Walker Shoe factory slated for $7M residential project
PHOTO/ZACHARY COMEAU
The Walker Shoe factory may not be the only brick building Chelsea developer Anthony Rossi buys in Worcester.
The former Walker, J. H. and G. M. Shoe Factory at 28 Water St. in Worcester has been sold for $660,000 to a Chelsea-based developer, who plans to create 62 studio and one-bedroom apartments in the 150-year-old building.
Anthony Rossi, an attorney and historic reuse developer, said he expects the project to cost between $5 million and $7 million. He plans to name the building the Walker Lofts in an homage to the factory.
The apartment complex will come equipped with a new elevator, fitness room, small dog park and an outdoor space, Rossi said.
Rossi’s project calls for landscaping improvements at the blighted property.
Awaiting city approval
Plans have been filed with the city, but land-use boards have yet to take up the proposal.
The building has been vacant, and previous projects to renovate the building never got off the ground, including a 2015 proposal for 20 residential units and commercial uses on the first floor of the five-story building. That development was approved by the Worcester Planning Board before the entire project was scrapped.
Rossi, who is not proposing any retail use, filed new plans in late May and hopes to make good on a new reuse proposal.
According to property records, this is the fourth time the building has changed ownership since 2013. The last sale was in 2016 for $600,000 after selling for $250,000 in 2015.
Part of the neighborhood
The building is somewhat of an eyesore, standing highly visible from I-290 and parts of the Canal District, which has been the subject of recent redevelopment activity, like the Harding Green apartment complex and the planned Worcester Red Sox stadium.
“I like the location, and I like the Canal District,” Rossi said.
Specifically, Rossi said the host of restaurants, bars and entertainment options in the area help make his project viable.
He mentioned the nearby $240-million mixed-use development slated for the former Wyman-Gordon land to feature a $101-million ballpark for the Pawtucket Red Sox as the team moves to Worcester.
Rossi touted his experience in redeveloping vacant historic buildings, including the Liberty Tree Lofts in Boston and the redevelopment of a Methuen building burned down in 2015.
Rossi said he is looking for other sites in Worcester featuring large, abandoned brick buildings.
“With these types of buildings, you have to invest a lot, so the acquisition price has to make sense,” he said.
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