Among the awards, in Worcester, WinnDevelopment received a $900,000 Underutilized Properties Program grant for The Boys Club redevelopment project, which consists of a historically sensitive adaptive re-use of the former Boys Club building with an adjacent five-story new construction component containing additional housing units. Also in Worcester, Boston Capital Development received a $400,000 Underutilized Properties Program grant for an adaptive re-use of the Table Talk Pie Building from a 40,000-square-foot manufacturing building into a mixed-use, mixed-income building serving commercial tenants and 15 residential condos. Additionally, the City of Worcester and the Downtown Worcester BID received a $25,000 Massachusetts Downtown Initiative grant to work with a consultant to produce a quality-of-life study to assess what amenities would improve the experience of residents and visitors in the downtown district.
“Vibrant, walkable downtowns are community assets, and provide an opportunity for neighbors to gather, dine at local restaurants, patronize small businesses, and, increasingly, to live steps from amenities,” said Housing and Community Development Undersecretary Jennifer Maddox. “We are proud to continue supporting the Massachusetts Downtown Initiative to help our cities and towns cultivate welcoming, community-oriented spaces throughout the Commonwealth.”
Administered by MassDevelopment, the Underutilized Properties Program was created through the Economic Development Legislation signed into law by Governor Charlie Baker in January 2021. The program targets underutilized, abandoned, or vacant properties by supporting efforts that eliminate blight, increase housing production, support economic development projects, or increase the number of commercial buildings accessible to individuals with disabilities. Through two rounds the Underutilized Properties Program has awarded $29,699,685 to 69 projects.
Through this round of the One Stop, the Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development received 523 applications from 207 communities representing every region of the Commonwealth. Of the 337 applications awarded, 31% are located in a rural or small town; 32% are located in a Gateway City; and 43% are located in a Housing Choice Community. This investment is expected to directly support the creation of 6,950 new housing units across the Commonwealth, including 5,068 new market-rate units and 1,882 new affordable units.
- Adams Theater LLC (Adams) – $800,000
- The Adams Theater auditorium needs an electric upgrade, HVAC, a new roof, and an accessible new floor. Once completed, Adams Theater will be a multifunctional performance venue and accelerate downtown development.
- Atlantic Apartment (Barnstable) – $125,000
- This project will convert 171 Main Street from unused office space into 11 year-round residential apartments. The exterior of the building has deferred maintenance that needs updating and the inside will go through a complete renovation.
- Belchertown Community Alliance, Inc. (Belchertown) – $50,000
- The Belchertown Community Alliance, in partnership with the Town of Belchertown, is working to reutilize 6 Berkshire Ave, once a dorm on the former Belchertown State School campus. The overall project will create a new cafe, food services incubator, community meeting and gallery space, as well as affordable, attractive and convenient commercial space for local creative businesses. The first step for the redevelopment is obtaining a full building assessment to include a broad spectrum of services.
- Chinese Economic Development Council (Boston) – $100,000
- This project will create a business innovation center that will provide affordable coworking space and bilingual programs that will assist Chinatown entrepreneurs.
- Brockton Redevelopment Authority (Brockton) – $66,185
- Funds will be used for 11-15 Frederick Douglass Avenue, including the expense of elevator design. This will allow the property to be compliant with American Disability Act (ADA) standards.
- Trinity Financial (Brockton) – $900,000
- To advance the City of Brockton's Downtown Action Strategy goals, which call for restaurant and gathering spaces for the downtown residents, Trinity is seeking to further the build-out of the Enterprise Main restaurant space. This space has been vacant since 2015.
- City of Chelsea – $100,000
- Funds will be used for a design/feasibility project for a food hall and culinary incubator at The Salvation Army building, at 440 Broadway, which sits vacant at the center of Chelsea. A multi-floor building consisting of low-income housing and a retail space on the ground floor is being developed by Traggorth Companies.
