State Pledges Another $11M to CitySquare

PHOTO/MICHAEL NOVINSON Housing and Economic Development Secretary Greg Bialecki announced the state is chipping in another $11 million to fund part of the construction of an underground parking garage at CitySquare.

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Updated at 9:50 a.m. Wednesday

The commonwealth has chipped in another $11 million for the development of Worcester’s CitySquare, state and local officials announced Tuesday.

Housing and Economic Development Secretary Greg Bialecki said the money will be spent primarily over the next year to build a 550-space underground parking garage.

“It has been great for the city of Worcester to think big,” Bialecki said.

The City Council referred a resolution Tuesday to its economic development committee to help pay for the $28 million parking garage project, according to Mayor Joe Petty. Work on the garage – which will be located between the Unum Group building and Saint Vincent Hospital’s cancer and wellness center - will be put out to bid once the city agrees to fund the project, Bialecki said.
Work on the parking garage will accompany the start of the second phase of private development at CitySquare, which is to include a full-service hotel and market-rate housing.

Prior to Tuesday’s announcement, the commonwealth had already spent $41 million at the CitySquare site to rebuild the streetscape, clean up asbestos and demolish part of the former Galleria Mall, Bialecki said.

The public investment has leveraged at least $100 million in private spending, according to Tim McGourthy, Worcester’s economic development director.

“We’re seeing incredible change happen,” McGourthy said.