Shovels In The Dirt | Many projects are on hold or stalled thanks to the economy
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Much has been made recently of “shovel ready projects” in Massachusetts as local governments and public colleges eye federal stimulus dollars.
But there are already many shovels in the ground throughout Central Massachusetts as evidenced by our annual list of the Largest Construction Projects.
We’ve compiled this list as a means to organize for you a simple directory of what large-scale projects are underway in the region. This year’s list also highlights the fact that many of these projects have, along with the rest of the commercial real estate market, had a brutal year.
We left the massive, $75 million mall being developed by Farmington, Conn.-based Konover Development in Charlton off last year’s list because the company wouldn’t tell us at the time what the project’s budget was. Little more than a month ago, Konover said it wasn’t moving forward with the project along Route 20 because its anchor tenant, Lowe’s Home Improvement, had pulled out and no other retailers showed any interest in anchoring the mall.
And Konover is not entirely alone.
Waiting Room
The $60 million downtown Framingham Arcade project has also stalled. City officials say project developer Framingham Acquisitions is still seeking investors but has also allowed the project’s permits to expire.
And for the time being, we should also include CitySquare, Worcester’s $563 million downtown revitalization project centered on what was once the Worcester Common Fashion Outlets mall, in the “stalled project” category.
Where Konover’s anchor tenant pulled out of the Charlton development, CitySquare’s has yet to materialize, but it could very soon. Berkeley Investments, CitySquare’s Boston-based developer is in talks with local insurer Unum Group, which is seeking a location for a new, smaller, more modern office for its about 700 Worcester employees.
Not all downtown revitalization projects are stuck, though. Construction began and continues to chug along at the $21 million refurbishment of the historic Hadley-Burwick building on Main Street in Worcester.
An agreement with Unum would likely be enough to kick off development in earnest at CitySquare. And even if an agreement can’t be reached between Unum and Berkeley, Unum has committed to remaining in Worcester and is also considering a proposal to locate at the $171 million Gateway Park, the Worcester Polytechnic Institute/Worcester Business Development Corp. project currently underway just north of downtown Worcester.
Of course, not all is angst and inactivity. Some of the region’s largest and most ambitious projects are steaming ahead, chief among them is the gargantuan, $750 million first phase of the Bristol-Myers Squibb biologics manufacturing facility in Devens.
Another of the three Devens projects on the list is Evergreen Solar’s $425 million manufacturing facility.
Construction also continues at the $302 million Worcester State Hospital psychiatric unit. There is one completed building at the $272 million, 702,000-square-foot Grafton Science Park project. The rest is of the project is build-to-suit as the developers on the project wait for tenants.
And speaking of schools, school construction seems to tick along no matter what.
This year’s list includes more than $359 million in school construction projects, from the $60 million being spent by the College of the Holy Cross on its integrated science complex, an ambitious restoration and refurbishment project, to the nearly $92 million being spent by the University of Massachusetts Medical School’s Advanced Center for Clinical Education and Sciences just off Route 9 in Worcester.
In all, Worcester boasts nine of the projects on the list, while MetroWest can claim eight and towns north of Worcester claim five.
One of the best news stories in terms of contruction over the last year has to be Genzyme, which held a grand opening for its new science center in the fall. The biotech giant is also moving ahead with another building in Framingham despite the difficult economy.
2008 was not a banner year for beginning construction projects. But a number were completed or came very close to completion during that time.
We hope 2009 treats the development and construction industries better than 2008 and you can be assured that the WBJ will be there to cover all the action as the shovels hit the ground.
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