Boylston starting to unleash sleeping giant of development

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.

Jim Umphrey, principal, Kelleher & Sadowsky

Timothy Murray, CEO, Worcester regional chamber

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By Grant Welker

Despite its easy highway access off Interstate 290, Boylston has always been an overwhelmingly residential town, a much quieter 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 undeveloped 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 development without sacrificing the rural character of the rest of town.

“FedEx has generated a significant amount of interest from other development 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 highways,” Umphrey said, predicting the site and others along the stretch will become more attractive once the FedEx facility opens.

On a smaller scale, a larger Gulf station 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 neighborhood streets.

“We're pretty much open to anything,” he said.

Vincent DiPilato has seen the transformation 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 siblings 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 development, but it should also bring rising property values, she said.

“For the future, it would only help if we sell,” Hernandez said.

The start of something bigger

FedEx chose the Boylston site because of its easy highway access, proximity to distribution centers and a strong local community workforce for recruiting employees, company spokesman David Westrick said.

The site owner, Scannell Properties, bought the land last month for about $7 million and took out a $52-million mortgage for the project. Site work for the project has started at the former Triboro Crane property.

FedEx will lease the Boylston building to replace two existing area facilities in Auburn and Northborough. It is part of a nationwide expansion to boost daily package capacity and enhance the speed of the company's shipping network, Westrick said.

The facility is set to open in August 2018, and FedEx is projected to pay about $1.5 million a year in property taxes – equal to about 10 percent of the town's annual budget.

“Definitely, it's good for Boylston,” DiPilato said of the FedEx project. “We need the tax money.”

The Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce has been helping to draw businesses to the Route 140 corridor because of its potential for warehouses and distribution centers thanks to easy access to several highways, said Timothy Murray, the chamber's president and CEO.

“That's a consequence of consumers purchasing online,” Murray said. “It's a growing industry, and you need that shipping network. The fact that they've carved out that space right off the highway, I think it is a real kind of sleeping giant.”

Another development may rise just across the town line into Shrewsbury, a mixed-use project reportedly eyed for up to 1 million square feet at 409 Boylston St. Developer Peter Bovenzi of Secured Financial Limited in Leominster could not be reached for comment.

The 130-acre Shrewsbury site, combined with the FedEx center and other potential Boylston projects, has led Shrewsbury officials to already worry about worsening traffic off Exit 23.

Shrewsbury has studied the corridor and is worried about a need to increase the amount of traffic the roadway can handle, said Chris McGoldrick, the assistant town planner for Shrewsbury.

“We're at capacity or beyond capacity,” he said.

Wilfredo Quinones, who lives on Shrewsbury Street in Boylston, when asked about traffic said, “How much worse can it get?” before giving the thought more perspective.

“It's not really that bad, honestly,” Quinones said.