Image courtesy of Bedford Design.

A second developer is proposing to build a large multifamily development along South River Road in Bedford.

Developer Robert Smith Sr. has submitted preliminary plans to town officials for 300 rental units in six 5-story, garden-style buildings, plus a 3-story, 24,000-square-foot medical office building, a 9,720-square-foot office building and a stand-alone 3,500-square-foot restaurant with a drive-through. The total size of the site is 6 acres and the project would offer 600 parking spaces. The project is, for now, called “Stebbins Brook Crossing.”

The project will need special clearance from the town planning board, as the site lies within the town’s Performance Zone, which bars both workforce and market-rate housing. In addition, any development on the site may require a permit from the town’s conservation commission thanks to a brook and wetlands that run through the site, according to a memo from Bedford Assistant Planning Director Mark Connors to the Planning Board.

As with another multifamily project proposed this month as part of the Mill and Main site, the town fire chief expressed concerns the town’s existing single ladder truck would be enough to adequately protect residents of the development.

As The Registry Review reported recently, demand for luxury rentals is growing in the Manchester area, and several multifamily complexes and buildings have traded for significant sums in recent months.