A five-story, mixed-use building development on Shrewsbury Street in Worcester, first pitched in 2023 by the owner of Worcester-based restaurant Baba Sushi, is seeking approval from the City’s Zoning Board of Appeals.
The proposal would see a five-story building featuring 24 residential units and 2,400 square feet of commercial space constructed at 393-397 Shrewsbury St. A hearing on the project is scheduled for the ZBA meeting scheduled for Monday.
Plans call for 16 two-bedroom units and eight one-bedroom units, with commercial space on the ground floor and 25 parking spaces.
The project already received site plan approvals from the Worcester Planning Board in 2023 and a special permit in 2024, according to the project’s ZBA special permit application, which seeks a modification from a requirement of a loading space for the first-floor commercial space.
The application does not mention any affordable income-restricted units. The project was first proposed prior to the City of Worcester’s inclusionary zoning policy being ordained, so it is not required to have any affordable-rate units.
Weidong “Wilson” Wang, the owner of Baba Sushi in Worcester, is behind the proposal. He purchased the parcels part of the proposed development site in 2021 for $895,000 in two transactions.
The site is currently a private parking lot, directly across Shrewsbury Street from the People’s Place plaza containing an Anytime Fitness and a Little Caesars.
The site is less than 100 feet away from 383 Shrewsbury St., site of the under-construction Railroad Lofts apartments. That 28-unit residential project started in June 2023 and is expected to be completed in September, according to real estate data provider CoStar.
Eric Casey is the managing editor at Worcester Business Journal, who primarily covers the manufacturing and real estate industries.
