Worcester Business Journal

wbjournal.com | December 23, 2024 | Worcester Business Journal 27 Housing Since 2019, notable multi-family completed or under construction Development # of units Developer Proposed Status Alta on The Row 370 Wood Partners, Georgia 2022 Complete The Revington 228 Madison Properties, Boston 2021 Complete 3 Oriol Drive 220 Maple Multi-Family Development, Texas 2023 Under construction Poet Hill Residences 210 SMC Management 2021 Under construction The Cove 173 V10 Development, Boston 2021 First residential phase open, second expected to be completed by end of 2024 Sudbury Street Lofts 121 Sudbury Realty LLC, Newton 2022 Complete The Kiln 111 GoVenture Capital Group, Worcester 2021 Complete Residences on Madison 110 SMC Management, Watertown 2022 Site prep began in October District 120 83 Tremont Development Partners, Boston 2022 Complete 33 Hermon St. 68 Sudbury Realty LLC, Newton 2020 Complete 153 Green Street ~50 Rossi Development 2022 Under construction The Railroad Lofts 23 CMSS Development, Walpole 2019 Under construction Sources: City of Worcester, individual projects, WBJ and various media reports Worcester's stalled & canceled multifamily housing projects, since 2019 Development # of units Developer Proposed Fate Second Madison St. residential building Unknown Madison Properties, Boston 2019 No timeline to begin construction, according to developer's legal counsel at November Worcester Redevelopment Authority meeting Table Talk Pie Third Phase (139 Green St.) 375 Quarterra Multifamily Communities, North Quarterra withdrew from the project. Watertown-based Carolina; Boston Capital, Boston (now known as SMC Management is now planning a 185-unit building Tremont Development Partners) 2023 for the site but has yet to finalize plans. 274 Franklin St. 364 GoVenture Capital Group, Worcester 2022 Project gone through multiple iterations but is still active, developer asked City for minimum parking relief in December 8 Harvard St. 251 Sudbury Realty LLC, Newton 2022 No construction permits pulled as of December 225 Shrewsbury St. 218 Lundgren Equity Partners, Auburn 2022 Canceled after time extension granted 340 Main St. 207 The SilverBrick Group 2020 Project put on hold in 2022 5 Salem Square 163 Foresight Capital, Rhode Island 2023 No permits pulled for construction as of December 781 Grove St. (senior housing) 158 Goddard/Homestead, Worcester 2022 Received time extension, no construction permits pulled as of December 3 Eaton Place 145 Foresight Capital, Rhode Island 2023 Canceled, property back on the market 35 Portland St. 108 MG2 Group, Boston 2023 Received Planning Board approval in April 2023, no construction permits pulled as of December 44 Grafton St. 105 AKROS Development, Boston 2022 Requested three time extensions, developer hopes to commence construction in 2025 224 Shrewsbury St. 87 Lundgren Equity Partners, Auburn 2023 Canceled, property sold in December 50 Lagrange St. (affordable) 63 Rees-Larkin, Jamaica Plain 2021 Received time extension, no construction permits pulled as of December 393-397 Shrewsbury St. 24 318 Park LLC, Worcesrer 2023 Site back on market Sources: City of Worcester, individual projects, WBJ and various media reports in attracting tenants since opening in late 2023, even with an average asking rent of $2,608, about 29% higher than the city average. e building has a va- cancy rate of about 23%, according to CoStar, consistent- ly shrinking since opening at a rate relatively consistent with other newly built apartments in the area. Still, Madison Properties' prior- ity is focusing on stabilizing e Rev- ington, rather than moving forward with a second resi- dential building or other properties it had planned for the Ballpark District, which were supposed to contribute to the City's efforts to pay for Polar Park. Longtime Worcester attorney Mark Donahue, serving as counsel for Madison Properties President Denis Dowdle, declined to get into the nuances of Mad- ison's capital-raising struggles, despite a vigorous line of questioning from Chair Michael Angelini during a Worcester Redevelopment Authority meeting. Donahue said Madison Properties was still committed to constructing the build- ing but would only do so when it had felt it was ready and had financing in place, alluding to the same issues cited by other developers seeking time extensions from the Zoning Board of Appeals. Referring to the broader issue of developers pausing or abandoning projects, Michael Jacobs, principal at NAI Glickman Kovago & Jacobs in Worcester, said it mostly comes down to economics. "It's primarily due to financing terms," he wrote in an email to WBJ. "Lenders from the institutional arena, to private investment, to regional banks, tightened their terms for multi-family develop- ments over a year ago [for projects] that had not commenced." Navigating the headwinds e Revington wasn't alone in its ability to get open despite tough market conditions. District 120, an 83-unit affordable housing building located next to Polar Mark Donahue, lawyer at Fletcher Tilton Denis Dowdle, president of Madison Properties Michael Jacobs, managing principal at NAI Glickman Kovago & Jacobs Park, opened in May, with a lottery for units drawing 750 applicants. e project benefited from a $19.6-million tax-ex- empt bond from MassDevelopment. Alta on e Row, a 370-unit project from Georgia-based Wood Partners on the former site of the Our Lady of Mount Carmel church, opened in May as well. One of the largest multi-family de- velopers in the country, Wood Partners owns more than 20,000 apartment units in 20+ cities across the country, Continued on page 28

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