Worcester Infill and Developments

UMass Medical School constructs a $325 million research center on its main campus:

www.umassmed.edu

New Education and Research Building

UMass Chan Medical School has received approval from the University of Massachusetts Board of Trustees for a project that will change the face of the campus and accelerate research into new therapeutics for some of the most challenging diseases that humans face. A new, nine-story biomedical...
www.umassmed.edu www.umassmed.edu


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To be fair, this was 8 am Sunday morning. Not that I’ve ever seen it bustling.
 
Worcester's downtown has good bones. The whole area from Linden Street to Major Taylor boulevard has a lot of nice architecture and well-scaled streets. I'm curious to see how that area of the city evolves over the next 10-20 years.
 
cubalibre said:
A good year has passed since there has been any noticeable progress on the Main Street Reimagined project.
Now the paving has finally been completed. Main Street is single lane in most areas with non-blocking turning lanes.
Dedicated bike paths on each side.
Click to expand...

I've been through a few times now. It stinks. The lanes keep changing in terms of straight vs. turn from one intersection to the next so you're seemingly always in the wrong lane and just end up straddling both or watching for people trying to merge back in through the intersection. The bike lanes are basically space to get around other cars and probably wildly unsafe since Worcester drivers don't look for bikers. It's a mess.
 
SlothofDespond said:
I've been through a few times now. It stinks. The lanes keep changing in terms of straight vs. turn from one intersection to the next so you're seemingly always in the wrong lane and just end up straddling both or watching for people trying to merge back in through the intersection. The bike lanes are basically space to get around other cars and probably wildly unsafe since Worcester drivers don't look for bikers. It's a mess.
Click to expand...

Those unprotected, on-street lanes are super frustrating. I remember attending a public meeting for this project back in 2015. Myself and several others advocated for fully-separated cycletracks in conformance with best practices. I moved away shortly thereafter but was hoping for the best for this project.

I mean I'm always a fan of 4 to 3 conversions, and I'm glad Main St. isn't a complete traffic sewer anymore, but still. This feels like a huge missed opportunity to really do something transformative for the area. Downtown Worcester needs it (coming from someone who used to spend a lot of time downtown).
 
WormtownNative said:
Greendale Mall has been sold and will be redeveloped to mixed use. Couple articles quoted from the Worcester Business Journal.

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https://www.wbjournal.com/article/greendale-mall-sold-to-boston-developer-for-71m



https://www.wbjournal.com/article/g...lished-turned-into-apartments-medical-offices
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Looks like this plan was DOA, especially in pandemic times. Instead of apartments, medical offices, and outdoor shopping we get another ginormous Amazon fulfillment center. They are sprouting like mushrooms in Central Mass. This will seal that area’s fate as remaining mainly industrial with car dealers, fast food joints, and manufacturing. Pity for the folks in Greendale, Burncoat and beyond.

www.wbjournal.com

New Greendale Mall plan calls for demolition in favor of apparent Amazon warehouse

Plans for remaking the Greendale Mall site in Worcester have changed dramatically. Now, the mall's owner wants to demolish the largely vacant mall in order to build a warehouse and distribution center for a tenant that appears to be Amazon.
www.wbjournal.com www.wbjournal.com
 
> Pity for the folks in Greendale, Burncoat and beyond.

Why? That area would be horrible for apartments or mixed-use. It's surrounded by rail / highways. It's also very noisy. I think the warehouse option is perfect.
 
Apartments are still sorely needed in the area. It’s surrounded by highways, sure, but beyond the highways and train tracks on all sides there are residential neighborhoods. There is not a lot of retail pointing north from this location, so this would have been the closest location for anyone from Holden or West Boylston or Sterling.

There still is a TJMaxx which appears to be making good business, and there were a few other businesses that were forced to close or move elsewhere just because their leases were not renewed as the property changed hands and was being redeveloped.

It’s great that there are jobs generated, but let’s be honest an Amazon Warehouse as a workplace is notorious for a reason. Retail, gastronomy, health care jobs are qualitatively better. The pandemic won’t last forever, but this hulking warehouse will occupy this spot for decades.

www.wgbh.org

Retail Behemoth Amazon May Be Coming To The Site of A Defunct Worcester Mall

Developer eschews mixed-use site in favor of large distribution center.
www.wgbh.org www.wgbh.org
 
Doesn't Amazon have a facility in Northborough? Although this could be a replacement for that.
 
jklo said:
Doesn't Amazon have a facility in Northborough? Although this could be a replacement for that.
Click to expand...

They do. One or two brand new warehouses off of Bartlett Street.

And apologies for dropping off the board as of late. Got busy with some work projects and while I do read, I don't have much time to reply.
 
These are two smaller adjacent developments on Chandler Street, not sure that they warrant their own thread.
A combined 78 residential units are built in an existing industrial building with a new addition, and next door in an old stamp factory. 31 units will be slated affordable, I believe the remaining 47 lofts in the stamp factory are mostly market rate. They did a nice job restoring the exterior of the existing buildings.

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www.wbjournal.com

Work to start on 31-unit Chandler St. development

Ceremonial construction is set to start in April on a 31-unit, $14-million housing development on Chandler Street in Worcester.
www.wbjournal.com www.wbjournal.com
 
More projects!

First some infill apartments down on Millbury Street by Rt. 20.

Site Plan

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Moving down in size a bit, a 9 unit multi-family is proposed on Richards St. (unable to find any renders unfortunately)

http://www.worcesterma.gov/applicat... 7-9 Richards Street - Approved Site Plan.pdf

An 8 unit apartment building on Svea Street:

http://www.worcesterma.gov/applicat...a Street (DSP) - Renderings & Floor Plans.pdf

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There are also a bunch of small developments, including a 4 unit townhouse set on Wall Street (on the corner of Wall & Montreal)

http://www.worcesterma.gov/applicat...21 - 60 Wall Street - Architectural plans.pdf

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There are also a bunch of projects for subdivisions of duplexes as well as small infills of single family homes.
 
This one hurts. SPM was where I and many of my family went to high school. For those that don't know, it closed at the end of the school year and merged with Holy Name to become St. Paul's.

The site (781-783 Grove St.) was sold and is now being proposed to be demo'd and built as a senior living facility.

Site Plans, Renders, & Application

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I wanted to share the two new developments that replaced

1) Mount Carmel
2) Notre Dame

I’m glad the city rushed to tear down those two churches and replaced them with something worthwhile:

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