Here's what's happening with former Christo's restaurant property in Brockton

BROCKTON — Ward 5 City Councilor Jeffrey Thompson has an ambitious vision for the former Christo's property on Crescent Street.

Seen by him as "the gateway to the East Side of Brockton," Thompson hopes the property can be transformed.

"I would like to see the property used for medical or academic purposes to assist Massasoit (Community College). I would like to see more synergy between the medical and academic communities," Thompson said.

To that end, Thompson filed two ordinances on Sept. 27, one to update Brockton's existing C-5 zone, which currently serves as office commercial space, to also include research, laboratory and Information technology. A second ordinance is to change the actual zoning of the Christo's parcel from its existing C-2 zone to the new C-5 zone.

"The Christo's development is the most important development outside of the development of downtown Brockton so we need to get it right," Thompson said.

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At the Nov. 23 meeting of the city's Ordinance Committee, Thompson decided not to move forward on the ordinances on rezoning the Christo's land due to limited space on the legislative calendar. He plans to refile the ordinances at the beginning of next year.

If the ordinances are favorably recommended by the city council at the next Ordinance Committee meeting, then they must go before a public hearing of the Planning Board according to Thompson.

Christo's restaurant, after nearly 50 years in business at 782 Crescent St., closed in December 2013.

Amarr Reid, who ran against Thompson in the preliminary election in September, has his own vision for the property.

Reid would like to see the area developed into either a multi-use community center for youth or a function hall for events.

"If I live in Brockton, what is making me stay in Brockton, and not making me go somewhere else? We have to start thinking about how we can innovate the city of Brockton," said Reid.

With Brockton Hospital and Beth Israel Deaconess Health Center in Whitman, Reid believes there are already enough medical research facilities in the area.

The best use of the Christo's property has long been the subject of study.

In March 2019, the Metro Chamber of Commerce and the UMass Donahue Institute published a study that said office space, stores and residential space would not be the best way to use the land.

"There was little demand for newly constructed retail," said Thompson.

The surrounding area includes the Crescent Plaza with superstores like Shaw's and Home Depot as well as the Eastway Plaza that already includes Dollar Tree among more than 20 other stores.

Another study published in September 2019 by the Urban Land Institute, a nonprofit real estate and land use research organization, presented the option of turning the facility into a medical academic campus either in collaboration with Brockton Hospital or Massasoit Community College.

Before Christo's actually closed, Massasoit Community College bought the property with plans for an Allied Health and Science building.

Those plans never came to fruition and it was then used as a conference center for event functions which eventually closed in June 2018.

The property is owned by the state of Massachusetts under the Division of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance, which is responsible for public building construction, facilities management, and real estate services for the Commonwealth.

Enterprise staff writer Darvence Chery can be reached at dchery@enterprisenews.com. Support local journalism by purchasing a digital or print subscription to The Enterprise today.

This article originally appeared on The Enterprise: Brockton Christo's: Thompson hopes to revive former restaurant space