Worcester Business Journal

6 Worcester Business Journal | April 26, 2021 | wbjournal.com Turning Becker into housing Aer Becker College closes this year, its widely dispersed campus could be converted to many new uses, likely led by a return to housing BY GRANT WELKER Worcester Business Journal News Editor uses, including other Worcester schools taking advantage of additional space, but particularly housing at a time when prices are fast-rising. "ere's such a demand for housing in the city right now," he said. Home prices in Worcester have been spiking for two years, as rising demand has been met with limited supply on the market. In February, the median price of a single-family home in Worcester was $300,000, an increase of 21% from Feb- ruary 2021, according to the Peabody real estate data firm e Warren Group. A colorful history Many of Becker's buildings were con- structed during Worcester's industrial heyday, when the city's wealthy built homes west of downtown. Levi Lincoln Jr., a governor and congressman, once lived in an Italianate home on Elm Street. John Woodman Higgins, a businessman for whom the former Higgins Armory is named, lived at a classical revival home at 80 William St., which was later Clark University's presidential residence and is now home to Becker's Colleen Barrett Center. Today, much of the neighborhood forms the Lincoln Estate–Elm Park Na- tional Register District, which includes 17 Becker buildings. Becker's campus provides a historic tour of Worcester's Queen Anne, Victorian, classical revival, colonial and other architectural gems. "How Becker integrated their campus with that architecture is just so import- ant," said Katie Crockett, the president of the Worcester architecture firm Lamoureux Pagano. "Reimagining those buildings for their campus is such a gi to the city." e challenge now – for Becker, the city and those drawn to great architec- ture – will be to find new uses for the 26 buildings Becker owns and the five others it occupies. Becker said in a statement it was too soon to discuss plans for its cam- pus buildings aer its closure. e col- lege, which traces its history back to 1784 when a pre- decessor, Leicester Academy, was founded, provides an opportunity for historic reuse that has otherwise sometimes eluded Worcester. In notable losses for preservationists, the former Mount Carmel and Notre Dame churches were demolished in the past three years, both having suffered structural damage and being far more difficult and costly for finding new uses. But other buildings in the city notable for their old architecture have or are being preserved, including the former Worcester County Courthouse in Lin- coln Square, parts of which date to the 1800s and where the first of more than 100 apartments opened this year. e former Boys Club, which dates to 1889 but has suffered visible exte- rior wear aer 15 years of vacancy, is proposed for 95 units of apartments. e Commerce Building, built in 1906 on Main St., is planned to be converted from offices into 312 apartments. Finding new uses again In Becker's case, its buildings benefit from the context of their original uses. Aside from their college use today, Kaite Crockett, president of Lamoureux Pagano B ecker College's Worcester campus so blends into its neighborhood west of downtown someone could pass through and, if it weren't for the blue Becker banners on a few dozen buildings, barely notice it's a campus at all. But how seamlessly Becker's roster of late 19th-century and early 20th-century buildings fit amid the blocks of shaded streets just off Elm Park puts pressure on Worcester and Becker to ensure the buildings find new useful life aer the school closes aer the spring semester. "ey are extremely important prop- erties in the city," said Deborah Packard, the executive director of Preservation Worcester, an advocacy group for histor- ic preservation. Fortunately for the city, the layout of the Becker campus – lots of small build- ings spread across the neighborhood's street grid – could make it far easier to redevelop, particularly if it were rede- veloped piecemeal, said Mike Jacobs, a principal with the Worcester real estate firm NAI Glickman Kovago & Jacobs. Jacobs said he can foresee a mix of Weller Academic Center Willow Hall Bullock Hall Willow Hall Barrett Center Boutin Center Maple Hall Spruce Hall BECKER BUILDING PHOTOS/GRANT WELKER

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