Worcester Business Journal

8 Worcester Business Journal | June 26, 2017 | wbjournal.com The city development authority has started the eminent domain process, is evicting a Union Station tenant and put a key property up for sale Worcester revitalization gets aggressive BY GRANT WELKER Worcester Business Journal Digital Editor T he Worcester Redevelopment Authority is turning more proactive in helping to remake downtown and beyond, including what would be the first two properties taken as part of a sprawling revitalization plan. The city agency has begun the pro- cess of potentially taking over two small Main Street buildings around the corner from Worcester Common – by eminent domain, if necessary – and is moving ahead on selling a one-acre parcel on Washington Square across the street from the new Homewood Suites hotel. In another move, the authority is terminating a lease in Union Station for the night spot Lava Lounge and Night Club, which ran into multiple alleged code, alcohol and lease violations. First threat of eminent domain The potential taking of the side-by- side Main Street properties comes a year ago this month since the City Council approved a revitalization plan authoriz- ing the redevelopment authority to use eminent domain to buy properties in a 118-acre zone stretching from down- town to the Canal District (see map). The properties include the Great Wall Chinese restaurant and a MetroPCS cellphone store. Both have been closed since part of a wall fell down there last month. "Both are in an interesting situation," said Vincent Pedone, who chairs the authority's board of directors. The own- ers of both properties have failed to improve the sites over the years, he added. "They can't get these properties rehabbed." The adjoining sites are part of a large 20-year downtown urban renewal plan, from just past Front Street in the north to the area around the intersection of Southbridge Street and Quinsigamond Avenue, including many vacant or con- taminated parcels like the Wyman- Gordon site. In all, the zone includes 380 properties covering around 67 busi- nesses and 214 condominium units. A 2016 study conducted for the city as part of its revitalization plan found the zone to be hurt by crime – both real and per- ceived – a lack of higher-quality office space, a high retail vacancy rate and a shortage of attractions to bring visitors downtown. As a necessary first step, the authori- ty will seek two appraisals of each prop- erty before what could be use of emi- nent domain to force the property own- ers to sell to the city. Eminent domain, which can be controversial, is the path of last resort for the city, said Michael Traynor, Worcester's top development official as CEO of the Worcester Redevelopment Authority. The Great Wall site, at 521 Main St., was built in 1930, is owned by Mindy Jiang Realty Trust and was last assessed at $296,900, according to city property records. The MetroPCS site, at 517 Main St., was built in 1955, is owned by James Isperduli of Paxton, who died in April, and is assessed at $210,500. Both have less than 10,000 square feet of gross space. Both properties are eyed by the city for first-floor commercial floor and upper-floor residences. The two sites are among six singled out by the city for rehabilitation under the revitalization plan, because, Traynor said, both have suffered from disinvest- ment for years. Upper stories in both buildings have been vacant for 15 to 20 years and are out of compliance with today's building codes, he said. The Great Wall site, known as the Holbrook-Sawyer Building, and the Cheney-Ballard Building, as its neigh- bor is historically known, are both seen as contributing to the area's historical feel and are eligible for inclusion on the state and national registers of historic buildings, according to the city. Finding a better fit for Union Station WRA has started the process of ter- minating a lease for Lava Lounge and Night Club, a Union Station tenant sub- ject to a number of citations for over- crowding and not adhering to liquor laws. The authority's board voted unani- mously June 9 to end the lease. Lava Lounge ran into legal issues sev- eral times, including just this month, when the city's License Commission Michael Traynor, WRA CEO The buildings housing the Great Wall Chinese restaurant and MetroPCS cell phone store, with a combined value of more than $500,000, have been targeted for eminent domain by the city. The last developable parcel (far right) in Washington Square is now for sale. P H O T O / G R A N T W E L K E R P H O T O / F I L E

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