Community Corner

Letter from The Kraft Group to Foxborough: 'With Your Help, We Can Do More'

In an open letter to the town, The Kraft Group asks residents to let their elected officials know if they support the Town and The Kraft Group working together "to do more for Foxborough."

Editor's note: The following open letter was submitted for publication by The Kraft Group.

In 2007, we worked in partnership with the Town of Foxborough to develop . We promised a development that would add to the quality of life for residents by attracting world class healthcare, lodging, dining, entertainment and shopping while adding millions annually to the Town’s revenue base. We have delivered on all of those goals, and we continue to attract sought-after businesses to Foxborough, .

Despite statements from some officials that the Town has not received full mitigation under the 2007 Patriot Place agreement, we have met all of our obligations and Foxborough is receiving significantly greater value from Patriot Place than originally projected. Impact studies in 2007 estimated that Patriot Place would generate $2 million annually for the Town. Despite the worst economy in decades, it is currently generating nearly $3 million for Foxborough.

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Collectively, and Patriot Place generate more than $6 million in yearly direct revenue through taxes, fees and other payments. These funds have allowed Foxborough to avoid the service cuts, layoffs and tax overrides that many neighboring towns have faced. We are proud to contribute so significantly to the Town’s operating and capital budget on an annual basis, and, if the partnership between The Kraft Group and Foxborough continues, together we can do more.

We have opportunities that would both expand the Town’s tax base and improve the quality of life for residents by creating new retail, dining and entertainment options at Patriot Place. Some of the opportunities that we can cite publicly are an additional hotel, a Japanese steakhouse, a high-end Mexican restaurant and a bowling/entertainment venue. There are even more, but we need a cooperative relationship with Foxborough to attract these businesses.

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It’s important to note that we were approached by Town officials two years ago about creating a list of items we would like in order to consider providing funding for Foxborough to partner with a regional water treatment facility. They informed us that we would not be asked to construct the wastewater treatment facility outlined in the 2007 agreement, and proposed a new agreement. In our response to the Town’s request, we specifically focused on items that would come at no cost to taxpayers and would allow us to capitalize on opportunities in the marketplace (for example, requesting additional liquor license from the state to allow new restaurants to open). Such an agreement would generate more economic activity at Patriot Place and more revenue for the Town while addressing a key obstacle to Foxborough’s future stability: sewer capacity.

A proposal in various forms has been before Town officials for two years. We have attended numerous meetings and committed hundreds of hours, but no progress has been made toward what we believe could and should be a mutually beneficial agreement the likes of which we have a long history of making with the Town.

We have invested nearly $1 billion in the Town of Foxborough, creating economic activity, jobs and more than $6 million annually in direct revenue for the Town. We believe these investments have also improved the quality of life for residents by providing world class medical care, a high-end movie theatre, a four-star hotel, a neighborhood supermarket and first-class restaurants. We are the largest philanthropic contributor in the community. We have kept all of our promises, dating back to the construction of Gillette Stadium and before. We can build on this past record of mutually beneficial partnership if Town leadership decides they are truly ready to work toward an agreement.

On Tuesday, Sept. 18th, at the request of the Board of Selectmen, we will appear at their meeting to again discuss the opportunities to enhance Patriot Place and generate additional revenues for the Town. Like all Board of Selectmen meetings, it will be televised live on Foxboro Cable Access. If you want to see these discussions progress instead of stall once again, please let your elected officials know that you support Town officials and The Kraft Group working together to do more for Foxborough.


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