CitySquare agreement in place
No demolition until at least 2007
CitySquare, the long-anticipated project that will convert Worcester’s former Common Outlets to a mixed-use development, took a giant step forward this month when the city and developer Berkeley Investments reached a formal agreement that green-lights the project.
The project calls for demolishing the mall, replacing it with a total 2.2 million square feet of retail, office and residential space spanning the entire 20.2-acre site. The project, a public-private partnership, is budgeted for $563 million, with the city and state picking up $89 million of that tab through a combination of grants and bonds.But those looking for a wrecking ball will have to wait, says Barbara Smith-Bacon, the Berkeley vice president in charge of the project.
"It won’t be before the end of the year," she says. "But we know people are looking forward to that and anticipating it."
She even suggested that when demolition starts, they might hand out sledgehammers and let well-wishers take a whack at the building to raise charity money.
Demolition comes at the tail end of the project’s enabling phase, after the existing building is gutted and some utilities are moved. In subsequent phases of the project, an underground garage will be built and new buildings go up around it.
Berkeley aims to complete the project sometime in 2009.
The completed CitySquare will give downtown Worcester a new look that brings together significant changes made downtown.
Looking east from the Front St. entrance to the current mall, you will be able to see straight to Washington Square and Union Station along an extended Front St., both of which will be upgraded. Looking north, you’ll view the length of Lincoln St., along another new street. Rows of shops, condos and commercial space would span the current mall.
When all is done, four streets will be added or extended and six new intersections created, along with a connection to Union Station. A skywalk would link the DCU Center and the new Hilton Garden Inn further opening up downtown while making it more connected.
The project remains basically unchanged from the original version that was pitched in the summer of 2004. And while some might groan at the two-year span it took to work out details, Bacon-Smith says the deal went much quicker than it would have in an area like Boston. Permitting and making a similar arrangement there would likely have taken three to four years, she says.
The momentum for the project has built rapidly over the last month, as pieces fell into place to get CitySquare rolling.
Less than a week after the deal was announced, the legislature approved the economic stimulus bill that set aside $25 million. As of press time, Gov. Romney had not signed the stimulus package but has widely touted it.
The timetable agreed upon for the project kicks off with $10 million in city money that will pay for enabling work on the streets and infrastructure to start the project and another $18.5 million after Berkeley secures financing and tenants at two of the buildings.
Bacon-Smith says the biggest immediate challenge now is in ensuring that project secures the "right constellation of tenants and occupants" for CitySquare.
A number of developments in the area, including expanded use of Union Station, the growth of Mass College of Pharmacy and Allied Health Sciences, and more market rate housing going in the area around downtown, such as the Blackstone Canal district, all support Berkeley’s efforts, she says.
Both the Berkeley and the city remain confident in the CitySquare vision, and the city’s state and federal delegation have all described the project as a major step for improving the economic life of both the city and the region.
Kenneth J. St. Onge can be reached at kstonge@wbjournal.com
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