Worcester Business Journal

6 Worcester Business Journal | January 12, 2026 | wbjournal.com BY ERIC CASEY WBJ Managing Editor T he small MetroWest city of Marlborough received a big win earlier in the year, when local officials found out the state had selected the mu- nicipality as a site for the new $200-mil- lion State Police crime laboratory, beating out other Central Massachusetts proposals at sites from Worcester to Hopkinton. e new four-story, 187,341-square- foot building will replace existing labs in Sudbury and Maynard, bringing 300 jobs to Marlborough while supporting investigations and criminal prosecutions in the region. e February 2024 announcement the State Police were seeking a new Central Massachusetts crime lab drew interest from property owners and developers, with 15 bids submitted by eight different entities. In the end, the winning proposal was submitted by Boston-based developer Greatland Realty Partners for a 26-acre undeveloped site at 100 Martinangelo Drive in Marlborough, selected by the state's Division of Capital Asset Manage- ment and Maintenance. News of Marlbor- ough's selection first broke in March, with an official announcement in September. e project is set for a spring ground- breaking, with an opening in the first quarter of 2028. e site will be owned by Greatland, with a 20-year lease to the State Police and two 10-year extension options. "ose 300 people are now going to be shopping in our small businesses, potentially staying in the hotels, and putting their dis- cretionary income back into our local economy here," said Meredith Harris, executive director at the Marlborough Economic Development Corp. State documents acquired via a WBJ public records request shed some insight on why the Marlborough bid was selected over competing bids, even as a number of prominent Central Massa- chusetts politicians and business leaders threw their weight behind a proposal to bring the crime lab to Worcester's Canal District neighborhood. While Marlborough moves for- ward with a project local officials feel is a victory for the city, the nine other properties included in the bid represent potential sites for future development. With many of the proposed sites being undeveloped land or strug- gling office-focused properties, future redevelopment into other uses for those sites remain on the table for a variety of options. Marlborough's winning bid Greatland's application shows it plans on working with Boston-based Shawmut Design and Construction to build the lab, with Boston-based Ci Design serv- ing as the project's architecture. Greatland has experience with devel- oping life science projects and other uses similar to a crime lab, including River- side Labs, a 16-acre life science cam- pus in Weston. However, this was the company's first DCAMM bid, said Kevin Sheehan, founder and managing partner of Greatland Real- ty Partners. "It was our first time doing this type of partner- ship, but I think it's been a very successful process," Sheehan said. "It's a smart strategy by the state to lease the site. It allows them to use their credit rating as a tenant in a lease, and contract with the private developer to achieve the design and construction of a new facility." Bid- and evaluation-related docu- ments obtained from DCAMM via a public records request didn't offer too many specific insights on why other proposals were passed over, instead focusing on what made Greatland's pro- posal for a new building in Marlborough the right choice. DCAMM's evaluation of the propos- al highlighted the proposed building's design, saying it met the specific security and other requirements needed for the crime lab. e agency's comments focused heavily on transportation and parking, noting the proposed design met specific needs for on-site parking and secure drop-off locations. e site's easy access to Interstate 495 provides a quick connection to the Massachusetts Turnpike. "Due to the specifications and functionality of the proposed premises, the proposed site and its geographic lo- cation, the project team's experience, as well as support for the Commonwealth's environmental goals through LEED and Energy Star design, the User Agency has recommended that this proposal best meets all requirements set forth in the RFP," DCAMM's comment on its overview of the proposals reads. Marlborough's willingness to provide a tax incentive financing deal for the $200-million project helped win bids against larger communities like Worces- ter, said Harris. e 19-year tax incentive deal approved by the City of Marlborough will offer $8.64 million in property tax savings for the project. e deal offers a 100% exemption through the first two years of operation, lowering over the course of the deal to 10% in its final year. "When you look at Marlborough and Worcester, it comes down to the two communities," Harris said. "We're located in a very similar area. I believe it came down to the incentive that Marl- borough was willing to put on the table." Beyond the incentive, Harris outlined the region's talent pool, highway access, and sewer and water infrastructure as other reasons entities both public and The new $200-million State Police crime lab in Marlbor- ough is expected to bring 300 jobs to the city. This rendering shows how the project is expected to look. Marlborough's $200M win How a developer and the city rose above a dozen proposals to land the state's coveted crime lab project Kevin Sheehan, founder of Greatland Realty Meredith Harris, MEDC executive director RENDERING | COURTESY OF GREATLAND REALTY PARTNERS

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