Creating a vision for a much needed village center.
Unlike many of the historic villages on the Cape, the Town of Eastham lacks a vibrant village center. In order to address this challenge, in combination with the desire to begin to tackle the growing housing crisis on the Cape, the Town recently acquired a former driving range and an outdated strip retail parcel with hopes of creating a compelling vision with which they could seek out development partners. Over the course of a year, Union and its team of consultants spearheaded a community outreach process to develop a vision for these parcels, as well as the site of the Town’s Council on Aging facility, building upon some initial outreach done by the Town.
On the largest parcel, referred to as the T-Time property, we proposed a mixed-use project centered around a new community center, intended to house a relocated Council on Aging. The design includes some commercial uses out on the main road, before transitioning to workforce housing in the middle, with a large open space towards the back of the parcel, ultimately connecting to and existing bike path at the back of the site.
On the second largest parcel, known as the Town Center Plaza, an emphasis was placed on creating a mixed-use village, with enough commercial space to accommodate the existing retail tenants, while also providing some additional housing on the upper stories.
On the smallest parcel, where the Council on Aging is currently located, the team proposed developing a cottage court to replace the outdated facility, providing a moderate amount of density in a location that is predominantly surrounded by larger single family homes.
In addition to these visions for the three individual parcels, the team crafted a comprehensive district plan that began to highlight strategies to consider relative to bigger picture issues like connectivity, infrastructure needs, and additional redevelopment opportunities.