Worcester Business Journal

10 Worcester Business Journal | January 20, 2020 | wbjournal.com e planned demolition of the rundown Worcester mall is the latest in Massachusetts to be replaced by a lifestyle center No more Greendale F O C U S R E A L E S T A T E BY THOMAS GRILLO Worcester Business Journal Staff Writer B oston developer Finard Properties' purchase of the failing Greendale Mall in Worcester for a bargain price in December signals the death of another covered shopping center in Massachusetts. Within a day of the $7.1-million closing, CEO Todd Finard told WBJ he plans to demolish the 33-year-old property to make way for a lifestyle center featuring shops, restaurants, medical offices, and apartments. If Finard wins approval to redevelop the 22-acre site at the intersection of Interstates 290 and 190, it will be the latest effort to reimagine an underperforming mall. "e era of enclosed shopping centers has passed," Finard said. "Shoppers have embraced places like Northborough Crossing and MarketStreet in Lynnfield with its apartments, health clinic, medical offices, and retail." e number of lifestyle centers, sometimes called open-air malls, have more than tripled since the 2000s, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers. e latest count by the New York-based trade association put the number at 530. The changing face of Massachusetts malls In Watertown, the former Arsenal Mall is in the midst of becoming Ar- senal Yards, a $400-million mixed-use destination on the city's east side. When completed, the 1-million-square-foot neighborhood will include more than 50 shops, restaurants and fitness centers anchored by a Roche Bros. supermarket, a seven-screen movie theater, and life science space. Built above Marshalls, the 108,000-square-foot offices have been leased. Most if it by SQZ Biotechnolo- gies, a privately-held cell therapy com- pany, who moved in during December. Two other tenants are scheduled to occupy the space later this year. ere's a 150-room Hampton Inn & Suites by Hilton, and three apartment buildings with 300 studio, one-, two-, and three-bedroom units offering a roof deck and fitness center. e first tenants are slated to move in by December while the others will be available in 2021. Like Greendale, the Arsenal Mall opened in the 1980s. e Watertown stores were enclosed in two historic buildings serving as an arms and ammu- nition complex during the Civil War, and World Wars I and II. Boylston Properties and the Wilder Cos., both of Boston, bought the mall and the adjacent Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates building in 2013 for $80.5 million. William McQuillan, Boylston's president, said while the two historic buildings have been preserved, the single-story stores built in the 1980s have been demolished to make way for new construction. "e idea of doing a lifestyle center evolved as we saw what was going on in the retail sector," McQuillan said. "We were also influenced by the 600 apartments that were built one-half mile away." On Arsenal Street, the Elan Union Market complex contains 300 units, and there's another 300 apartments at Gables PHOTO/GRANT WELKER The Greendale Mall has more vacant storefronts than operating stores and suffers from infrastructure issues, like a leaky roof.

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