Who Will Rebuild 95 Grand?
The city hopes it can attract an ambitious buyer to redevelop a hulking, decrepit Crompton & Knowles Loomworks building at 95 Grand St. in Worcester's Main South neighborhood.
But neighboring property owners say a redevelopment of the 351,911-square-foot building may be more than the city, which seized the property for back taxes, or any developer can handle, despite a good track record of revitalization in the neighborhood. The city put out a request for proposals to purchase and renovate 95 Grand last month. Scott Hayman, the city's director of housing services, knows it would take a very special developer to take on the project.
Big Price Tag
"Someone with the right vision for the long haul could do very well with this, but it will take a tremendous amount of money," Hayman said. "We're looking for someone who has deep pockets - and they're out there - and a large-scale vision."
According to the city's RFP, the deep-pocketed developer with big plans for the property will still have to comply with strict city historic preservation requirements and would have to keep in mind that the city wants a "mixed use" project. And developers will have to act fast. Proposals from developers are due Feb. 29.
Hayman said the city is open to a variety of possibilities, and would even make exceptions for developers with good plans that don't fit into the city's arts district plans for the area. Still, Hayman said city officials would like between 100 and 150 units of housing in the building along with retail, restaurant and/or office space, "something the community can embrace," he said.
And after meeting all of the stringent financial, planning and experience requirements set out in the RFP, the developer would still be subject to approval by the city's historic and land use commissions if his or her plans include any major architectural changes to the building.
Hayman said the city would usher its chosen developer through the regulatory process within two or three months.
But some in the neighborhood have reservations about the city's optimistic RFP.
"Let me guess. Condos?" exclaimed Michael Sweeney, president of Central Auto Body on Canterbury Street, just over the railroad tracks from 95 Grand. Sweeney himself turned a vacant synagogue on Providence Street into apartments.
Sweeney said 95 Grand is better off being demolished, or used for warehousing or manufacturing. As it is, Hayman said the city expects portions of the building should be torn down. The cost of demolition and putting in residential units would simply be too high for any developer, Sweeney said. Besides, "this neighborhood is just so bad, and look at that building," he said pointing to the refurbished but mostly vacant University Park Lofts on Illinois Street very near 95 Grand. "There are 30 empty units in there."
But Hayman said the University Park Lofts "came to the market a little late, and they've really struggled," but other developments nearby have succeeded, including the nearby Royal Worcester Apartments, which were built in an old corset factory about 20 years ago on Grand Street. Similarly, condos built in a converted church building on Illinois Street around the same time are also occupied, he said.
And on the whole, that section of the city, which was one of the worst in the notorious Main South neighborhood, seems to be on the rise.
Another giant Crompton & Knowles building at 93 Grand St., just across Tainter Street from 95 Grand, is part of a redevelopment effort spearheaded by the Main South Community Development Corp.
The building isn't pretty, but the first floor is mostly occupied by a woodworking company and others.
The Main South CDC, the city and Clark University also put $36 million into the Gardner- Kilby- Hammond Neighborhood Revitalization Initiative, which has built a new Boys & Girls Club and plans to sell 80 units of housing throughout the neighborhood. The initiative also includes new Clark athletic facilities.
Philip Massad, who owns 100 Grand St. at the corner of Illinois, said he was interested in buying 95 Grand for a time, but now thinks it's too far gone.
"The side next to me is pretty far gone, and it needs plenty of work on the side that's salvageable," Massad said. "I'd want to knock that whole side down and extend my warehouse business, not apartments."
Massad said 95 Grand's roof has been leaking for decades. "You would need a ton of money. It's gone so far. It would take millions and millions of dollars."
WBJ Web Partners
Most Recent
Most Recent
0 Comments