While a school on the site is unlikely, the city is still interested in buying the 50-acre Stigmatine site on Lexington Street, and could pay as much as $18 million for it.

Mayor Jeannette McCarthy requested approval of a loan authorization not to exceed that amount at the most recent Waltham City Council meeting on Monday, Nov. 14.

The listed uses for the property, if acquired, would be educational, open space, recreational, or housing. McCarthy said it could also be used as a cemetery.

McCarthy said the Stigmatine site, which houses the Espousal Retreat House & Conference Center at 554 Lexington St., has been in the city’s open space master plan for years, which is why she approached the owners about buying it once she discovered they were interested in selling.

The proposal to buy the lot will go before the city’s finance committee before going to the full council for a vote.

40B project planned

According to McCarthy, the owners of the site were interested in building a “significant” housing development under the state's Chapter 40B law.

Under the Chapter 40B law, developers are given the ability to override local zoning ordinances when building projects where at least 20 to 25 percent of the housing units built have long-term restrictions classifying them as "affordable." This power is nullified in communities where either 10 percent of its total number of housing units are classed as "affordable" or less than 1.5 percent of the town's land area is devoted to housing classed as "affordable."

"Affordable housing" under the law means a person making 80 percent of the area's median income will not have to pay more than 30 percent of their gross income in housing costs.

Those plans seem to be on hold, however, as the city and owners are engaged in negotiations for the site.

Site of a future school?

The $18 million figure is the maximum amount the city could pay for the site, according to the loan authorization. The final figure, if an agreement is reached, has yet to be decided.

At an earlier meeting on Monday, McCarthy and Waltham School Superintendent Drew Echelson both backed the Stigmatine site as the location for the future new Waltham High School, but they lost out to a close vote, in which the school building committee chose to build a new school at the current high school location.

However, Echelson said the Stigmatine site could still have an educational use, particularly as the city grapples with the need for more space for K-5 and middle school students. The site could also be used for athletic fields for the nearby high school, which will be entirely renovated.

Adam Paton, a lawyer representing the owners of the Stigmatine lot, was reached for comment but did not respond in time for publication of this story. The management company for the site is Atlantic Management.