- HarborCOV, Inc. (Chelsea) – $260,000
- This project will maintain three affordable transitional housing units for domestic violence survivors in Chelsea. HarborCOV will fix the deteriorating front steps, porch, and basement steps and replace the door and windows in the building. The project will also upgrade the bathrooms and kitchens in all three units in the building.
- HarborCOV, Inc. (Chelsea) – $115,000
- This project will make crucial improvements to a building which houses both emergency and transitional housing units for domestic violence survivors, as well as office space for support staff. Improvements include accessibility and fit-out improvements to the shelter space, as well as improvements to the exterior of the building, including repairing the entrance and roof.
- Exchange Assets, LLC (Chicopee) – $575,000
- This project will significantly impact downtown by transitioning a blighted and underutilized group of buildings into a safe, accessible, and productive asset in the heart of Chicopee center. This property requires significant structural and mechanical improvements to ensure a safe, clean, and energy-efficient property.
- Town of Cummington – $45,000
- Cummington seeks to re-use a mostly vacant elementary school building as a new center of town government, regional food incubator, business rental space and preschool/daycare facility. Funds will be used for a feasibility study to determine the work needed to bring the building into code compliance, make the space more energy-efficient, and potentially replace the oil-burning furnaces with a more efficient heating and cooling system.
- Stevens Mill Owner LLC (Dudley) – $900,000
- The Stevens Mill, in its current distressed condition, restrains property values in the surrounding area. Furthermore, it represents a safety hazard to the community. The proposed redevelopment of the mill will result in 159 new rental apartments, including a mix of studio, one-, and two-bedroom units.
- Sanford Spinning Mills LLC (Fall River) – $900,000
- Funds will be used for the predevelopment phase of this project including gutting and cleaning of buildings and architectural and engineering for a building permit.
- Shane Landing, LLC (Fall River) – $335,000
- Funds will be used to address the structural windows, doors, entrances, and masonry of this historic building, which is being converted to a shared workspace and public café.
- NewVue Communities (Fitchburg) – $726,000
- Fitchburg Arts Community is an adaptive re-use development creating 68 artist preference apartments and artist studio/work and gallery space within three historic buildings, creating a campus of arts and culture. The development is across the street from the Fitchburg Art Museum (a partner in the development). Funds will further stabilize the building by installing new roofs on all three buildings.
- Framingham State University (Framingham) – $75,000
- This project will improve ADA accessibility to the Entrepreneur Innovation Center. The plan is to improve the front entrance to make it fully accessible and upgrade one facility restroom for improved accessibility.
- Alander Group (Great Barrington) – $500,000
- 340 Main Street is a historic, underutilized, and substantially vacant building. The project is a planned adaptive re-use of a mostly vacant, historic two-story, 22,000-square-foot former auto dealership, transforming it into a community health and wellness center. Funding will be used for Phase 2 of interior fit and finishes for tenant spaces.
- El Punto Paper City LLC (Holyoke) – $260,000
- Funds will address major damage to 144 High St., which is being renovated and reactivated as the new home of Paper City Clothing Co, a destination retail shop and art gallery staffed by local youth. A smaller storefront unit will be leased to another local business, and renovations to the second floor will add a much-needed residential unit to downtown.
- Way Finders, Inc. (Holyoke) – $900,000
- Library Commons 2 (LC2) is the second phase of construction of the Library Commons affordable housing development in downtown Holyoke. Funds will be used for a portion of the renovation of a vacant brick building on the LC2 lot at 213 Chestnut St. The renovated building will create five one-bedroom, five two-bedroom, and two three-bedroom units.
- 34 Tremaine Street, LLC (Leominster) – $725,000
- This project has been approved as a 17-unit market-rate apartment building with 28 parking spaces. Funds will be used to transform the exterior which will have a massive effect on the neighborhood.
- UTEC (Lowell) – $815,000
- UTEC is seeking funds to complete the final Phase 2 renovation of 70-80 Church St., including both interior and exterior work. The project will provide space and capacity to increase job training opportunities and develop the higher level skills that align with the region's advanced manufacturing workforce needs.
