The Kelley Square Lofts project will include 48 studio apartments and Worcester Public Market, anchored by Wachusett Brewing.

Worcester’s Polar Park and accompanying mixed-use projects surrounding the future ballfield aren’t the only development games in the city’s Canal District.

Much attention has been heaped on the now under-construction 10,000-seat Polar Park, the future home of the Worcester Red Sox, and the two hotels, office and retail space, residential units and parking garage planned by Madison Properties on the 18-acre former Wyman-Gordon complex in the neighborhood. Combined, the Polar Park-Madison Properties ventures will cost about $240 million.

But city officials and private developers say the redevelopment of the district, a once-thriving industrial area, actually began long before the owners of the Pawtucket Red Sox last year decided to move their minor-league team to Worcester, starting in 2021.

Indeed, the finishing touches are currently being put on the new Kelley Square Lofts, a mixed-use project “just a long foul ball away” from Polar Park, said Allen Fletcher, one of the investors in Canal District Partners, developer of Kelley Square Lofts.

Steady Churn of Activity

When completed later this year, the 4-story complex will include 48 studio apartments and the 12,000-square-foot “Worcester Public Market” on the ground floor, right in the heart of Kelley Square. The market will be a cross between a farmer’s market and food fair, with local vendors selling foods of all kinds, Fletcher said. Wachusett Brewing is the anchor tenant.

Meanwhile, Dino Lorusso, owner of Crompton Place which is considered a mini-retail mecca in the heart of the district, is planning to add nine new condos to his complex as part of the final phase of the 10-year redevelopment of the former loom works.

And Chelsea developer Anthony Rossi plans to convert an old shoe factory at 28 Water St., near the city’s recently renovated Union Station on the periphery of the Canal District, into 62 apartment units.

Worcester City Manager Ed Augustus says barely a week goes by without some sort of new commercial activity in the district, such as the recent opening of Insomnia Cookies at 1 Kelley Square, Russo Italian Restaurant at 65 Water St. and Anthem Bagel Company at 19 Kelley Square.

Recently, Guy Glodis, the former Worcester County sheriff and former state lawmaker, announced he was shutting his political-themed Ballot Box Bar after selling his Kelley Square property to an undisclosed buyer, presumably yet another developer.

“There was already an organic transformation under way, and it’s still under way, when the [Pawtucket Red Sox] decided to move to Worcester,” Augustus said of the recent Canal District changes. “They’ve created a real brand for themselves in the district.”

PawSox Noticed Neighborhood Momentum

Fletcher of Kelley Square Lofts agrees that the Canal District’s transformation has been years in the making – and that Polar Park and its accompanied mixed-use projects are much welcome icing on the neighborhood cake.

“It’s been a thrill to see the district come alive,” Fletcher said, who helped found the Canal District Alliance last decade and is the former owner of the Worcester Business Journal and Worcester Magazine. “The changes have been amazing.”

Denis Dowdle, president of Madison Properties, said the Canal District’s slowly unfolding revitalization was one of the reasons why the owners of the Pawtucket Red Sox decided to relocate the team to Worcester.

“They looked at the area, saw the momentum and they didn’t feel like they were going to some remote outpost in the city,” Dowdle said, whose firm was already eyeing the redevelopment of the former Wyman-Gordon property before the PawSox entered the picture.

“Everything was coming together when they first got here,” Lorusso, developer of Crompton Place, said of the soon-to-be WooSox. “They saw what was going on and said, ‘Wow.’ It really, truly is turning into a walking district.”

Most agree that there’s still plenty of redevelopment ahead for the district, though they believe projects will be smaller scale.

The reason: The Canal District is mostly made up of small lots with buildings on them. As a result, most see building-by-building changes in the offing, rather than block-by-block changes. That’s fine with Augustus, the city’s manager.

“We’re going to see some sorting out,” Augustus said of future development in the district. “There are a lot of eclectic things coming to the district, but it’s going to take time. Over time, the increasing values of properties will push more development, and then we’ll see what comes with it.”