wbjournal.com | May 4, 2026 | Worcester Business Journal 3
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Worcester Business Journal (ISSN#1063-6595) is published bi-
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Worcester Business Journal
WBJ
A division of:
Editor, Brad Kane,
bkane@wbjournal.com
Managing Editor, Eric Casey,
ecasey@wbjournal.com (real estate,
banking & finance)
Contributors
Sloane M. Perron, Sara Bedigian,
Emily Micucci, Livia Gershon, Monica
Benevides
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Peterson
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Director of Audience Development
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Business Office Assistant,
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Chief Operating Officer,
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Publisher Emeritus, Peter Stanton
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Worcester eyes 160-acre
rezoning to spur development,
AbbVie expansion
e City of Worcester is considering
zoning changes to allow more devel-
opment near the AbbVie Bioresearch
Center.
About 160 acres of land north of Bel-
mont Street and west of Plantation Street
would be changed to general business
zoning from its current status as mostly
a manufacturing zone, allowing for more
uses for the space designated as a trans-
formative growth area in the City's Now |
Next plan.
e zoning change to a BG-3 zone
from MG-0.5 and BG-2 would allow for
a greater variety of business uses, includ-
ing retail, restaurants, and hotels. BG-3
zoning also allows for the construction of
multifamily housing by right, according
to Worcester's zoning ordinance.
e Worcester Planning Board unan-
imously approved the rezoning April 22.
e City Council must still approve the
measure, which will first go to the Eco-
nomic Development Committee before a
full council vote.
e rezoning would allow existing
nonconforming uses, including the
Beechwood Hotel and Mercadante
Funeral Home & Chapel, to comply
with zoning.
e area is north and east of e
Reactory, a site slated for life sciences
development by Webster development
firm Galaxy Life Sciences. It does not
include e Reactory, which is already
zoned BG-3.
e rezoning will make the area more
reflective of some of the existing land
uses, said Worcester Chief Development
Officer Peter Dunn at the Worcester
Planning Board meeting on April 1. e
manufacturing zoning dates back to the
1980s establishment of the UMass Medi-
cine Science Park.
e change would allow for more
AbbVie Bioresearch Center
Briefs continue on page 4
