Lowell's Hamilton Canal District Development

Bad news (maybe?) for the Hamilton Canal District.

As a former resident of Lowell for eight years I had followed this with interest and was excited for the new buildings to move forward, but it appears Trinity Financial has pulled out as the master developer:
http://www.lowellsun.com/news/ci_28161036/trinity-financial-pulls-out-lowells-hamilton-canal-project

The Boston developer that was chosen in 2007 to be the sole builder for the massive Hamilton Canal District project has pulled out, according to the city, bringing uncertainty to the $800 million development.

Trinity Financial, which has developed major projects in Boston and across the area, could never find success in Lowell.

A master plan for the Hamilton Canal District called for 725 new housing units and as much as nearly 500,000 square feet of commercial and office space. But only a single component of the plan, the 130-unit Appleton Mills, has opened.
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I still have a lot of hope for the city, but I know I've been beating that drum for 15 years.
 
Yes, bad news.

The Sun had a follow-up story saying that there was bad blood between Trinity and the new mayor that made them want to pull out. However, they never built anything under the old mayor so did it make a difference?
 
I was in Lowell's downtown area last year. It was impressive and showed massive potential.

Very hipster
 
JohnAKeith said:
Yes, bad news.

The Sun had a follow-up story saying that there was bad blood between Trinity and the new mayor that made them want to pull out. However, they never built anything under the old mayor so did it make a difference?
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No, but it's easier to bow out while pointing a finger at the other guy going "that's it! We're done! Can't work with this clown, blame him!" than it is to say, "We bit off more than we could chew, so we've got to tuck our tails and run."
 
JohnAKeith said:
Yes, bad news.

The Sun had a follow-up story saying that there was bad blood between Trinity and the new mayor that made them want to pull out. However, they never built anything under the old mayor so did it make a difference?
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Does Lowell even have a governing mayor? I was under the impression that it was governed under a weak mayor city charter, where the mayor is a powerless ceremonial post and is basically the chair of the City Council.
 
Roxxma said:
Does Lowell even have a governing mayor? I was under the impression that it was governed under a weak mayor city charter, where the mayor is a powerless ceremonial post and is basically the chair of the City Council.
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Correct. It's a Plan E government, where the bulk of the work is done by a contracted city manager who reports to elected councilmen. There is a mayor, but he/she is elected from the councilmen by the councilmen, and is not day-to-day.

The city manager over the past seven years, Bernie Lynch, abruptly resigned last year and they have a new-ish batch of council-people running the show with a new city manager, Kevin Murphy, former rep to the Massachusetts House.

There were definitely some harsh words exchanged by Lowell councilmen towards Trinity, but I don't think they were unwarranted or rose to the level that made the working relationship hostile. I think Trinity, as developer, couldn't get enough signed tenants for the next batch of buildings they were supposed to develop. On the other hand, I don't know how hard they tried.

The situation reminds me of what happened with Menino and Vornado, where the public/private partnership ran into economic forces and left a physical hole in the city. Unlike Boston, the Hamilton District was always a blighted area, so this hole isn't as much an insult, though still galling. Also, unlike Boston, I think there was some eminent domain used to gather together all these parcels, (although I'd have to confirm that for sure).
 
lowell may be the furthest ahead in the gateway cities game... lots of money coming into umass lowell and with marty meehan now heading the whole system that will probably continue. it's pretty close to boston - much closer than worcester, since it's under the 45 minute mark. that will help it pick up boston area expats, people and companies that are priced out. it'll take a while more, but the "HCD" will probably get done by some other company in the next 10-15 yrs.
 
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