Senate Const. completes 615,600 s/f distribution center in Worcester

Worcester, MA Senate Construction Corp. has completed a 615,600 s/f distribution center located at 150 Blackstone River Rd., one of the largest construction and redevelopment projects in New England. The development group – 150 Blackstone River Road LLC – was formed in 2013 through the union of Mid-States Packaging Inc., a tenant of the property for more than 30 years, and GFI Partners, a real estate development company.

In collaboration with the architect, Jim Thornton of Applied Form and Space Architects, and the owner, Senate performed the design-build of the foundation, superstructure, HVAC, fire protection, plumbing, and electrical work.

Spanning less than 18 months, construction of this new pre-engineered Butler Building and the interior tenant buildout, presented some unique challenges. In order to preserve the existing, non-conforming building codes attributed to the previous building, the new structure reused the existing building foundation footprint.  During construction, the signing of a new tenant, G-3, required that the building configuration be changed in order to accommodate the new railroad siding and its delivery platform.

The new building is now home to Imperial Distributors, Inc. who occupy 325,000 s/f, as well as G-3, who occupy 200,000 s/f, and Midstate who will occupy the balance of the space. The building was designed to attract local, regional and national distribution companies, as well as third-party logistics, light manufacturing, assembly and warehouse companies looking to serve this region and the greater New England area.

The redevelopment project in the Quinsigamond Village area of Worcester will receive a $5.4 million tax break from the city over a 15-year period. The project, which is expected to generate at least 300 jobs and $1.4 million in property tax revenues annually upon completion, consists of 32 acres west of Rte. 146 and had a blighted 632,000 s/f building previously.