- Westmass Area Development Corporation (Ludlow) – $495,000
- Within the heart of the historic Ludlow Mills complex there are 22 original, one-story, brick stockhouses. Funding will be used for roof replacements on eight of the stockhouse structures and one connecting annex structure to improve their suitability for new and existing commercial and industrial tenants.
- LEO Inc. (Lynn) – $500,000
- LEO’s mixed-use headquarters will be deconstructed down to the building shell and redeveloped as a 15-classroom preschool for three- to five-year-old children living in poverty. With new HVAC, security and fire safety systems, the site will be ADA compliant and fully accessible. Each classroom will have individualized thermostats that allow teachers to moderate temperatures to meet EEC regulations.
- Civico Development LLC (Maynard) – $570,000
- This project is the adaptive re-use of the historic Calvin Coolidge School, which will be converted to 12 mixed-income rental units. Funding will be used for the capital improvements/construction phase of the project.
- Cultural Alliance of Medfield (CAM) DBA Bellforge Arts Center (Medfield) – $600,000
- This project addresses urgent stabilization efforts to remediate asbestos in the historic Lee Chapel at MSH. Funding will be used to remediate one of the two vacant buildings in advance of architectural and engineering work, permitting, bidding, construction, inspections, etc. and desired program uses.
- 8 Station St LLC (Middleborough) – $325,000
- Project consists of total interior demolition of a vacant bank and attached offices and construction of 16 new residential units. Funding will be used for later-stage finishes including electrical services, plumbing, interior unit window coverings, and HVAC.
- Nova Real Estate LLC (Montague) – $95,000
- Project is a community space for gear-heads, creators, and woodworkers. Nova Depot would provide a coworking area with a slant towards the more industrial processes. Units range in size from 130 square feet to 5600 square feet.
- Community Economic Development Center of SE MA (New Bedford) – $900,000
- Rehab and re-use of the 1911 former Capitol Theater will provide a range of community programs, small business incubator space, workforce development, health care resources, and legal and financial services. The front of the building has six retail spaces and the second story will contain six affordable apartments. The grant will be used for full build-out/restoration of the building.
- Research and Robotics Inc (New Bedford) – $900,000
- This project includes development of an underused yet prominent mixed-use site to host a nonprofit (NBRR) that will promote entrepreneurial activities, support local and national organizations, and engage the Southcoast community through education and public programs.
- West Suburban YMCA (Newton) – $75,000
- Funds will be used to engage consultants to explore two subjects that could hold keys to enhancing the housing landscape in Newton. These partners will 1) create a master plan that presents scenarios about how to use YMCA property more efficiently and at its highest and best use, notably how to incorporate appropriate housing and 2) complete a feasibility study of how they might adapt their current housing model to meet their obligations as well as respond to the city’s housing needs.
- Town of North Brookfield – $225,000
- The town will use funding to prepare construction documents to address ADA accessibility and code compliance for this vacant, underutilized historic Town House property.
- Valley CDC (Northampton) – $830,000
- Prospect Place is the redevelopment of a vacant, former nursing home into an estimated 60 new affordable apartments. The two-story brick building, constructed in 1971, has been vacant for 11+ years. Funding will be used for hazardous materials abatement to make way for renovation and redevelopment.
- Allegrone Companies (Pittsfield) – $525,000
- Allegrone will restore the nationally listed Wright Building, preserving its historic fa?ade and updating its infrastructure, systems, and finishes. Funding will be used for accessibility and fire/life safety, closing the gap between supportable debt, developer equity, and construction costs for this blighted and vacant block.
- Provincetown Chamber of Commerce, Inc. (Provincetown) – $180,000
- Project will restore and winterize the 100-plus-year-old Chamber of Commerce building by reimagining the tourist visitor center and tenant retail spaces on the first floor, as well as developing the underutilized second floor into event space and/or housing in addition to existing office space.
