Formerly known as the Waldo Street Police Station, the site is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
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A New Bedford-based development firm has bought One Exchange Place in Downtown Worcester for $3.5 million, part of its plans to convert the historic building into a mixed-use site featuring apartments and a restaurant.
CMK Development Partners purchased the property containing three interconnected brick buildings on Monday from Sullivan & McLaughlin Cos. of Braintree, according to Worcester District Registry of Deeds records.
The purchase comes as CMK is planning to redevelop the former police station and then office building into a site containing 44 apartments, with restaurant space on the first floor. The $16-million redevelopment plan received $2.3 million from the state’s Housing Development Incentive Program in April after it received a tax-increment-exemption agreement from the City of Worcester worth an estimated $196,500.
The building will feature nine affordable units, four of them studios restricted to residents making 60% of the average median income and three studios and one two-bedroom unit restricted to 80% AMI.
Planned amenities for the apartments include a fitness center, business center, and use of the site’s outdoor courtroom space, according to CMK’s website. The project’s completion date is listed as the fourth quarter of 2026.
CMK was founded in 2019 by Gerry Kavanaugh. Before entering the development space, Kavanaugh was the chief of staff and chief economic advisor for the late Sen. Ted Kennedy and served as the director of policy for the Democratic National Committee. He is the former senior vice chancellor at UMass Dartmouth.
CMK’s prior work includes the development of Union Place, a 40-unit, age-restricted apartment complex located at 26-32 Union St. in Natick.
Sullivan & McLaughlin Cos. purchased the site for $2.5 million in 2018, according to City of Worcester property records. The site received a 2025 tax assessment value of $3.05 million.
Formerly known as the Waldo Street Police Station, the site is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. One Exchange Place opened in 1918 as a police station and a district courthouse, according to the Worcester Telegram & Gazette. In the late 1980s, the building was the site of the offices for Business Worcester, the precursor to Worcester Business Journal.
Eric Casey is the managing editor at Worcester Business Journal, who primarily covers the manufacturing and real estate industries.
