Redevelopment at shuttered Lantana and Lombardo's. What will be razed
RANDOLPH – The Boston-based real estate development and investment company that bought two beloved event venues in Randolph has received initial approval to raze and redevelop The Lantana.
The Randolph planning board on Tuesday signed off on a proposal from Core Investments to build a regional corporate maintenance and operations headquarters for Maxim Crane Works. The company rents and sells cranes and other lift equipment and has two locations in Massachusetts, and dozens of others across the country.
A 65,000-square-foot warehouse with office space, a crane yard and 35 parking spaces will be built on a portion of where the existing Lantana building and an adjacent 1950 home sit, as well as a wooded area east of High Street. The hours of operation would be from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m.
The plans also include an 18-space parking lot at High Street and Scanlon Drive for hikers to access the Smith Trail within the Blue Hills Reservation.
Core Investments will have to get approvals from the town’s conservation commission and the state. Part of High Street and all of Billings Street would be discontinued for use, pending approval from the town and Norfolk County.
Maxim reached out to Core Investments in the spring of 2022 for a space where it could “consolidate an existing portfolio of leased spaces spread throughout the Boston metropolitan area,” according to the site plan and design review application that Core Investments submitted ahead of its first hearing in January.
The project is expected to be completed before December 2025.
The Lantana, built in 1968, was a host for a range of events, from weddings to chamber breakfasts where politicos and business leaders from across the region met. It held one of its last events, an annual meeting and awards ceremony for South Shore Elder Services, in October 2021.
More: King of events, Lombardo's, has officially been sold. What is happening there now?
What will be built in place of Lombardo’s?
No specific plans have been submitted to the town for what will become of Lombardo’s, which Core Investments and Boston-based charter bus company Yankee Line jointly purchased in January. Like Lantana, Lombardo's and the attached Vincent's Nightclub served as the scene for many a memorable event at its Randolph location since 1983.
But the site plan application for the warehouse gives insight as to what could be built between the Maxim project and the Comfort Inn during a second phase of the redevelopment.
And no, it’s not apartments.
Core Investments said that the rest of the site – which covers part of 43 Scanlon Drive, part of 6 Billings St. and part of 493 Billings St. – could become either a “Current Good Manufacturing Practice facility,” which refers to a manufacturing site that meets regulations from the Food and Drug Administration, or another technical industrial use. The site would likely hold a 180,000 square foot building with up to 269 parking spaces.
The developer would start developing this site while seeking potential tenants because “most prospective end-users are solely interested in striking deals with projects that are under construction or have permits in hand.”
The 70,000-square-foot Lombardo’s officially closed in December 2023.
Hannah Morse covers growth and development for The Patriot Ledger. Contact her at hmorse@patriotledger.com.
This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Randolph board approves redevelopment plans at site of former Lantana
