Redevelopment of the Thorndike Exchange building next to the MBTA’s Lowell commuter rail station into 152 market-rate apartments was recently approved by Lowell authorities.
The city of Lowell and University of Massachusetts-Lowell officials are trying to hammer out a new agreement they hope will set the stage for future cooperation and expansion of the university after a tumultuous summer of tension and finger-pointing between the two parties.
The relationship between the city and school took a distinct nosedive in June when UMass-Lowell, by far the largest landowner in the city with 4.5 million square feet under its control, unexpectedly purchased the sprawling Perkins Park complex on the city’s east side for future dorms.
Not only did the $61.5 million purchase take a major private piece of property off of city tax rolls, UMass-Lowell’s takeover of the 230-unit Perkins residential development also meant the displacement of hundreds of residents currently residing in the complex, creating an outcry in the city and demands for compensation from the university.
The controversy hits its height – or low, depending on how you look at it – when UMass President Marty Meehan, a Lowell native and former head of the UMass-Lowell campus, accused city officials of a “stunning lack of appreciation” for the university’s overall economic impact and threatened to focus the school’s future expansion outside the city.
The tension ultimately led to the current private talks between city and school officials to establish a list of shared goals, benefits and guidelines on how they will handle their relationship moving forward. The two sides hope to have an agreement ready for review by early September.
“I think we’ll be back on track after that,” said Mayor Ed Kennedy, acknowledging the Perkins purchase took the city by surprise and caused “more than a little anxiety” among both city officials and residents.
Adam Baacke, director of campus planning at UMass-Lowell, also said he’s “quite confident” that officials can put “recent challenges” behind them and move forward in a more cooperative manner. “I think we all know that we have a lot to gain from the success of each other,” he said.
Change Of Plans For Thorndike Exchange
The recent brouhaha did create one clear winner in Lowell: Developer Sal Lupoli, the chief executive of Lupoli Cos. Inc. and owner of the Sal’s Pizza chain. Lupoli’s development company had already proposed converting an old industrial building, once home to Hood Sarsaparilla at 165 Thorndike St., into a new residential, office and retail complex.
But after the dustup between the school and city, Lupoli asked for and has tentatively received an expedited approval process to start and finish what will be known as the “Thorndike Exchange,” a 245,000-square-foot redevelopment with 152 market-rate apartments, 30,000 square feet of office space, two restaurants and a café, and a roof deck event space. Former residents of Perkins Park are being encouraged to move to the new development, which is expected to be completed by early 2018, six months earlier than Lupoli had originally envisioned.
Lupoli, whose company has also developed properties in Lawrence, Haverhill and Andover, is already eyeing another potential development in Lowell’s Hamilton Canal area, though he wouldn’t give details. To Lupoli, one of Lowell’s greatest assets is UMass-Lowell, which he said creates a “sense of energy” and a college town atmosphere that developers love.
“UMass is critical to the city of Lowell,” he said. “It’s an absolute necessity.”
In some respects, the summer scrap is the direct result of UMass-Lowell’s growing success, popularity and prestige. The school’s enrollment has nearly doubled over the past 10 years, to 17,500 students. Meanwhile, the university’s real estate holdings have also doubled, during roughly the same time period, to 4.5 million square feet of space. Some of its recent acquisitions have included the downtown Doubletree Hotel in 2009, the Tsongas Arena (now known as the Tsongas Center) in 2010 and the former St. Joseph’s Hospital in 2011.
Baacke, director of campus planning, said the school is clearly transitioning from a largely commuter school to a major university with dormitories and top-notch academic facilities. Nearly 50 percent of its full-time students are now housed in dorms – and the university needs even more dorm space.
But he said it’s likely the university will construct new dorms, rather than purchase existing properties and convert them to student housing, because they would largely be for undergraduate students who don’t require apartment-like living quarters.
“The only real solution is new construction,” he said of new dormitories.
Meanwhile, the university is eager to tout its economic impact of nearly $1 billion a year to the city, much of it via spending by students and the university’s 1,976, full- and part-time faculty and staff members. The university has also launched a number of programs that have helped spur economic innovation and growth, including new city startup firms with ties to UMass-Lowell, officials say.
Despite the “bit of a shock” caused by UMass’s purchase of Perkins Park, City Councilor Corey Belanger said he and other city officials never doubted the university’s positive economic pluses to Lowell.
“There are always going to be bumps in the road,” he said. “But we appreciate all it’s done for the city. UMass is to us what MIT and Harvard are to Cambridge. UMass-Lowell is a tremendous, tremendous benefit to Lowell.”
