Editorial: More Worcester developments becoming reality
The value of taxable property in Worcester has risen 13% in the last fiscal year, a sign of not only rising property values but accelerated development in the city.
The rising value of property has its upside and downside. Increased values make renting or purchasing a commercial building more expensive, and rising housing costs make purchasing or renting less affordable, driving some long-time community residents and businesses out of the city. Still, rising property values is much better than the alternative, and the growth in values means the community has momentum and generally is heading in the right direction.
The announcement of new developments in Central Massachusetts, particularly within the Worcester city limits, seems like an almost weekly occurrence now. Proposals can be a tricky metric, as anyone can unveil a fancy rendering of a project still far from the construction phase, and many factors can derail a development. New York developer Silver Brick Group LLC spiked its proposed $55-million residential development on Main Street in Worcester, due to the rising construction costs, a sign the shifting economy is taking its toll.
Contrast that lack of success with Alta on the Row, a five-story, 370-unit apartment complex rising faster by the minute at the five-acre former home of the Lady of Mount Carmel Church on Mulberry Street. Anyone driving down I-290 through Worcester can see how quickly that construction project, which first made its rendering public in June 2021, will become reality.
One highly visible example of the fits and starts in new developments are those planned around the $160-million Polar Park baseball stadium, which – as Staff Writer Kevin Koczwara points out in his “Paying Polar Park’s debt” story on page 12 – are key to covering the costs of building the public ballpark. When the stadium district was originally proposed in 2018, the main development was a six-building proposal from Boston developer Madison Properties. Originally slated to start coming online in January 2021, those projects have had delays, with the first one of the buildings expected to open next year and the last phase not expected until 2025 or later.
Yet, two new proposals have come into the ballpark district, which will help support the stadium debt payments. The first is a seven-story development called The Cove with 171 residential units and 16,000 square feet of commercial space. Although it shrank in size from its original $110-million, 13-story proposal, The Cove began construction in November and is expected to open in 2024. In October, the second of the new Polar Park developments broke ground, an 83-unit affordable housing complex called Table Talk Lofts, which could eventually be 400 units spread across six buildings.
It’s been a wild ride for development proposals in the city and throughout Central Massachusetts over the last five years or so. The next couple years will bear out which projects become reality and those needing to go back to square one.
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