Boston Herald
January 14, 2000
So now a number of urban centers are having their first population growth in 50 years. Inflated housing costs in Boston and Cambridge have led people to buy homes further and further outside the city.
And Worcester, just 45 minutes west of Boston, has a housing stock that costs half of what a home would cost in Boston, Fellenz said. But to really attract residents and private developers to the city takes a plan, he said.
"We had to have a neighborhood vision," Fellenz said.
The downtown area in this case was targeted because it dates back to 1830 and the neighborhoods that have a historic culture and commerce will develop sooner than those that don't have competitive advantages, said Bob Mulcahy, the president of TerraSphere and a landscape architect and urban planner hired by the neighborhood groups and planners.
"This is the downtown neighborhood, which is different from suburban neighborhoods," he said.
"A lot of downtowns in America are coming back."
But right now there are a lot of holes in the neighborhood, blights that include empty lots and buildings.
"They decided they wanted a livable, sustainable neighborhood that creates value in real estate investments over time," Mulcahy said. "They wanted the American dream."
The groups that got together include All Saints Church, Worcester Community Housing Resources, Preservation Worcester, Worcester Historical Museum, the Crown Hill Neighborhood Association and city planning officials. Discussions began in the summer of 1998. By the fall they had retained Mulcahy to offer his expertise in executing a plan.
By the summer of 1999 all groups were in total agreement on the project, which is the first major step in activating a plan, Fellenz said.
"It is important to not only have the positive energy, but from a purely practical point of view, developers are worried about going into the complexities of an urban investment believing any small handfuls of individuals can block their investment, from parking to land use to zoning," Fellenz said.
"To have all key players aboard in a positive way is very attractive to bringing major investors in."
Their 10-year major plan will cost an estimated $50 million to $100 million in construction. Some highlights include converting the empty Union Church (more commonly called the Chestnut Street Congregational Church - named after the road where it sits) into a mixed-use conference center that will house a themed restaurant, health club/spa and art gallery. Attached to the church they want to build a 12- to 14-story upscale 200-unit luxury apartment complex.
To create a transportation system that services the residents and business of the Chestnut/Pleasant neighborhood, planners want to convert those roads into two-way streets to slow down traffic and made the area more pedestrian friendly. Traffic calming measures, like putting in raised crosswalks, will ensure motorists don't speed to retain the residential feel.
Mulcahy lauds the renovation of the majestic Chestnut Street church, which dates back to the early 1800s, was modeled after the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, France, and is on the National Historic Register. "It really is a jewel," he said. "While the first step would be to reposition the church to be a more multi-use community-based building, it also means taking advantage of this unique amenity and to use that as an anchor."
The Chestnut Street Church closed 20 years ago then it merged with the United Congregational Church downtown, Fellenz said. Reviving it is a major move as the structure presides over the downtown landscape like no other historic structure, Fellenz said. It is located a block off Main Street. Backers are looking to implement the plan this year. While the plan is neatly compiled in a 32-page bound report complete with goal outlines, conceptual sketches, funding sources and a preliminary budget, the next step is to seek investors and public/private partners who will start the developmental stage, Fellenz said.
Based on recent studies, planners want to see more upscale restaurants and specialty boutique shops. The neighborhood must be self-sustainable with laundromats and convenience stores.
Last year the group approached various foundations to talk about the importance of developing the downtown neighborhood. They responded by giving about $2 million in grants for the loan fund, Fellenz said. A portion of that financing is a way to show investors the group did its homework, he added.
The group is currently negotiating with the Worcester Business Development Corporation. It will also approach major financial institutions downtown to pool resources to complete the renderings for the best use of the church and to create a package that will solicit interest from investors, Fellenz said. BankBoston has already shown interest, he said.
Mulcahy added that what separates this project from others he has done is that it came from the community groups that got together to try to create value in their neighborhoods.
"It is truly a private effort," he said. This is how planning in America should occur; it was a bunch of interested people saying, "How can we change our city?"
Other key elements of the plan include:
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Providing housing for a mixed population that will include young couples, families in various stages and older couples that prefer to live near colleges or hospitals without needing a car. That will include single-family homes, townhouses, garage apartments in connection with single-family homes, and apartments above shops.
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Creating a unified theme in the historic Crown Hill neighborhood, where many buildings are on the Historic Register. This includes lighting, landscape, signage and pedestrian pavements.
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Establishing a unified parking strategy within the neighborhoods by allotting enough space for residents and distributing small lots for those who are shopping.
The healthy economy does play a strong role in city revitalization efforts nationwide, because there are now more resources to help implement improvements, Mulcahy added. Worcester has already spent incredible amounts of money to improve its infrastructure.
Past and continuing efforts include:
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Route 146/Massachusetts Turnpike connector: Exit 10A ranks as the state's second-largest infrastructure project now under way. At $250 million, the project involved building four miles of roadway along Route 146, a new interchange with the Pike, an interchange with I-290 at Brosnihan Square and upgrading Route 20 in Worcester.
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Worcester Convention Center. Worcester's Centrum Centre is New England's newest convention center. Built adjacent to the existing Centrum, it consists of about 190,000 square feet of additional space. The building attracts nearly 200,000 visitors into the city's center and is largely responsible for a 40 percent increase in hotel revenues.
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Worcester Medical Center. Formerly known as "Medical City," the 24-acre downtown hospital and health-care complex was sold to St. Vincent LLC for $6.4 million. In return, St. Vincent is constructing a $250 million health-care facility that will be a for-profit operation estimated to generate approximately $40 million in new taxes. It is due to open this spring.
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Worcester Regional Airport. The facility is undergoing $32 million in upgrades that include a newly completed terminal, landing system, signage and roadway access study.
©2000 Boston Herald
