The Cove | Green Street | Worcester

393b40 said:
Am I counting wrong? Looks like a typical 5-over-1 setup now so 6 stories. I'd guess that is just economically more feasible because you can use wood construction at that size.
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There is two stories on the green st side, 1 level of the brick area is retail and a second level has a lot of ammenity space
 
Another project in the Polar Park district that has been dramatically reduced. Follows the parking garage that was proposed at 500 spaces but ended up at 350. The pandemic has slowed all hoped for development and what is getting built is far smaller than what was first envisioned. This will have dire effects on the city's ability to pay off the bonds for the construction of Polar Park. Most all economists had thought being able to completely pay for the stadium off tax revenues from new development was already a pipe dream under good conditions. Bond payments were deliberately set low in the initial years as things ramped up. Despite this, new tax revenues did not even meet the year one meager payment requirement. The city however was able to use an unexpected windfall from the sale of some nearby property to cover the shortfall. It will not have such a luxury in coming years when the bond payments skyrocket. Worcester residents are in for rough times in the coming years when the bonds are due. Expect to see taxes increase and services cut so that the most expensive minor league baseball park ever built can be paid for.
 
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New England Born & Raised said:
Another project in the Polar Park district that has been dramatically reduced. Follows the parking garage that was proposed at 500 spaces but ended up at 350. The pandemic has slowed all hoped for development and what is getting built is far smaller than what was first envisioned. This will have dire effects on the city's ability to pay off the bonds for the construction of Polar Park. Most all economists had thought being able to completely pay for the stadium off tax revenues from new development was already a pipe dream under good conditions. Bond payments were deliberately set low in the initial years as things ramped up. Despite this, new tax revenues did not even meet the year one meager payment requirement. The city however was able to use an unexpected windfall from the sale of some nearby property to cover the shortfall. It will not have such a luxury in coming years when the bond payments skyrocket. Worcester residents are in for a rough times in the coming years when the bonds are due. Expect to see taxes increase and services cut so that the most expensive minor league baseball park ever built can be paid for.
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You must be a lot of fun at parties! We might want to gather a little more evidence before we declare victory or defeat on the ballpark.
 
Rover said:
You must be a lot of fun at parties! We might want to gather a little more evidence before we declare victory or defeat on the ballpark.
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Read this 2018 article by the Worcester Business Journal. They interviewed 10 economists about the ability of the city to pay off the construction bonds entirely with tax revenues generated by new development in and around the ball park. The only economist that thought it was possible was the one on the city payroll as a project advisor. All the others had major concerns, including a Holy Cross professor. This was even BEFORE the ballpark cost rose by tens of millions and the declining economic effects due to the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. Prospects are far worse now and the slowed development and reduction in scope of projects bears that out.



Sports economists: $101M WooSox stadium deal unlikely to beat the odds
www.wbjournal.com

Sports economists: $101M WooSox stadium deal unlikely to beat the odds

Sports economists sharply criticized Worcester's ballpark plan, saying public benefits are often minimal and the spillover effects overstated.
www.wbjournal.com www.wbjournal.com
 
Maybe I'm in the minority, but I think the new proposal is far superior. The original rendering looked overwhelming to the flow of the local streetscape and this appears to fit nicely.
 
A handful of years ago, the canal district was little more than a shithole on the Worcester radar. The transformation in just the past couple of years, which is still ongoing, has been amazing. Whether the canal district becomes economically viable (to pay the bonds) remains to be seen but I believe that Worcester was bold, not reckless, in taking the chance. I was at a couple of games this summer and to see about 9K people in that part of Worcester was striking.

Walking Map | The Canal District

thecanaldistrict.com thecanaldistrict.com
 
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citydweller said:
A handful of years ago, the cancel district was little more than a shithole on the Worcester radar. The transformation in just the past couple of years, which is still ongoing, has been amazing. Whether is economically viable (to pay the bonds) remains to be seen but I believe that Worcester was bold, not reckless, in taking the chance. I was at couple of games this summer and to see about 9K people in that part of Worcester was striking.
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Yea strongly agree. There's intangibles that are hard to measure that make pure dollar in/out cost-benefit analysis of ROI impossible.
 
citydweller said:
A handful of years ago, the canal district was little more than a shithole on the Worcester radar. The transformation in just the past couple of years, which is still ongoing, has been amazing. Whether the canal district becomes economically viable (to pay the bonds) remains to be seen but I believe that Worcester was bold, not reckless, in taking the chance. I was at couple of games this summer and to see about 9K people in that part of Worcester was striking.

Walking Map | The Canal District

thecanaldistrict.com thecanaldistrict.com
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I agree and I enjoyed the games last season and got half season tickets this time
 
citydweller said:
Maybe I'm in the minority, but I think the new proposal is far superior. The original rendering looked overwhelming to the flow of the local streetscape and this appears to fit nicely.
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A lot of the residents of the district agreed with you, my wife too. While I am sad we wont get another high rise in the city I do also like the look and feel of this 2nd proposal
 
The streetscape of the original proposal took inspiration from the existing buildings there, such as the marquis of The Cove nightclub and some of the masonry. The new proposal looks decidedly more VE’d.

4C8AA598-CFEF-408E-B340-7838656C1B4E.jpeg

source: MassLive
 
It's still a pretty solid proposal, if the rest of the street got a couple more buildings like that and built out a proper street wall on the side it would be amazing.
 
ctsketch said:
The table talk development will add 2 new retail buildings on that street as well
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And I believe a bit of Madison as well (total of 4 buildings with retail in all of them in that Table Talk development). Even if they're not as good as originally proposed, this is still overall a win for the area.
 
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