Gardner Mayor Michael Nicholson
Updated: December 26, 2022
economic forecast 2023
Housing 2023 economic forecast: The boom continues
Photo | Grant welker
The 196-unit Alta Union House in Framingham is part of a wave of new developments in MetroWest over the past five years.
By Timothy Doyle
The development boom in Central Massachusetts will spill over into communities that have been lacking investment. This may pose difficulties for residents who have seen their rents go up and homeowners whose taxes are increasing due to a rise in property values.
Rents will remain high in Worcester
Though developers are racing to meet demand with large multifamily projects due to open in 2023 and the city is on the verge of passing an inclusionary zoning ordinance, renters are unlikely to see much relief in the upcoming year from rental prices that have increased 80% in the last seven years. Inclusionary zoning will not have any effect on projects approved before its implementation, many of the hundreds of units proposed in the city won’t come online until 2024, and there is no sign of demand for apartments in the city dropping.
Lower Pleasant Street will fly high
There will be significant changes along Worcester’s Pleasant Street east of Park Avenue in 2023. The area has been declared a Transformative Development Initiative district by the state agency MassDevelopment. Northeast Properties of Worcester is preparing to lease out all new retail storefronts in a plaza at the corner of Russell Street. A strip of vacant storefronts at the corner of Linden Street have been leased this fall. And there is development potential at three lots around the intersection of Pleasant Street and Chestnut Street, all sporting for-sale signs from local brokers.
Chair City finds its legs
Developers are finding opportunities in Gardner. In 2022, there have been several sales of properties in downtown Gardner for redevelopment and investment. Investors are buying up multifamily residential properties for redevelopment around the city. The City’s young Mayor, Michael Nicholson, seems to be energizing the once sleepy city. Gardner stands to benefit from being able to attract people who are priced out of Worcester and surrounding areas.
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