A Long Road To Crossroads | 4 Blackstone Valley towns slowly push for high-visibility business park
Four Blackstone Valley communities and six private landowners are working together to establish the largest business park this side of Devens.
Douglas, Northbridge, Sutton and Uxbridge − four towns split by Route 146 on the southern end of Central Massachusetts − are collaborating with the private landowners and state officials to create the more than 500-acre park, dubbed Valley Crossroads.
It has been no quick task, said Jennifer Hager, Sutton’s town planner. She estimated the towns have been in talks for six years. And officials and landowners estimate it could be at least another five years before the park could be built.
But progress has been made. Douglas and Sutton approved zoning changes several years ago that pave the way for industrial and retail buildings across town lines. Some state money has come in for layout studies. And five of the landowners have signed on to an application for state grant money under the Chapter 43D program that would pay for the design of an access road. A sixth signature is expected before the end of the year when Classic Envelope finalizes a land purchase on Gilboa Street in Douglas. The application for the money is due in February.
Jeannie Hebert, president of the Blackstone Valley Chamber of Commerce, said Classic’s purchase of the former Interface mill is a lynchpin. It not only paves the way for further progress on the Crossroads park, it could also lead to utility upgrades along Gilboa Street that could lead to further economic development along that corridor.
Hebert is optimistic about the project. “I hope it’s just a couple more years,” she said.
Obstacles To Clear
Of course, for a complex deal that crosses town borders, obstacles remain. For one, there’s a large amount of gravel that must be excavated before the 1.2-mile access road can be built, said Jim Pyne, owner of Pyne Sand and Stone, which owns 75 acres and harvests gravel under agreements with some of the other property owners.
“You don’t build a road or a business on a hill that’s 100 feet tall,” Pyne said.
Removing the material is a big undertaking and, under normal circumstances, could take several years, he said. The process could be sped up, but his company has no reason to process it quickly, absent being paid to do so. If a developer is interested in getting the deal done more quickly, Pyne said he’s open to discussion.
Another challenge is securing a developer.“If we were in a normal economy, I’d regularly have someone knocking on the door wanting to know if some of this land is for sale,” he said. “No one’s doing that.”
Pyne said he and the other landowners appreciate that the towns are using their resources to get an access road built.
“I think they realize this is going to greatly increase the value of their property,” he said.
He said the landowners hope to get a good return on their land from a deep-pocketed developer who can build the park correctly.
Much of the land has been under the ownership of area families for years, he said.
Pyne said the land is in a good location for a business park. Hebert, the Chamber president, agreed, noting the immediate access to Route 146, a major transportation corridor between Worcester and Providence. She said she fields calls regularly from companies looking for space in the area and she is confident there is demand for such a park.
The park would be split down the middle by the highway, with an east parcel and a west parcel. The latter is a bit further along in the planning stages, Hager said.
Hager said officials will have to update a market study for the land that was conducted eight years ago. But they have a general idea of what sorts of development might be best for each side. The east side, located near Wal-Mart in Northbridge, would lend itself to retail development, she said. The west side, which would be located near Commerce Park, might be better suited to industrial development.
Craig Blais, executive vice president of the Worcester Business Development Corp. said the WBDC hopes to become a partner with the four communities.
The WBDC was a key player in developing the 121-acre CenTech Park in Grafton and Shrewsbury. It acquired the land, won state grants and marketed the property to private developers.
Blackstone Valley officials hope for a similar model at Valley Crossroads. But it’s going to take time.
“You’ve got to take baby steps and get some buy-in from local communities and land owners and (build) trust,” Hager said. “It’s not a simple process, but shockingly, with the amount of moving parts and players, everybody has been pretty much of one mind.”
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