Worcester Business Journal

4 Worcester Business Journal | March 20, 2017 | wbjournal.com have the site yet, but aren't waiting on pitching a major redevelopment to transform the north edge of Main Street. Plans for the Lincoln Square Courthouse Residences, as its project is called, call for a glass ceiling over the courthouse's interior courtyard, which would make the utilitarian space usable. Two modern buildings, six stories and 10 stories each, would rise behind the building by Harvard Street. The project has financing in place, and construction could start as soon as permitting is in place, Heaney said. Developer and Dunkin' Donuts fran- chisee Rob Branca said he signed on as a consultant for the Lincoln Square Courthouse Residences project as soon as he saw the proposal. "We said, 'How could we not be involved?'" he said. Branca's Branded Management Group has developed Worcester build- ings, including the Harrington Corner building at Main and Front streets across from City Hall, and adjoining buildings on Shrewsbury Street that host Volturno and Sweet restaurants and Wormtown Brewery. Courthouse redevelopment, part 2 A New Hampshire firm, Brady Sullivan Properties, bought the property from the city in 2015 for $1.2 million, but backed out last December. The nearly 250,000 square-foot Worcester County Courthouse has been vacant for a decade, since its replace- ment opened a few blocks down Main Street. The city bought the courthouse from the state for $1 in 2014 and spent $3 million on environmental cleanup. The oldest part of the courthouse, the Greek Revival building on Main Street, was built in 1843 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. An addition on the Harvard Street side of the property was built in 1954. C E N T R A L M AS S I N B R I E F A $35-million proposal for the former Worcester County Courthouse calls for 300 mar- ket-rate apartments in two new buildings and a reuse of the 1800s court building with office and retail space. The proposal would bring new life to Lincoln Square, which has sat mostly dormant with the vacant courthouse and Worcester Memorial Auditorium. "This is going to energize Lincoln Square," said Peter Heaney, the owner of Onsite Builders & Development of Westwood. "It's like a sleeping giant." City choosing between four Onsite Builders was one of four devel- opers expressing interested to the city for reusing the 4.3-acre courthouse site at Main and Highland streets. The others were Vision Development, which created the Edge at Union Station residences, Trinity Financial, a large Boston develop- er, and Israel Real Estate of Worcester. Vision, based in Pennsylvania, has sev- eral student-focused housing projects in its portfolio, including one under devel- opment Lowell, along with office build- ings and a science building at Villanova University. Trinity Financial has built larger residential projects in Boston, New Bedford and Lowell. City officials will review the proposals in the coming weeks and brief City Manager Edward Augustus on each one before deciding how to move forward, city spokesman John Hill said. Pitching the public Onsite Builders & Development don't V E R B A T I M Joyful occasion "This is an honor for me for a number of reasons, most importantly my dad. When I was a young boy, he used to talk about the University of Massachusetts. And the greatest joy in my life was when I called him last night and told him I was coming here. " Becker College President Robert Johnson, upon being appointed chancellor of UMass Dartmouth Better luck next time "I don't think there was an enthusiastic sense that this was something they were looking to do." Worcester City Manager Edward Augustus, on a tepid response from Massachusetts Port Authority officials on the potential for the agency taking ownership of Union Station Suggestions welcome "We have said all along that this is a proposal, that we're open to other suggestions, but clearly we have an issue here." State Administration and Finance Secretary Kristen Lepore, telling a panel of state budget writers the administration is open to revising Gov. Charlie Baker's controversial proposal to impose a $2,000 per employee assessment on companies that don't meet certain health insurance requirements W BY GRANT WELKER Worcester Business Journal Digital Editor The rendering from Onsite Builders & Development of Westwood shows the extent of its Lincoln Square Courthouse Residences proposal to the city. R E N D E R I N G / C O U R T E S Y Four new plans for vacant Worcester courthouse

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