WRA targets Great Wall building for redevelopment

PHOTO/GRANT WELKER The building housing the Great Wall Chinese restaurant has been targeted for eminent domain by the city.

Write a Comment

By Zachary Comeau

The Worcester Redevelopment Authority has its sights set on the redevelopment of another downtown property: the Great Wall building.

The agency has had several discussions about the property, including one last month with the property owner about plans to redevelop the building housing Chinese restaurant Great Wall at 521 Main St.

The restaurant has been closed since 2017 after a wall became damaged and had to be repaired, and apartments on the upper floors have also been vacant.

Similar to the owners of Midtown Mall, the WRA is requesting the owner’s development plan and wants building owner Mindy Jiang to cooperate with the WBDC and other business owners to help redevelop the area.

Jiang, through representatives due to a language barrier, has told the WRA she has been working for about a year to fix the building, which includes reinstalling electrical infrastructure removed when the wall was rebuilt.

Work is ongoing at the property with the hopes reopening the restaurant will help fund other needed repairs on the upper floors, but the WRA had already initiated an eminent domain process.

Roberta Brien, vice president of projects for the Worcester Business Development Corp., who represents businesses at 20 Franklin St. and in the immediate area, said she has consistently reached out to Jian to coordinate redevelopment of the area and for Allen Court to become open to pedestrian access, but those efforts have been to no avail.

“We have had no communication from them at all,” Brien said.