🔒Developer plans 197 apartments near Polar Park on Madison Properties’ land
Boston-based GFI Partners is planning a six-story apartment building for Worcester's Canal District. RENDERING COURTESY OF BOEHLER VIA WORCESTER PLANNING BOARD
Boston-based GFI Partners has proposed a 197-unit modular apartment building for Worcester’s Canal District, a plan which would bring more development and residents to the area surrounding the Polar Park baseball stadium.Plans call for the construction of a six-story building on a vacant lot sitting southwest of The Revington, a 228-unit building completed by Boston-based Madison Properties in 2023. Madison owns the proposed site of the new apartments. GFI Partners has a purchase-and-sale agreement with Madison, according to an email from Bill Buckley, senior project manager at GFI. If the project is approved, Lamartine Street Property Owner LLC, an entity-managed by GFI, will purchase the site.Madison Properties President Denis Dowdle did not immediately return a request for comment. The project falls inside Worcester’s district improvement financing area around Polar Park. If constructed, building permits and property tax revenue would contribute to the City of Worcester’s efforts to pay off bonds related to the construction of the $160-million ballpark, which has had to rely on general taxpayer funds to make up for revenue shortfalls within the stadium district.The project is planned for a plot of land (outlined in orange) directly south of The Revington apartment building. IMAGE COURTESY OF CITY OF WORCESTER ATLASThe GFI proposal includes a two-story private parking garage in the basement and on the first floor of the building, with 14,500 square feet of retail space on the first floor as well, according to documents submitted to the Worcester Planning Board.The parking garage would contain 151 parking spaces. The development is less than a mile from Union Station and will contain parking areas for bicycles. Plans call for the building to contain a mix of studios, one-bedroom, two-bedroom, and three-bedroom apartments. A 12,600-square-foot courtyard on the building’s second floor would contain a pool, with other planned amenities at the site including a fitness center, fire pits, grilling areas, and a game room. The roughly triangular 1.38-acre parcel has an address of 115 Madison St., one it shares with other adjourning parcels, with this property designated as Plot B by the City. The building will be of modular construction, a building method which is receiving more attention from developers, as construction technology improves and traditional building and construction costs continue to rise. Turnkey Lumber, a Leominster-based modular firm, will handle construction of the building.Westborough-based Bohler is the civil engineer for the project, with Robert Shaw of Worcester serving as the architect-of-record. Cube3 of North Andover will handle interior design, while VSMsq Structural Engineers of Texas and Zade Engineering of Quincy are also involved in the project. With the project needing to meet Worcester’s building energy codes, Building Evolution Corp. of Worcester will serve as the development’s passive building consultant.GFI has developed several multifamily projects in the past, according to Buckley, including two projects in New Hampshire. The proposal is scheduled to be heard at the Worcester Planning Board meeting slated for Wednesday. If approved, it would join other apartments on Madison Street and in the Canal District, which are currently under construction. EDITOR'S NOTE: This article has been updated to include more information on the project. Eric Casey is the managing editor at Worcester Business Journal, who primarily covers the manufacturing and real estate industries.
