Worcester Business Journal

www.wbjournal.com May 9, 2016 • Worcester Business Journal 23 decision that we are not going to main- tain downtown the way it is. If we have a development in mind and a developer lined up, we are going to pull the trigger on eminent domain," said Michael Traynor, the city's chief development officer and the chief executive officer of the WRA. "[Property owners] are going to know we are very, very serious, so try to negotiate the best deal you can." By putting the r e d e v e l o p m e n t plan in place, which is still pending public hearings and approval by the state, the city gains the power to take properties from their current owners and sell them to private developers who plan to develop them in line with the city's proposal for the property. This power is usually reserved for large projects, such as highways and private development of a large area of land, as was the case with St. Vincent Hospital and the Worcester Center Galleria. However, this latest plan has pinpointed properties that officials say are blighted and not being put to a high use. Before using eminent domain, the city will work with property owners to make improvements to their properties or facil- itate selling them to a new developer, said City Manager Edward Augustus Jr., who added the city is required to relocate any displaced businesses. "You want to get these properties that frankly have not been fully participating in the renaissance of downtown into the game," Augustus said. That the Paris Cinema property is on this short list was not a surprise to Joseph Donovan, vice president of Quincy real estate development firm MG2, which owns the former theater along with a grid of other properties around it. Demolishing the cinema the company acquired in 2006 is part of a plan to build up 530 apart- ments, 60,000 square feet of retail com- mercial space and approximately 325 parking spaces as part of a development of the properties that has been dubbed The Grid District. "We are not surprised by the city's desire to have someone do something with that building, and it overall jibes with our plan for the building and overall portfolio," Donovan said. The property will be brought down this year and, in the short-term, feature a pop- up retail space using a shipping container to help bring life to the area. In his view, Donovan said the city has been clear emi- nent domain will only be used as a last resort and saw MG2's plans as fitting with what the city has laid out. "The city is going to encourage private developers to undertake these efforts individually, and if there is no progress, they will attempt to match owners up with others who are interested in under- taking redevelopment," he said. "I don't take offense, and I don't see that occur- ring with our portfolio." Donovan said he could not speak for other owners, but that in general he sup- ported the redevelopment plan. Furthermore, he said the WRA's plan along with the current activity in the area gives potential developers a better under- standing of the area's vision. Valuing the properties However, not everyone agrees with the use of this power. An online poll of the business community in Worcester carried out by this business journal found 34.7 percent of respondents felt that taking people's land oversteps the government's power. Eminent domain has been argued all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, upholding a municipality's right to take land and distribute it to another private party that will yield a higher tax return, said George Tetler, partner at Worcester law firm Bowditch & Dewey LLP. It is a power Worcester has used in the past such as in the creation of St. Vincent Hospital through the WRA's Medical City Urban Renewal Project in 1997. To create the 24.5-acre site, $11.4 mil- lion was budgeted for land takings but the final cost was $30.9 million once the landowners' legal objections went through the system,. according to the city solicitor. Tetler represented some prop- erty owners arguing the pro-tanto amount – the third party valuation that >> Continued from Page 1 Eminently Serious 22 Front St. (Midtown Mall) Dean & Judith Marcus 12 Front St. Dean & Judith Marcus 526-538 Main St. (The Money Stop) Louis A. Rizzo, trustee 517 Main St. (Metro PCS) James Isperduli 521 Main St. (Great Wall Restaurant) Mindy Jiang Realty Trust 300 Southbridge St. Thelma Talbert, trustee 66 Franklin St. (Paris Cinema) Worcester Park Plaza LLC 17 Pleasant St. (Olympia Theater) First Olympia Realty, LLC 518 Main St. Park Plaza Apartments 35 Portland St. Portland Salem Realty LLC 149 Washington St. WG Washington Street LLC 115 Madison Street Wyman-Gordon 0 Washington St. Wyman-Gordon 0 Assonet St. Wyman-Gordon 37 Gold St. Wyman-Gordon 40 Gold St. Wyman-Gordon 55 Lamartine St. Wyman-Gordon 30 Lodi St. Wyman-Gordon 65 Lamartine St. Wyman-Gordon 9 Langdon St. Wyman-Gordon 103 Lamartine St. Wyman-Gordon 4 Quinsigamond Ave. Thelma Talbert, trustee 328 Southbridge St. Kathleen J. Grenache 346 Southbridge St. JOMO, LLC Worcester officials have identified these 24 properties as ones likely to be threatened with eminent domain. Targeted properties Address Owner Source: Worcester Redevelopment Authority the city pays property owners – was too low. "Those are tough cases. The process involves full-blown litigation, and it takes time," he said. "The value can be in the eye of the beholder a little bit." A powerful tool Craig Blais – president and CEO of the Worcester Business Development Corp. that owns the 20 Franklin St. property within the redevelopment zone – said eminent domain is a great tool to remove blight. This will help build on the momentum of the City Square 12-acre redevelopment and its creation of new commercial and residential buildings. "The city is making a bold move here for the future," Blais said. The Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce supports eminent domain, with CEO and President Tim Murray saying it is time these properties were improved or moved on to new owners. Some of those 24 properties are the same parcels that were around when Murray was mayor from 2002 to 2007, he said. "Owners have let properties deterio- rate, and they have not been vigilant in the quality of their tenants," he said. Traynor said hopefully merely threat- ening eminent domain will work. With costs estimated at more than $100 mil- lion to complete the takings, ideally, landowners would move forward on their own. n George Tetler, partner at Bowditch & Dewey LLP

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