Worcester Business Journal

4 Worcester Business Journal | November 28, 2022 | wbjournal.com C E N T R A L M AS S I N B R I E F V E R BAT I M New city manager "Batista's experience coming to Worcester from Puerto Rico with his family as a seven- year-old child is the quintessential Worcester story." Timothy Murray, president and CEO of the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce, in praising the promotion of Eric Batista from acting Worcester city manager to permanent city manager, making him the first Latino to hold the powerful role. Pictured is Batista. Record-breaking fundraiser "The tremendous and selfless generosity of our many incredible donors, supporters and friends speaks volumes to our community's commitment to Milford Regional's mission and the patients we proudly serve." Emily Quinn, Milford Regional Medical Center vice president of philanthropy, on the hospital's Mélange 2022 Gala raising a record-breaking $1.1 million on Nov. 5 after returning to an in-person event Under construction "I was shocked at the changes in Worcester since I lived there. It's a special opportunity to build this project by the outfield wall of Polar Park." John Tocco, COO and managing partner at Boston-based V10 Development, which in mid-November started construction work on The Cove, a mixed-use development at 89 Green St. in Worcester, featuring 16,000 square feet of commercial space and 171 residential units A tlanta developer Portman Industrial, a division of Portman Holdings, has withdrawn a proposal to build a 1.2-million-square- foot warehouse on Hudson property currently occupied by Intel Corp., following a lawsuit by its neighbors to stop the project. e Hudson Planning Board voted unanimously on Nov. 15 to accept Port- man's request to withdraw the applica- tion, said Kristina Johnson, Hudson's director of planning and community development. e group requested in a letter to the planning board to withdraw the propos- al without prejudice, which leaves the door open for the project to be resub- mitted, but that is unlikely, said Johnson. "In my opinion, Portman's decision to withdraw their application is two-fold, the uncertainty of a satisfactory out- come with the local and commonwealth permitting processes, and the general reduction of logistics warehouse devel- opment due to the rise in interest rates," Johnson said in an email to WBJ. Portman did not respond to a request for comment. A coalition of residents of two abut- Following lawsuit, developer pulls plug on proposed 1.2M-sq.-. Hudson warehouse BY TIMOTHY DOYLE WBJ Staff Writer PHOTO | COURTESY OF DAVID SIMPSON ting 55-and-over residential communi- ties filed a complaint in October arguing a true assessment of community impact could not be made because the tenant of the proposed warehouse was not known. "We'll never know what the reasons are, but we suspect delays resulting from the lawsuit were a part of it," said David Simpson, a member of the group that filed the lawsuit. e presumptive deadline for a trial in that lawsuit would have been in early 2024. e Intel property abuts e Villages at Quail Run and WestRidge Condo- miniums, a combined 386 units of 55-and-over housing, as well as Hudson Children's Center, which offers pro- grams for children kindergarten-age and younger. "e developer didn't attempt to establish any rapport with the commu- nity," said Simpson. e residents raised $50,000 for legal fees and hired Michael Pill of Green Miles Lipton, LLP in Northampton to represent the group. Because the true nature of the tenant was not known, the developer was able to use lower traffic impact estimates than what may have been reality, said Simpson. Now that the warehouse plan has been scrapped, the group of residents next wants to change the town's zoning laws for industrial properties. W This Intel Corp. property in Hudson abuts two 55-and-over residential communities.

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