Ground Breaking---Earth Shattering
The CitySquare Project will shoot Worcester Into the 21st Century…In Short Order….Get ready for the ride…

By Christina I. Andrianopoulos

The Third Wonder of Worcester is Cultural Diversity. Worcester is a strongly diverse city with a unique mixture of lifestyles. It celebrates ethnic diversity and brings together different cultural backgrounds and traditions. Worcester has an endearing charm that comes from a mixture of big-town hominess. The CitySquare project, a planned $563 million, 3-phased urban lifestyle center with ground breaking occurring for its enabling phase, in the Fall, 2005, will prove to be the historic renaissance Worcester needs to launch it directly to the 21st Century, while still celebrating its cultural diversity. Berkeley Investments, Inc. is the developer embarking on the largest project ever to happen outside of Boston in the history of Massachusetts. While partnering with the City and becoming an instrumental aspect of Worcester’s economic development initiative, Berkeley feels that CitySquare will also garner recognition throughout New England for both the City and Berkeley Investments.

The CitySquare development gives Worcester an opportunity to build something of lasting value at the city center, something that will resurrect the interest of people to visit downtown. According to Barbara Smith-Bacon, Vice President and Project Manager for CitySquare, “It is our objective at Berkeley Investments, to inject as many people and uses as possible to create the new tipping point composition for Worcester. This may seem like a profound statement, but our sense is that it also portrays the desires of the residents of Worcester to evolve a City that they will enjoy for years to come.”

The CitySquare project incorporates a new wave of urban mix-used downtown development. Offices, restaurants, shops and residential units are planned for the 20-plus acre site. This signals the first step in the major redevelopment of Worcester’s downtown area, which will reconnect the site with other City landmarks such as City Hall and Union Station and offer the sorely needed gateway to Shrewsbury Street.

Smith-Bacon cautions that it is important to note that a project of this magnitude will not be accomplished overnight but will be ongoing in a methodically planned multi-phased basis through 2012. The initial stages, prior to any construction or ground breaking occuring, require securing the multitude of permits for construction and planning. Another critical component is finalizing the agreements with the new tenants that will be the first of the construction phase to be built. Though Smith-Bacon did not reveal the specific names of these corporate partners, rumor has it that they may be a large medical company and expansion of a large New England corporation. Offering these companies the opportunity to be part of this huge project, Berkeley Investments has been instrumental in the expansion and retention of large businesses that would not have remained or expanded in the Worcester area, otherwise.

Berkeley Investments stands firmly committed to working to help make Worcester’s vision a collective reality. The Berkeley Investments team, lead at the helm by CEO Young Park, has been working collaboratively with Worcester’s Cultural Coalition, Foothills Theatre and others, to incorporate cultural components in the future development. In addition, Berkeley Investments is meeting with the Administration of several local colleges and universities to also include their growing needs and give them some type of presence in this historic downtown urbin setting.

Timelines are Critical
Prior to the First Phase of Construction, the enabling phase must occur preparing the location, existing structures and grounds for ground breaking and demolition. Smith-Bacon explained that though it may not outwardly appear as if the project has begun, the early few months are critical to the demolition and reconstruction. For example, the enabling phase includes, among other steps, abestos abatement, structural reinforcement for future streets, and utility relocation. In addition, selective demolition will be happening in those early months. She doesn’t want to disappoint those who think a huge imploding episode is going to happen. Slow steps working through the winter will be taking place. In fact, Smith-Bacon wanted to report that utmost attention is planned for construction staging so that it disturbs the city in the least possible way throughout the initial phases of construction. The staging site is planned at the south end of the CitySquare footprint on the surface parking lot that Berkeley also owns. In addition to the commercial towers discussed above, the First Phase will also include building the residential, entertainment and retail complex that will include stores, restaurants, and upscale, market rate condominiums. And let’s not forget the new underground parking. This phase is planned to be approximately 4-years.

The second phase is planned to follow the first, starting in 2008—2009. Discussions and research is taking place looking at the possibility of building an active adult housing community that will incorporate a lifelong learning component, which is a growing trend among the aging baby boomer population. An nearby example of this is LaSalle Senior Village on the Laselle College campus in Newton.

For the final phase (2010—2012) the current expectation is that the existing Media Play building will be demolished and replaced with luxury condos and possibly an upscale hotel overlooking the Worcester Common grounds. The Berkeley Investments’ development represents significant progress in transforming Worcester into one of the most vibrant, medium-sized cities in the Northeast. This first-class, mixed-use development will prove to be the reinvention of a vibrant and commercially successful urban core… the crown jewel of Worcester’s downtown and possibly a hallmark heart and soul legacy for the future generations.