Hawthorne Re-Use Advisory Committee Chair Brian Watson presented the group’s preferred plan for the Humphrey Street lot to the Select Board on Wednesday, earning praise for the committee’s extensive work.
“We’re from the town,” Watson said. “We want to do the right thing.”
Last week, the Hawthorne Re-Use Advisory Committee selected Plan G1 as its preferred option for the Hawthorne-by-the-Sea property. The group voted on it Tuesday.
The plan includes two rows of buildings – totaling roughly 25,000 square feet if constructed as two stories – set perpendicular to the road, with an about 40-foot “gap” with an archway or building stories above, if the buildings are more than one floor, so there is a clear view into the courtyard and open space area. The model includes approximately 28 parking spaces. The property is expected to produce a property tax revenue for the town of $230,000 per year, if the plan is developed as two stories with a residential component, according to Watson.
“There’s a tremendous sense of openness,” Watson said.
Select Board Member Mary Ellen Fletcher thanked Watson and the Hawthorne Re-Use Advisory Committee for their work.
“I’ve attended almost every single one of these meetings, and I historically attend a lot of public meetings, especially as a Select Board member. So when I say these meetings were really hard, that’s close to an understatement,” Fletcher said. “You had multiple, very powerful personalities. There was a lot of contention, consistently meeting after meeting after meeting, yet you were able to get through a lot of this work and come up with exactly what Katie’s (Phelan) referring to: a recipe, the ingredients, on how to put this all together. I just want to say thank you very much.”
There was a bit of debate around certain aspects of the plan. Select Board Chair Katie Phelan noted the proposed additional building stories and reminded the committee that the town had been “pretty clear” about not wanting residential units on the Hawthorne lot. The Hawthorne Re-Use Advisory Committee was divided on the issue, but Watson noted too in the Wednesday meeting that it could be less feasible for a developer to bid on the Request for Proposal (RFP) without residential spaces for additional income.
“I’m here to listen to residents. I’m not here to convince them of something else,” Phelan said.
One Select Board concern centered on the reduced number of parking spaces. The current lot holds about 110 parking spaces, but Plan G1 would reduce that number to roughly one-third.
“Everybody and their mother in this town complains about parking and not having enough of it. Looking at this with reducing parking to create this fabulous looking community environment, I just don’t know where people are going to park and how they’re going to get there,” Select Board Member Danielle Leonard said. “If people complain about it now, and we put this courtyard there, we’re only going to hear more complaints about it, and if we can’t make it financially viable plus that, I think people are going to be up in arms.”
In June 2022, a Special Town Meeting overwhelmingly approved the purchase of several properties, including the Hawthorne parcel and the Archer Street project. The article authorized the Select Board to acquire 149–169 Humphrey Street by gift, purchase, or eminent domain for municipal use, passing 214–3.
A January 2023 community brainstorming session identified public space as the top priority. In January of 2023, there was a half-day community brainstorming session. Community space was seen as the most important priority. The strongest support was for “park/open space/green space,” with multi-use space coming in second. When it came to “iconic” concepts, open space ideas overwhelmingly led the way.
The Select Board formed the Hawthorne Re-Use Advisory Committee in February 2025.
“We had a clear mission statement that we kept in mind,” Watson said. “One was to conduct a thorough analysis of the site, identifying all factors impacting development. We defined clear goals and established explicit criteria with which to evaluate and compare plans. We developed and drew a range of site plans and analyzed their strengths and weaknesses and trade offs. And lastly, we kept in mind we would ultimately need consensus, both in the committee, the Select Board and then of course eventually the town itself.”
The committee determined that any proposed plan must include:
- Some amount of park
- A publicly accessible walkway along the coast
- Some amount of revenue
- Some amount of buildings
- Some amount of parking
The Hawthorne Re-Use Advisory Committee hosted two community meetings where residents emphasized creating “a place to go,” prioritizing pedestrians over cars, and addressing the short lifespan of businesses on Humphrey Street. Other suggestions included community spaces for food courts, cafés, artisans, and events.
Watson said in his presentation to the Select Board that the committee gathered input from roughly 550 residents through two public forums and questionnaires. A slight majority preferred a mixed use plan. Almost half preferred all park land, he said. Watson noted that Marzie Galazka, the community and economic development director, and her department tallied all of the responses.
The committee also previously discussed whether to retain the Hawthorne-by-the-Sea restaurant building. Watson said the group concluded that retaining the restaurant structure would not best support goals such as ocean views and revenue generation. He added that public sentiment also leaned away from preserving it.
All but one committee member voted to demolish the building.
Watson acknowledged concerns about how the town would fund the restaurant’s demolition. It was noted that sometimes municipalities “will fold the demolition on an existing building into the development plan of the buildings.”
“If the town put out an RFP for this site, tearing down the Hawthorne would be part of the job of the developer, even though the land itself would be retained by the town,” Watson said. “It’s a way for the town to not have to put up money at all.”
Town Administrator Nick Connors announced at the November 6 Select Board meeting that he learned of the Athanas family’s decision on October 23. That same weekend, he discovered some of the family’s personal items inside the building were being auctioned.
The Athanas family said the property was sold three years ago and that they are “ready to move on” as the town advances its plans.
At the November 6 meeting, the Select Board agreed that a future Request for Proposals should allow leases of up to three years at the former Hawthorne-by-the-Sea site. Any such measure would require Town Meeting approval, and it is in front of the Town Meeting Members on December 1.
Watson said at Wednesday’s meeting that the Hawthorne Re-Use Advisory Committee “unanimously opposes” leasing the restaurant to another operator for up to three years.
“We think – bearing in mind that financial issues are very important – we think it’s actually the financially weakest of the plans. We think we can beat it with our plan,” Watson said, calling a new tenant an “obstacle” because it would “require time and attention and resources that this town has difficulty providing.” “It’s a managerial burden on our town, and it complicates things.”
The town is also considering purchasing the parking lot next to the former restaurant, owned by St. John’s Church. Select Board Chair Katie Phelan previously said the board voted to support a letter of intent going forward to negotiate a portion of the parcel. The board has spoken with the Monsignor, but no letter of intent was signed as of November 6.
“(The Hawthorne Re-Use Advisory Committee) recommended ingredients to the process and now we are able to move around and sort of slide how the ingredients are to work, whether it is 1.5 lots, whether it is two lots, whether it is one lot,” Phelan said. “The concepts, the philosophies are there for us to consider.”
Phelan previously noted that unresolved details are the reason an article about the parking lot is not on the December Town Meeting about the property at this time.
Select Board Vice Chair Doug Thompson noted that the Hawthorne Re-Use Advisory Committee has done a “tremendous amount of work” that will serve as a “launching pad” for the Select Board to move forward.
As the Select Board was provided with the Hawthorne Re-Use Advisory Committee’s plan Wednesday morning, Phelan said the group needs time to review the report to be able to come back and reflect. She said it will be back on the Select Board’s agenda “in the near future.”
During public comment, resident William DiMento noted the length of the process, saying, “This has now gone on three years.”
“We can’t wait and have a six year process to get this done,” DiMento said. “Somehow or another I think that this board has to find a way to greatly accelerate the process.”
DiMento also noted that the town has received $2,000 a month for three years from the previous Hawthorne-by-the-Sea restaurant – “and that’s it” – but that the town “can’t afford to fool around with this anymore with the tax situation of this town.”
“I just don’t think you can postpone, postpone,” DiMento said.
