Plans for a multi-tenant retail building at the Medford Triangle moved forward Thursday when the Town of Brookhaven Planning Board approved a site plan and variances for the project, including a slight reduction in the number of parking spaces.

The 2.25-acre property at the southeast corner of Route 112 and Tremont Avenue is across from Tremont Avenue Elementary School. It is one of the best-known locations in Medford and the starting point for parades, including Medford’s annual Memorial Day parade.

“It’s really the heart of Medford,” said Brett Houdek, president of the Medford Taxpayers and Civic Association. “It’s the place where the community comes together.”

Houdek’s group has long wanted the site to be developed into something with what he called an “upscale” look, that residents would be proud of, he said.

The civic association fought previous plans to locate a drive-through fast-food restaurant at the site, he said.

The developer, LAL Global Group Corp., worked for months with the civic association to come up with a plan that met the group’s concerns, said town councilman Neil Foley, whose district includes the property. The property is already zoned for commercial use.

Houdek said the civic association doesn’t want to see tenants that would be inconsistent with the building’s location across from a school, such as a bar, pool hall or cannabis shop.

The 12,000-square-foot building is planned for four to six commercial tenants, who haven’t been determined because the project hasn’t yet been marketed to potential tenants, Yulia Viola, the attorney for LAL Global Group Corp., told the planning board.

Vehicles won’t be able to enter or exit the property from Tremont Avenue and the developer will install a double row of evergreen trees and a 6-foot chain-link fence to buffer the property, Viola told the board.

The planning board members approved the developer’s application that the project include 76 parking spaces rather than the 80 spaces required by town code.