Worcester Business Journal

10 Worcester Business Journal | January 9, 2017 | wbjournal.com On the cusp Framingham officials say pending residential projects are key to new era downtown BY EMILY MICUCCI Worcester Business Journal Staff Writer W hen Robert Halpin became the Framingham town manager four years ago, one of the biggest problems he faced was how to unleash the untapped potential of the downtown. On paper, downtown Framingham had the elements to thrive: an MBTA commuter rail station; proximity to major economic centers in Boston and MetroWest; grand architecture and a multicultural vibe generated by the small, immigrant-owned businesses that dominate the district. But large parcels of undeveloped property remained vacant decades after major manufacturing left downtown, leaving it a shell of what is once was, and the foot traffic needed to support a revived town center wasn't there. Now Halpin and his colleague, Arthur Robert, the head of the town's economic development department, are hopeful this is about to change. In October, Special Town Meeting mem- bers overwhelmingly voted to approve zoning changes Halpin and Robert had presented, which will encourage tran- sit-oriented residential development in the downtown Central Business District. "It's all about creating foot traffic and vitality on the street," Halpin said. Roofs, then retail By adopting a policy of "roofs before retail," Halpin and Robert hope to attract a new population of young urban professionals to make downtown Framingham their home. In terms of commute, they say the area is feasible for people who work in Boston as well as at the big MetroWest business parks along Route 9 and near the Mass Pike. What's held Framingham back from being a vibrant bedroom community were barriers to building new rental units under the former zoning regula- tions. Halpin said developers couldn't build new apartments largely because caps on density were too limiting to make it feasible, and parking require- ments ate up too much buildable space. "We reduced the parking requirement … We stepped back from requiring dif- ferent use combinations, and we allowed more density," Halpin said. Spurring national investment Developers seem to be taking notice. Two national developers have proposed projects for downtown Framingham in light of zoning changes. One, called Modera Framingham, received approval from the Planning Board last summer, and it includes 270 apartment units on Waverly Street, within short walking distance to the commuter rail station. A second project was discussed at the Board of Selectmen meeting last week, which includes 197 units as well as 2,600-square-feet of retail space at 75 Concord St. It's slated to go before the Planning Board by the end of January. Both are projects owned by national developers and Framingham officials have had to do some courting to encourage their investment. Robert said the first residential projects in an untested area are seen as inherently risky by developers, so the town had to make the right moves. "When we did the zoning last fall, we let town meeting members know that the first people in are the people who are absorbing the risk," Robert said. The town is planning to help defray some of the cost of development using a tax increment finance (TIF) program designed especially for residential proj- ects. Similar to the program for com- mercial business expansion projects, the TIF program would exempt a certain portion of the value of the new residen- tial property from taxation for a set period of time. It's a program overseen by the state, and it became more attractive as a tool for encouraging development projects under an economic development bill signed last summer, which increased the flexibility of the program, Robert said. The town has proposed a $2.8-mil- lion TIF for Modera Framingham over seven years, and a $6.3-million TIF over 20 years for the proposed Concord Street project. Selectmen voted last Framingham Town Manager Robert Halpin has developed a "roofs before retail" policy in order to get more residents downtown to provide customers for businesses potentially coming in. P H O T O / E D D C O T E

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