- Provincetown Commons (Provincetown) – $100,000
- The renovation project will improve a 2,000-square-foot space on the lower level, including removal of a concrete ramp on the side of the building to allow for installation of windows and creating an opportunity for natural light.
- City of Revere – $50,000
- Reimagine the McKinley is a City of Revere initiative to rehabilitate this space into an educational and community hub that promotes and provides educational and workforce opportunities to the community. Funding will be used to hire an engineering firm to assess the building conditions to advance project feasibility planning and reconstruction to advance the community's vision.
- City of Salem – $600,000
- The project is creating a dynamic mixed-use and transit-oriented development that will enhance downtown Salem. Funding will be used for the rehabilitation of the historically significant Salem Superior Courthouse and County Commissioners Building. These long-vacant buildings will be refurbished and adapted with active uses.
- North Shore Community Development Coalition (Salem) – $300,000
- NSCDC seeks to convert vacant commercial space at 98-102 Lafayette St. in Salem into Punto Urban Art Museum HQ. This will transform a difficult-to-develop, underutilized commercial space into a cultural destination.
- City of Springfield – $900,000
- Funds will be used for 113 State St. and 1155 Main St., including preserving and stabilizing the buildings in an effort to attract developer interest.
- 12 Porter Street Development, LLC (Taunton) – $465,000
- This project is the redevelopment of a shuttered factory into 28 residences and remediation of existing environmental hazards at the site. Funds will be used to stabilize 150-plus-year-old structures, upgrade them for solar power, and pursue historic conditions survey, engineering, and architectural services.
- Town of Truro – $900,000
- Existing cottages on the 69-plus-acre Walsh Property in Truro are blighted, but not completely beyond rehabilitation. Funding will be used to move the two existing three-bedroom cottages (six bedrooms total) to other town-owned land so that they can be rehabilitated and used for workforce and transitional housing. The remaining cottages that are beyond repair will be demolished, clearing the Walsh Property for an optimal development that will include housing.
- 13north, llc (Ware) – $140,000
- A mixed-use project comprised of first-level commercial space and three townhouse residential units. Funds will be used to install a NFPA-compliant sprinkler and monitored alarm system to meet anticipated code requirements.
- Mark Machine Co (Ware) – $80,500
- The Mark Machine project will invest in the re-use of a vacant underutilized 14,000-square-foot industrial building. Funding will be used to support the installation of required sprinkler and fire alert systems in the building.
- Workshop13 (Ware) – $215,000
- Funds will be used for construction and the installation of a fire suppressant system.
- Lambson Square Properties LLC (Westfield) – $585,000
- Lambson Square Properties, LLC is in the process of an historic restoration of the iconic Lambson Furniture Building in the downtown hub of Westfield. The proposed restoration includes an innovative plan that incorporates housing, collaborative community workspaces, and revitalized retail space.
- Wild Soul River, LLC (Williamstown) – $26,000
- Funds will be used for wheelchair ramp for a 120-year-old building to meet ADA guidelines.
- Boston Capital Development (Worcester) – $400,000
- This is an adaptive re-use of the Table Talk Pie Building from a 40,000-square-foot manufacturing building into a mixed-use, mixed-income building serving commercial tenants and 15 residential condos. This project is part of a larger master plan including an 83-unit affordable development.
- WinnDevelopment (Worcester) – $900,000
- The Boys Club redevelopment project consists of a historically sensitive, adaptive re-use of the former Boys Club building, with an adjacent five-story new construction component containing additional housing units. Funding will be used to fully renovate the building and improve the building fire protection and install new HVAC systems.
- Ferrari + Company Real Estate (Wrentham) – $530,000
- The Village Hall Project at 13 Franklin St. is the renovation and revitalization of a 19th-century commercial building. An adaptive re-use component exists in the project, as there is potential for makerspace, collaborative workspace, private office space, meeting space, and restaurant uses. The project will serve a significant public purpose by revitalizing a blighted property and making it widely available to a variety of interests.
