Gateway Park LLC is one of three finalist for a 2007 Excellence in Economic Development Award from the Economic Development Administration for the partnership’s revitalization of a contaminated, underutilized, and environmentally stagnant area of Worcester. Gateway Park is competing in the “urban or suburban economic development” category.
WORCESTER, Mass. – Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) and Worcester Business Development Corp. (WBDC) announce that Gateway Park LLC is a finalist for an Economic Development Administration’s (EDA) 2007 Excellence in Economic Development Award for the partnership’s revitalization of a contaminated, under-utilized, and environmentally stagnant area of Worcester. Gateway Park LLC is one of three finalists in the “urban or suburban economic development” category, in which nominations were evaluated based on their effectiveness in utilizing innovative, market-based strategies to improve urban or suburban economic development. Award winners will be announced on May 30.
Gateway Park LLC was formed as a partnership between WPI and WBDC to undertake the large-scale brownfields revitalization project that has created a new “gateway” to Worcester and will showcase the city’s vibrant and growing life sciences and bioengineering industry. At full build out, Gateway Park will feature more than $250 million in private investment and 1 million square feet of research and development and office space geared to the life sciences and bioengineering fields, and will create 2,500 new jobs.
The Excellence in Economic Development Awards program recognizes innovative economic development strategies of national significance. The awards are designed to showcase best practices and to highlight outstanding results in economic development initiatives. Each winner will receive their award later this year in ceremonies held in their host community.
About Gateway Park
Gateway Park, scheduled to open in September, is an 11-acre, mixed-use complex located in downtown Worcester, near the intersection of interstates 190 and 290. A former industrial site and environmentally stagnant area that was a blight on the neighborhood and city, Gateway Park will house five life sciences buildings, totaling 500,000 square feet of flexible, adaptable lab space designed to meet the needs of life science research organizations. A significant investment was made in revitalizing the Gateway Park property, totaling more than $75 million to date, including the cost of clean up as well as investments in renovating the first building, constructing a parking garage and surface lots, and making roadway improvements.
About Worcester Business Development Corp.
Established in 1965, the Worcester Business Development Corp. (WBDC) is a non-profit business organization whose mission is to serve as an innovative and leading force in the economic development of the Worcester region, resulting in job creation and tax base growth. Since its inception, WBDC has been responsible for developing seven industrial parks, creating thousands of jobs and significantly expanding the region’s industrial tax base. WBDC’s accomplishments include Higgins Industrial Park and Gold Star Distributor Park in Worcester, Goddard Industrial Park in Shrewsbury, and Holden Industrial Park in Holden. In the late 1980s, WBDC succeeded in developing the successful Massachusetts Biotechnology Research Park, and recently opened a new technology park, Centech Park, in Grafton. Through land acquisition, environmental testing, and clean up, WBDC is continuing its vision to restore contaminated sites for the public good.
