New owner updating Midtown Mall, eyeing developer partnership
Photo | Brad Kane
Midtown Mall in Worcester
In four months, the new owner of Midtown Mall has spent nearly $200,000 on renovations and repairs to the building and plans to team up with a developer for a comprehensive redevelopment project.
Felicio Lana, a Worcester property manager who acquired the two-building mall for $4 million in May, told the Worcester Redevelopment Authority on Friday he’s already done substantial work, including upgrading the septic system, renovating bathrooms, replacing flooring, hired a cleaning service and a security firm.
Over the last few months, Lana has been in regular contact with city officials including City Manager Edward Augustus and Chief Development Officer Michael Traynor about the building’s potential. Those meetings have included the possibility of him partnering with a local developer on a larger project, including the Worcester Business Development Corp. or MG2 Group of Boston, which developed the Grid District in Worcester.
“I am 100% certain we are going to team up with another developer,” Lana told the agency, which had previously floated taking the property via eminent domain as a possibility.
Lana purchased the property from former owner Dean Marcus, who Lana and city officials have said did little to keep the building up to code and charged as low as $200 a month to tenants on a month-to-month basis with no signed lease.
“I want to ensure everyone one of you that what we had for the last 30 years will not continue,” said Lana, who has hired an architect and engineering firm to help him come up with a plan for the property.
Lana, who has his own history of code violations at other properties he owns in the area, said he is open to any and all suggestions from the city or residents.
The board encouraged Lana to move quickly on a project, with some members leaving open the possibility of a hostile relationship.
“The proof of all of this will be in the pudding,” said WRA board member Michael Angelini, who said Lana must be in regular monthly contact with the WRA or else the board will act on its own.
“We will accept what you say unless and until it’s demonstrated that what you said is not true,” Angelini said. “At that point, our relationship will change.”
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