Worcester mayor says he'll vote for courthouse redevelopment project
Monday, April 6, 2015
By Steven H. Foskett Jr. TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
steven.foskett@telegram.com
WORCESTER — Mayor Joseph M. Petty Monday said he's ready to vote on the proposal to sell the former Worcester County Courthouse for redevelopment into housing and retail space, but his stance might not be what the Worcester Community-Labor Coalition wants to hear.
Mr. Petty issued a statement Monday saying he plans to vote in favor of the $1.2 million deal struck by City Manager Edward M. Augustus Jr. to sell the vacant historic courthouse to Brady Sullivan Properties LLC.
"I am strongly in favor of this proposal and plan to vote in favor of it on Tuesday," Mr. Petty said in the statement. "I urge my colleagues to do the same."
http://www.telegram.com/article/2015...304069607/1116
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City looks gift horse of courthouse deal in the mouth
Saturday, April 4, 2015
By Dianne Williamson
dianne.williamson@telegram.com
Marc Pinard struggled mightily to maintain a poker face during last week's shakedown session — otherwise known as a City Council subcommittee hearing — to determine whether Worcester should let a developer make a terrific improvement in a key neighborhood we've been dying to rehabilitate.
You'd think the city would have laid out the red carpet for Pinard, lawyer for developer Brady Sullivan of New Hampshire, who has agreed to pay $1.2 million for the vacant courthouse and turn it into upscale apartments. You'd think the city, knowing the gains for Lincoln Square, would have thrown Pinard the kind of party where Konnie Lukes wakes up the next morning in Rick Rushton's pajamas.
http://www.telegram.com/article/2015...49808/0/SEARCH
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As courthouse deal reckoning nears, activists cite lack of transparency
Saturday, April 4, 2015
By Nick Kotsopoulos Politics and the City column
Tuesday night could be a defining moment at Worcester City Hall.
Mayor Joseph M. Petty insists the City Council will finally vote then to determine the fate of the former Worcester County Courthouse on Main Street.
He promised there will not be another snafu as occurred last week that kept the courthouse item off the council agenda. In fact, there is a courthouse item on Tuesday night's agenda under the first-ever category: "Items Reasonably Anticipated" — whatever that means.
So, the stage appears set for a vote on the deal negotiated by City Manager Edward M. Augustus Jr. to sell the vacant courthouse property to a New Hampshire-based developer who wants to renovate the building into 115 market-rate apartments and 3,000 square feet of retail space.
Brady Sullivan Properties LLC has offered the city $1.2 million for the courthouse property, which it acquired from the state last year for $1.
http://www.telegram.com/article/2015...49760/0/SEARCH
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Worcester panel backs change in CitySquare fee payments
Wednesday, April 1, 2015
By Nick Kotsopoulos TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
nicholas.kotsopoulos@telegram.com
WORCESTER — The City Council Economic Development Committee has unanimously endorsed an amendment that would give the developer of the CitySquare project an extra year to pay for permit fees and would change one of the payment triggers.
The amendment is intended to reflect modifications made to the overall redevelopment plan, according to Heather Gould, chief of staff for the city's Economic Development Office.
The amendment would extend the expiration date of the CitySquare Project Permit Fees ordinance by one year, from June 30, 2018, to June 30, 2019.
http://www.telegram.com/article/2015...19676/0/SEARCH
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