Worcester, MA Roseland Residential Trust held a groundbreaking ceremony with public officials for 145 Front St. at City Sq. This project is the first of two phases, when complete it will be comprised of 365 apartment homes, phase one includes 237-apartment homes. It is a key component of the master-planned, mixed-use development that is revitalizing the city’s downtown. Roseland anticipates a third quarter 2017 completion of this community. The project team includes Erland Construction and ICON Architecture.

The residential community will be a draw for the many young professionals flocking to the revitalized Worcester, New England’s second largest city. The property will feature studio, one-, and two-bedroom units, with a range of amenities, including an outdoor swimming pool with a sundeck, a courtyard with fire pit, barbecue grills, a dog run, and more. The building will also have a full-time concierge, a fitness center with on-demand yoga and spinning services, and a clubroom with billiards, computers, a lounge area, and a game room. Additionally, there will be 10,000 s/f of retail space.

 The full mixed-use project includes a new hotel, public parking garage, and significant additional retail space. Downtown Worcester is located steps from the Worcester Common and the new transportation hub at Worcester’s Union Station offering multiple transport options, including Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) trains, Amtrak, and bus service.

The MBTA offers service to Boston’s South Station in approximately 90 minutes.

“Creating a vibrant downtown residential community gives our growing workforce the high-quality homes they need, and today marks a major milestone in Worcester’s continuing renaissance,” said mayor Joseph Petty.  “Downtown’s transformation is made possible by partners like Roseland who are committed to making projects like this one a reality, and we look forward to continuing to work together for years to come.”

 “This development brings a new dimension in luxury living to the rapidly growing downtown Worcester area – an unrivaled set of amenities, convenience, and a high-end lifestyle,” said Andrew Marshall, president and chief operating officer of Roseland Residential Trust. “This property and the entire development will make Worcester the quintessential urban live-work-play environment, and we are thrilled to be a part of it.”

This property is expected to be especially attractive to Worcester’s growing workforce in advanced manufacturing, information technology, biotechnology, and healthcare. There are a number of significant private and public sector employers in Worcester, including St. Vincent Hospital, UMass Memorial Medical Center, and the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences. The area is home to 12 colleges and universities with more than 35,000 students.

“The momentum of Downtown Worcester is plain to see, and the addition of Roseland’s high-quality, market rate housing will only build on that energy,” said city manager Edward Augustus, Jr. “This is a great example of smart growth, bringing hundreds of people downtown to live near our intermodal transit hub, where they can take a bus across the city or an express train into Boston. As we continue to build density and downtown increasingly becomes a genuine neighborhood, I see even more great things on the horizon.”

Roseland’s focus on developing in downtown areas is readily apparent elsewhere in Massachusetts as well. The company is building Portside at East Pier in East Boston where it is redeveloping a stretch of waterfront property on Boston Harbor. Portside at East Pier is comprised of 181 apartment homes that are fully occupied, 296 that are currently under construction, and an additional future phase which will likely include a mix of apartment homes, condos, a hotel, and multiple public amenities. Roseland is also constructing The Chase II at Overlook Ridge five miles north of Boston. Chase II is a 292-apartment home community and part of a master-planned community, currently comprised of 1,400 apartment homes, and approved for a total of approximately 2,800 apartment homes.