Development approved at Notre Dame church site
Developer Roseland Residential Trust wants to build 84 apartment units and 2,025 square feet of retail space in a $30-million redevelopment of the Notre Dame des Canadiens church.
An 84-unit apartment development was approved Wednesday for the downtown Worcester site where the Notre Dame des Canadiens church now stands.
The Worcester Planning Board approved the project after a hearing lasting more than two hours.
Developer Roseland Residential Trust wants to build 84 apartment units and 2,025 square feet of retail space in a $30-million development called the Residences at Salem Square. While Notre Dame faces Worcester Common, the four-story project would mostly turn away from the park. The building at 5 Salem Square would be built along Franklin Street with a main entrance from Trumbull Street.
A surface parking lot would be built in the rear, facing the AC Hotel now under construction.
The 84 units would include 21 studios, 39 one-bedrooms, and 24 two-bedrooms, and amenities for residents including a common lounge area. There will also be 2,000 square feet of retail space.
Roseland is also building the adjacent $100-million 145 Front at City Square project, which includes 365 residential units and 12,000 square feet of commercial space. The first apartments are slated to open in January, and the second phase to be complete by the end of 2018.
The Residences at Salem Square project did not require any special permits.
Roseland has an agreement to buy the church from City Square Development Co. LLC. City Square bought the church in 2010 from the Diocese of Worcester.
The city's Historical Commission voted last year to delay demolition of the church by a year in order to help find a potential new use. But that demolition delay expired, and the long-vacant Catholic church appears destined to be knocked down.
Preservation Worcester has long fought to save the church, and proposed a new use for entertainment, performance and a food hall, with much of the development costs covered by historical and other tax credits.
A series of residents made a final plea to the Planning Board Wednesday night.
City Councilor Konstantina Lukes called Notre Dame "an indispensable piece of Worcester history" and lamented the lack of character in new construction going up today.
"What we see when we look at this window at all the construction going on is plywood boxes. They almost look like they're cardboard, with a lifespan of maybe 30, 40 years," she said. "What we have here (with Notre Dame) is a building that was built to last hundreds of years."
Ivan Baron, an attorney for Roseland, said Wednesday that Notre Dame has fallen into "significant disrepair" and has become a safety hazard. Several groups expressed interest in reusing the church but none were economically feasible, he said.
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