Worcester wants Cannabis Control Commission in Union Station

File photo Washington Square in Worcester is anchored by Union Station.

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By Zachary Comeau

Worcester may kill two birds with one stone as it is angling to offer up space in the underutilized Union Station to the Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission.

Chief Development Officer Michael Traynor told the Worcester Redevelopment Authority on Friday morning he is preparing a response to the CCC’s request for proposal (RFP) for at least 13,000 square feet of office space in Worcester.

The CCC unanimously approved the RFP last week, and city officials are jumping on that opportunity to fill vacant space in the transportation hub, Traynor said. There is enough available space in the second floor of the station for about 15,000 square feet.

The CCC, the state agency set up to oversee the legal sale of recreational marijuana products, is seeking a 10-year lease for an office consisting of about 50 employees.

The RFP said it is looking for a location accessible via public transportation. The Union Station space appears to check off all of the CCC’s requests, Traynor said.

People going into the Worcester office would need not worry about city parking or traffic, Traynor said.

“This is a great opportunity to get a state office here in Worcester,” Traynor said.

The talks come just weeks after the Worcester Regional Research Bureau released a report about the affordability of office space in Worcester compared to Boston and why it would be wise for state agencies to move out of Boston into Worcester.

Boston is one of only four cities nationally, along with New York, San Francisco and Washington, where square-footage leases for Class A office space surpasses $50 per square foot, the bureau's report said. The state pays an average of $37 per square foot across its Boston lease agreements, the research bureau found.

In Worcester, Class A office space was found in a survey to average about $23 per square foot. The state pays an average of $21 per square foot to lease space in Worcester.