Worcester's Historic Mission Chapel Hits The Market | Property peaks interest of architecture and law firm
Photo/Courtesy
Worcester's Mission Chapel on Summer Street.
Step into the main hall of the Mission Chapel at 205 Summer St. in Worcester and the building’s potential is obvious.
The 155-year-old brick edifice, with its high ceilings and enormous windows, could be grand. It’s easy to see why the building’s owner, restaurateur Kurosh Mizrahi, wanted to build a restaurant there.
But that was five years ago.
Now, Mizrahi has put the building up for sale. The asking price started at $750,000 in late September and in a matter of weeks was reduced to $595,000.
For all its potential as a restaurant, or office or whatever else a prospective owner could imagine, Mission Chapel also carries with it a reputation for causing headaches for developers, businesses, the city and preservationists.
Mission Chapel isn’t one of those buildings that sits vacant for decades upon decades, falling further and further into disrepair. In recent years, St. Vincent Hospital has had the chapel under agreement as part of a plan to redevelop it and the office building it owns next door at 20 Washington Square into a cancer center.
St. Vincent’s main campus is on Summer Street, just across Bridge Street from the chapel.
But the history-related restrictions imposed on development there and the cost involved in complying with those restrictions proved insurmountable.
The chapel has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1980. In 1993, the Worcester Redevelopment Authority seized the building for “urban renewal” as part of the Worcester Medical Center project that would become St. Vincent.
Five years later, the WRA sold the building to Tristano Restoration. In 2001, the WRA amended deed restrictions on the building to allow for the development of a restaurant there, and three years later, Tristano sold it to Mizrahi for $350,000.
There are several WRA deed restrictions on the chapel property. For example, the new owner must refurbish the building. Its uses are limited to those enumerated in the “Medical City Urban Renewal Plan,” and there are historic preservation requirements to follow, as well. However, those requirements are vague.
What they say, in essence, is that the building must be “redeveloped in the spirit of what the building is,” said Timothy McGourthy, the city’s economic development director.
They might as well say, “Bring cash and lots of it.” Any prospective buyer is going to need deep pockets and will need to occupy the building when it’s refurbished.
Because of the level of refurbishment necessary, and the expensive and painstaking historic nature of that work, the new owner “is not going to be able to charge a rent that can bring in enough to offset the cost,” McGourthy said.
Drop Ceilings
Will Kelleher, vice president with Kelleher & Sadowsky Associates, the Worcester commercial real estate firm listing the chapel, said preliminary interest in the chapel has been from the right kind of buyer. He said a law firm and an architecture firm have each at least asked about the property.
He also said he wouldn’t rule out St. Vincent taking another crack at the property.
St. Vincent planned to install drop ceilings in the main hall of the chapel, an addition that immediately drew the ire of Preservation Worcester and the WRA, which want the hall’s ornate ceiling to remain visible from the floor.
But the interior presents other challenges, as well.
It’s about 7,000 square feet, but truly usable space is actually limited to the main hall and the basement floor. Floor space is actually limited.
The interior also needs a tremendous amount of restoration work to its floors, walls, windows and ceilings, all of which are as old as the building and would require custom work to restore.
On the other hand, Mizrahi had much of the building’s electrical system upgraded. Its entire HVAC system is new and the basement floor has been framed out for new bathrooms and other usable space.
The building also has a newer roof and is structurally sound.
“The best would be a compatible use to the hospital, and something that’s accessible to the public,” said Deborah Packard of Preservation Worcester, which balked at St. Vincent’s plan to install drop ceilings.
“It’s located in a good spot to be restored, and it seems like the location is prime for some kind of new use.”
Ronald Panarelli of Tristano Restoration, nor Mizrahi could be reached for comment.
WBJ Web Partners
Most Recent
Most Recent
0 Comments