 BUILDING A COMMUNITY
Mashpee Commons is sited near the geographical
center of Mashpee, Massachusetts on Cape Cod. This area has been
designated as
the town's primary business district for over 30 years. In
the mid-1980's, Buff Chace and Douglas Storrs created a plan
to transform an existing strip shopping center into a traditional
New England town center. This goal was a reaction to the "malling" of
Cape Cod and reflected their sense of civic responsibility
for appropriate development at the town's center.
For many years development throughout New England and specifically throughout Cape Cod has followed an automobile dependant, single use, environmentally taxing and aesthetically unacceptable form. Out of date land use regulations have focused new growth into land consuming, sprawl forms of residential and commercial development patterns. This has created socially challenged communities, devoid of all of the attributes of traditional neighborhoods and downtowns. New and long term residents alike, as well as visitors to the Cape have come to lament most new forms of growth while gravitating to the historical communities and their compact, higher density, mixed use patterns of development which make them so attractive.
 The Master Plan for the neighborhoods of Mashpee Commons and the existing neighborhoods that have been built to date serve to prove that the mistakes of the past do not have to be perpetuated in the future. In fact, Mashpee Commons has proven that new growth, involving a mix of uses in a compact form, within walking distance of one another, can in fact create a positive social and environmental influence upon the community and region in which it is located, while serving as a model for future growth on Cape Cod. The goal of the master plan is to provide a sustainable development that minimizes sprawl, relieves traffic, provides a positive fiscal impact and reduces or eliminates environmental impacts.
The plan for
the core of Mashpee Commons was created and permitted in
1986, and the transformation of the original shopping center
began at that time. The first phase of the North Market Street
neighborhood, adjacent to and north of Mashpee Commons, was permitted
in 1993. Mashpee Commons and North Market Street are permitted
for a total of over 365,000 square feet of retail, restaurant
and office space and 100 housing units. These neighborhoods have
been
partially constructed in a phased manner to meet the needs of
the community at a rate that reflects the area's growth.
The Master
Plan has since been expanded to include a total of six interrelated
neighborhoods. The intent is to build mixed-use
neighborhoods
with housing, offices, stores, civic buildings and open space
in a traditional New England form -- controlled by a strict
site and
architectural design code.
In 1988 the firm of Duany/Plater-Zyberk
working with Imai, Keller Moore Architects and Cornish Associates
created the
Master Plan
for the neighborhoods surrounding the center of Mashpee Commons.
Randall Imai of Imai,Keller Morre in Watertown, MA has been
the principal Architect for the vast majority of buildings
in Mashpee
Commons and continues to serve in this role on current designs
for the ongoing expansion of Mashpee Commons . Permitting
is currently in process at the state, regional and local levels
for the ongoing
development of the neighborhoods surrounding the central
village of Mashpee Commons.
This project, as built to date, and the plan for its continued expansion, has received extensive national and international positive press coverage as well as local, regional and national awards for excellence in planning, design and development The ability to visit the existing neighborhoods, shop, work, to the movies or a restaurant and even to live above the stores is proof that the original goals of the Master Plan have been realized.
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