s roadways than residential space.

The plan still includes a 150-room hotel to replace the current Hotel Indigo, and would involve the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, which owned the lot that Mark would build on, taking 1.5 acres off the developer’s hands to lower costs.

Meanwhile, the latest proposal also caps all building heights at no more than 170 feet, or 11 floors. Most would fall well below that, particularly along Grove Street. The project is also due to include 42,450 square feet of public space.

As for when construction might start on a plan that stretches back several years in different forms, with different developers, Mark Development’s Robert Korff tells Chesto it could be late 2020. Stay tuned.