Worcester Business Journal

8 Worcester Business Journal | May 29, 2017 | wbjournal.com Stretch of Boylston seeing start of long-anticipated development D espite its easy highway access off Interstate 290, Boylston has always been an overwhelmingly resi- dential town, a much qui- eter opposite to Shrewsbury on the other side of the highway. But Boylston is in line for its largest project yet, a FedEx distribution center that the town says will be a nearly $90-million investment. At about 350,000 square feet, it's nearly twice the size of a typical Walmart Supercenter. FedEx could be just the first major development in an area largely unde- veloped as commercial zones have grown across the region. Plenty of other development opportunities exist nearby in a stretch of road that Boylston sees as a chance for develop- ment without sacrificing the rural character of the rest of town. "FedEx has generated a significant amount of interest from other develop- ment companies looking to build along that stretch," Boylston Town Administrator Martin McNamara said. A 35-acre site directly north of the FedEx site is permitted for a building of up to 416,000 square feet, said Jim Umphrey, a principal at Worcester real estate firm Kelleher & Sadowsky, which is listing the property for more than $5 million. "There are not that many sites that are that big that are zoned and environmentally clean and have access to high- ways," Umphrey said, predicting the site and others along the stretch will become more attractive once the FedEx facility opens. Sleeping GIANT BY GRANT WELKER Worcester Business Journal Digital Editor On a smaller scale, a larger Gulf sta- tion and Dunkin' Donuts is being built just north of where the FedEx driveway will go. Plans have also been floated for a retail development at Shrewsbury and Main streets called Boylston Crossing, but the project has stalled before any site work could be done. Maintaining the town's character Boylston, a quiet town of just over 4,000 people, has few areas able to accommodate larger-scale commercial or industrial development. McNamara said the town is open to other development along the Route 140 corridor as a way to broaden the town's tax base without adding traffic to neigh- borhood streets. "We're pretty much open to anything," he said. Vincent DiPilato has seen the transforma- tion coming for decades. DiPilato, who is in his 70s, has lived in a home on Shrewsbury Street about a half-mile north of the highway since 1964. His parents once owned a farm across the street where the FedEx building will rise, and he and his sib- lings sold 77 acres to help the project become reality. "We were trying for over 20 years to sell," said DiPilato, who also owned the Gulf gas station for years. His family has another 65 acres left. DiPilato and his wife, Donna, remember a much quieter Shrewsbury Street before I-290 was built. Now, she said, "it takes 15 minutes to take a left out of the driveway." Jessica Hernandez, who lives on Shrewsbury Street, called the relatively tranquil atmosphere in Boylston the appeal to living there. It's something bound to be impacted by new develop- ment, but it should also bring rising property values, she said. "For the future, it would only help if Timothy Murray, CEO, Worcester regional chamber Jim Umphrey, principal, Kelleher & Sadowsky Trees are being cleared behind the former Triboro Crane site off Shrewsbury Street in Boylston, where a 350,000-square-foot FedEx distribution facility will kick off what could be a wave of new development.

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