Plans for former WRTA site getting urban overhaul

Courtesy/Galaxy Development A rendering of Galaxy Development's proposed project on Grove Street.

Write a Comment

By Grant Welker

The planned design for a retail plaza off Grove Street and Park Avenue in Worcester is being changed after negative feedback from city officials.

Galaxy Development of Auburn plans to submit a new design for the Planning Board's Oct. 4 meeting. A hearing scheduled for the project Wednesday night was postponed at the request of Galaxy so that planners can come up with a new design.

"We'd like to hit the pause button, if you will," said Todd Brodeur, an attorney for Galaxy.

City officials said they wanted to see a design better fit for a denser, walkable city. The first design is similar to many other retail complexes, with buildings facing inward toward large parking lots.

Galaxy will request a postponement of a planned Zoning Board of Appeals hearing scheduled for Sept. 18.

A 65,000-square-foot development called the Trolley Yard would rise where the Worcester Regional Transit Authority had its longtime facility.

Plans call for 13 retail spaces and roughly 20,000 square feet of office space, though it isn't clear if or how that will change in a redesign.

The old transit authority building was demolished earlier this year. It had opened in 1928 as a trolley barn and had been converted to a transit facility after World War II.

The WRTA opened its new $90-million hub at 42 Quinsigamond Ave. last fall.

Galaxy Development bought the site at 287 Grove St. in March 2016 under the name Galaxy Grove LLC for $3.8 million. The WRTA had a public bidding process for the five-acre site, with a $3 million minimum bid price.

The Trolley Yard will add retail to a stretch already including, just to the north, Gold Star Boulevard, with a Home Depot, Shaw's, Price Rite CVS, a series of car dealerships, and the Greendale Mall.

On Wednesday night, the Planning Board approved a parking plan at the Northworks development not far south of the Trolley Yard site on Grove Street.

Grove Street Family Properties, which owns much of the Northworks site, wants to remove all but a 4,000-square-foot yoga studio at 106 Grove St., a largely empty building at the rear of the property. The company plans an overhaul of the vacant 90 Grove St. building in the complex, which it says will increase what is already high demand for limited parking there.

The Worcester Historical Commission gave approval last week for the demolition of the building.