The Grid District

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The Grid District is a collection of buildings in downtown Worcester, Massachusetts. [1]

Worcester, Massachusetts City in Massachusetts, United States

Worcester is a city in, and the county seat of, Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Named after Worcester, England, as of the 2010 Census the city's population was 181,045, making it the second-most populous city in New England after Boston. Worcester is approximately 40 miles (64 km) west of Boston, 50 miles (80 km) east of Springfield and 40 miles (64 km) north of Providence. Due to its location in Central Massachusetts, Worcester is known as the "Heart of the Commonwealth", thus, a heart is the official symbol of the city. However, the heart symbol may also have its provenance in lore that the Valentine's Day card, although not invented in the city, was mass-produced and popularized by Worcester resident Esther Howland.

Contents

Description

When finished, the Grid District will have 510 residential units, 60,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space and parking spaces. [2] The buildings included in the Grid District are the Park Plaza apartments at 507 Main Street; Bancroft Commons apartments at 50 Franklin Street; 56 Franklin Street, which is home to Brew on The Grid; the Paris Cinema building, 66 Franklin Street; 72 Franklin Street, which is leased by Becker College for student housing; and the Houghton Building at 82 Franklin Street. [2]

Park Building (Worcester, Massachusetts) United States historic place

The Park Building is an historic building in Worcester, Massachusetts, USA. Built in 1914, the 11 story structure was for many years one of Worcester's most prominent landmarks. It has a steel frame, with an exterior that is dressed predominantly in limestone. The first two floors have metal and plate glass store fronts, while the third floor has evenly spaced windows, separated by decorative limestone panels and topped by a cornice. From the fourth to the ninth floors there is little decoration. The top two floors have groups of windows separated by Tuscan columns, giving the appearance of a loggia.

Bancroft Hotel United States historic place

The Bancroft Hotel is a historic hotel building at 50 Franklin Street in Worcester, Massachusetts. Built in 1912 and expanded in 1925, it is one of the city's finest examples of Beaux Arts architecture, and was for many years its finest and most opulent hotel. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980. It has since been converted into luxury residences, and is called Bancroft on the Grid.

Becker College

Becker College is a college in central Massachusetts, United States, with campuses in Worcester and Leicester. Becker College traces its history from the union of two Massachusetts educational institutions—one founded in 1784 and the other in 1887. The college offers more than 40 undergraduate degree programs including nursing programs, a veterinary science program, and video game design and development programs. The college's 2016-17 enrollment was 1,892. Becker College has more than 21,000 alumni.

The Paris Cinema building has been under threat of taking by eminent domain by the city, but is now scheduled to be demolished in 2016 and replaced with pop-up retail space in the short term. [3]

Eminent domain, land acquisition, compulsory purchase, resumption, resumption/compulsory acquisition (Australia), or expropriation is the power of a state, provincial, or national government to take private property for public use. However, this power can be legislatively delegated by the state to municipalities, government subdivisions, or even to private persons or corporations, when they are authorized by the legislature to exercise the functions of public character.

Background

MG2 acquired the Bancroft Commons building in the 1990s, which became the genesis of the Grid District. The owner of record is Fifty Franklin LLC, a domestic limited liability corporation listing John McGrail, MG2’s president, as a signatory of the corporation, according to public records. [2] Bancroft on the Commons (landmarked as the Bancroft Hotel, and referred to as Bancroft Commons) has been updated and the lobby was recently rebuilt as part of the redevelopment of downtown Worcester. The Grid District is part of a 118-acre (48 ha) area subject to an urban redevelopment plan proposed by the Worcester Redevelopment Authority. [3] The area that MG2 owns is about 6 acres (2.4 ha). [4] Within these 6 acres, five restaurants and a coffee shop, with a total of 550 seats, are scheduled to open next year. The restaurant group developing these restaurants plans to use them to launch new brands throughout New England or nationwide. [5]

New England Region in the northeastern United States

New England is a region composed of six states in the northeastern United States: Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick to the northeast and Quebec to the north. The Atlantic Ocean is to the east and southeast, and Long Island Sound is to the southwest. Boston is New England's largest city, as well as the capital of Massachusetts. Greater Boston is the largest metropolitan area, with nearly a third of New England's population; this area includes Worcester, Massachusetts, Manchester, New Hampshire, and Providence, Rhode Island.

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References

  1. ↑ "The Grid District joins downtown Worcester's renaissance", masslive.com, March 22, 2016. Accessed September 22, 2016
  2. 1 2 3 "Bottom Line: MG2 digs into urban renewal in Worcester's Grid District", telegram.com, May 1, 2016. Accessed September 22, 2016
  3. 1 2 "Worcester is eminently serious", Worcester Business Journal Online, May 9, 2016. Accessed September 28, 2016
  4. ↑ "Downtown Worcester Goes Upscale". August 21, 2016. Retrieved 29 September 2016.
  5. ↑ "Worcester developer, restauranteur  [sic] forge unlikely pact", Worcester Business Journal Online, September 12, 2016. Accessed October 4, 2016

Coordinates: 42°15′43″N71°48′11″W / 42.262°N 71.803°W / 42.262; -71.803

Geographic coordinate system Coordinate system

A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are often chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position and two or three of the numbers represent a horizontal position; alternatively, a geographic position may be expressed in a combined three-dimensional Cartesian vector. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation. To specify a location on a plane requires a map projection.

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