In an effort to avoid potential, new developers for the Symmes project backing out, as happened this fall, the Redevelopment Board has clarified its terms for a deal in a detailed letter to the bank holding the note for the property. The letter to PNC Bank was written following reports that Jake Upton, a former representative of E.A. Fish who now has his own development company, is said to be a bidder on the long-stalled project at what once was Symmes Hospital and has been reaching out to Arlington neighbors.

On Nov. 1, YourArlington reported that a potential developer had withdrawn.

The Dec. 10 letter from Andrew West, chair of the Redevelopment Board, to Elizabeth Paulson, senior vice president for real estate finance at PNC Bank in Bowie, Md., makes these points, among others:

The full text of the letter is here >> (.PDF)

-- CONTROL: Prospective developers must address their compliance with the Land Disposition Agreement and the Special Permit issued by the Redevelopment Board "as a baseline for moving forward with a development proposal. If a prospective developer were to propose a development that differs from that which has been approved, the developer would need to apply for either a new Special Permit or an Amended Special Permit, either of which would require notice and a public hearing under the Town's zoning bylaw."

-- AFFORDABLE HOUSING: 15 percent of units should be priced to be affordable to households at 80 percent of median income in the Boston area.

-- CONDOS: "The Town would like to see as much condo development as financially feasible. A developer interested only in rental units would not be consistent with the Town's goals for this project," the letter says.

-- MEDICAL SITE: Should the developer not be prepared to move forward with the site for medical offices, the developer should address the disposition of that site, “including monetary penalty for return" of that site to the town. The Redevelopment Board has discussed expanding the uses to go beyond medical offices. The board plans to ask Town Meeting in late April about possible alternative uses.

-- ENVIRONMENT: The chosen developer must have a plan that allows the remediation of known environmental conditions. All associated costs related to replacement of environmental monitoring wells, damaged during demolition, are costs to the developer and the town expects to be reimbursed. The cost is estimated to be less than $10,000 for replacing the wells, but professional service charges will add to this amount.

-- LIENS: Several liens securing amounts due to contractors and subcontractors who have performed work at or delivered materials to the site encumber the title to the Symmes land. "It is essential that the removal of the liens on the property be addressed as part of the land sale," the letter says, in addition to taxes owed.

Can't confirm Fish connection

Meanwhile, as the Redevelopment Board hopes to attract viable bidders to the stalled project, a report that E.A. Fish has expressed interest in returning as developer could not be confirmed.

A week after YourArlington reported that Upton, a former representative of Fish, had submitted a bid, Wicked Local reported interest by Fish, the Braintree-based company that originally bought the Symmes site from the town.

"That's news to me," Michele Barry, the chair of the Symmes Neighborhood Advisor Committee, wrote in an e-mail Dec. 12. "If Fish has been talking with anyone, I haven't heard it yet."

Chris Loreti, a member of the Redevelopment Board, explained what he heard at the Dec. 7 board meeting, attended by Thomas O'Brien, an executive for JPI, the current developer, which lost its financing and is trying to line up a new builder.

"I indicated O'Brien mentioned there were two bids," he wrote in an e-mail Dec. 10. "I think he did this as part of a general update requested by [board member] Roly [Chaput].

"And that during the course of the conversation I mentioned that the ARB had heard that Jake Upton was talking with some of the neighbors and I asked whether Upton's bid was one of the two that had been received, and he [O'Brien] said no. Note that I also asked him whether there was a firm deadline for bids and he said no."

Soon after Fish bought the property from the town in June 2007, the company sold the property and its special permit to build 200 units of housing to JPI.

After demolishing the hospital buildings in February 2008, JPI lost its $60 million construction loan the following summer and has not made property tax payments, which stood at $123,000 last summer.

Upton has not responded to requests for comment about his role.

This story was first published at 10 a.m. Sunday, Dec. 20.