Worcester Business Journal

10 Worcester Business Journal | January 24, 2022 | wbjournal.com W hen the main mixed- use development inside Polar Park's special tax district, which is designed to help pay off the cost of the $160-million ballpark in Worcester, faced delays and downsizing, two new developments were proposed to fill in any gaps. Now, one of those two lifeboats appears to be about half the size of what it was initially promised. On Dec. 17, new plans regarding e Cove – an ambitious mixed-use housing project on Green Street – were submitted to the Worcester Planning Board, nearly halving the original proposal from 318 units to 173. Located at the site of the former Cove Music Hall, the project has been in the works since January 2021, and started out as a 13-story residential skyscraper anchored by a bowling alley, which would have been the tallest building built in Worcester in more than three decades. e reduced plans came roughly two weeks aer Worcester developer Churchill James, owned by omas Keane and Harry DiLeo, bought the site from the city for more than $3 million from the City of Worcester. It's not the first time a development has changed course, especially given the constant unknowns of the coronavirus pandemic, but e Cove holds particular importance in the city as it is one of three key developments whose property taxes go toward paying Polar Park's bonds. City officials remain confident the ballpark tax district will generate enough revenue to pay off the stadium cost, but now with the main development delayed yet again and the third development proposal only committed to a smaller first-phase plan, concerns are being raised the City of Worcester might have to expand the tax district again to pay for its stadium debt, which would pull away resources for other government services. "ere's a huge amount of risk, and the city is on the hook for all these bonds, whether the taxes come or not," said Victor Matheson, a sports economist and professor at College of the Holy Cross in Worcester. "We've seen a lot of downside risk here, and things did not go perfectly; but the city is still on the hook for the bills as if everything did go perfectly." Why the downsize? When the ballpark was first pitched, a big part of the 30-year pay-off strategy relied on Madison Properties, a Boston- based development firm with plans to construct two hotels, office space, and hundreds of housing units. In fall 2020, Madison announced its developments would be significantly delayed and downsized, raising concerns about diminished tax revenue. At that point, the motive for the announcement of downsizing was relatively clear. COVID-19 had been Downsized Developments in Polar Park's tax district are continuing to shrink and be delayed, raising concerns about tax revenues to pay for the stadium BY KATHERINE HAMILTON WBJ Staff Writer PHOTO/EDD COTE C O M M E R C I A L R E A L E S TAT E FOCUS Changing Canal District plans Three mixed-use developments are planned to anchor the properties around the Polar Park stadium in Worcester. Two of the three have shrunk their proposals, while the third is proceeding with the first phase of a multi-phase development. *The City of Worcester is constructing the parking garage, with funding from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Sources: Worcester Planning Board; Worcester City Manager's Office DEVELOPMENT ORIGINAL PROPOSAL CURRENT PROPOSAL The Cove 13-story, 280,580-square-foot Seven-story, 203,000-square-foot mixed-use building mixed-used building 318 residential units 173 residential units 152-space parking garage 99-space parking garage 28,899 square feet of retail/ 16,026 square feet of commercial food service space space including bowling alley, retail, residential storage units, and office space Table Talk Lofts Six-building phased project No change 400 residential units Phase one to proceed with seven- 40,000 square feet of retail story, 13,000-square-foot residential building with 83 affordable units. Madison Properties Two hotels totaling 262 rooms One, 125-room hotel $12.8-million office building $15.6-million office building 225-unit residential building 228-unit residential building 125-unit residential building 125-unit residential building valued valued at $15.9 million at $11.3 $17.8-million laboratory $10.8-million laboratory building building 500-space parking garage* 340-space parking garage*

• Cover