- Town of Ashburnham – $25,000
- The Town of Ashburnham will connect with a consultant to design a sign and fa?ade program to benefit small businesses in the Ashburnham Village Center to receive assistance to update their storefronts with signage, lighting, or other improvements to improve the experience of visitors and residents.
- Town of Essex – $25,000
- The Town of Essex will match with a consultant to create a placemaking plan for Essex town center to make recommendations on improving open spaces and amenities, develop a calendar of local pop-up events, enhancing multi-modal transportation, and highlight character-defining elements of Essex. This project was identified in the town’s 2021 Rapid Recovery Plan.
- City of Fitchburg – $25,000
- The City of Fitchburg will hire a consultant to undertake a business district assessment and market analysis of the Downtown Business District to reduce commercial vacancies and attract new small business and economic activity. This project will build on the city’s 2018 Economic Development Strategic Plan and ongoing work to leverage state and federal resources, local stakeholders, and regional employers.
- City of Gardner – $25,000
- The City of Gardner will connect with a consultant to develop a wayfinding plan for downtown Gardner to create a cohesive design that is sensitive to multi-modal traffic and improves the experience for residents and visitors who drive, walk, or use other modes of transit as development increases in the district.
- City of Gloucester – $25,000
- The City of Gloucester will hire a consultant to undertake a Business Improvement District (BID) feasibility study for downtown Gloucester to determine what type of downtown management organization would help enhance the area and attract more residents and visitors. This project builds on the city’s 2021 Rapid Recovery Plan, which was done in partnership with the Greater Cape Ann Chamber of Commerce, Discover Gloucester, and Action Inc.
- City of Greenfield – $25,000
- The City of Greenfield will match with a consultant to develop a parking management plan for downtown Greenfield to enhance the experience of residents and visitors, attract new private investment, and support existing small businesses. This project will complement ongoing downtown revitalization efforts, including long-term redesign of Main Street.
- Town of Manchester-by-the-Sea – $25,000
- The Town of Manchester-by-the-Sea will use consulting services to create a placemaking plan for Manchester town center, which will include a calendar of ’off-season’ events to attract new visitors, connect residents, and bring more foot traffic to local small businesses.
- Town of Middleborough – $25,000
- The Town of Middleborough will hire a consultant to create a wayfinding and branding plan for the town center to improve the experience for drivers, pedestrians, bicyclists navigating this transit and business center. This project builds on continued local efforts to revitalize the downtown area and create a more vibrant, welcoming center for residents and visitors.
- City of New Bedford – $25,000
- The City of New Bedford will work with a designer to create a public art experience at the intersection of Union and Purchase streets increase foot traffic at an important connection between upper and lower sections of the downtown district.
- Town of Sharon – $25,000
- The Town of Sharon will hire a consultant to create a small business technical assistance program for local businesses to improve their online footprint and receive help with search-engine optimization (SEO), marketing, and other services to remain competitive online.
- Town of Shrewsbury – $25,000
- The Town of Shrewsbury will work with a consultant to undertake a Business Improvement District (BID) feasibility study for Shrewsbury town center. The study will help the town determine what type of downtown management organization would help enhance the town center and provide actionable recommendations.
- Town of Stoughton – $25,000
- The Town of Stoughton will match with a consultant to complete a study on the Stoughton Train Depot, which the town purchased from the MBTA in 2019. A study will help the town determine the best use of the iconic structure and support ongoing downtown revitalization efforts.
- Town of Walpole – $25,000
- The Town of Walpole will work with a consultant to create a wayfinding and branding plan for downtown Walpole, which is undergoing a revitalization with new commercial and residential development. New wayfinding and branding will improve the experience of residents, visitors, and new neighbors.
- City of Worcester – $25,000
- The City of Worcester and the Downtown Worcester BID will work with a consultant to produce a quality-of-life study to assess what amenities would improve the experience of residents and visitors in the downtown district. This project is the result of the Worcester Together coalition and the 2021 Rapid Recovery Plan identifying the lack of restrooms and public amenities downtown.
