City Councilor Haxhiaj eyes TIF to redevelop former Big D supermarket on Mill Street
WORCESTER — The former Big D supermarket on Mill Street is scheduled to be the subject of conversation at Tuesday's City Council meeting, as District 5 Councilor Etel Haxhiaj has asked that the property be designated an Urban Center Housing Tax Increment Financing (TIF) zone.
"Mill St. residents have been frustrated that the former Big D on Mill St. has been both a neighborhood blight and magnet for illegal dumping and police calls for 20 years,” Haxhiaj said in an email. “We need to be more proactive in addressing the development of this parcel, eliminating this neighborhood eyesore.”
More:Tired of eyesore: Worcester City Council wants action on former Mill Street supermarket
The state Urban Center Housing Tax Increment Financing Program allows cities and towns to promote housing and commercial development by providing real estate exemptions on all or part of the increased value of real estate. The program can be used to create affordable housing along with commercial opportunities.
The former Big D/Price Chopper property at 195 Mill St., across from Coes Pond, has been vacant for 20 years, and has been an object of derision as an “eyesore” and an object of efforts by the council to revitalize.
The owner of the property has told the Telegram & Gazette that he wants to develop the property as a “high-density residential project.”
Haxhiaj said that this would be the first time a UCH-TIF has been approved for the city, and that it would “both create an incentive to attract developers and give the city a role in shaping this vacant parcel’s development.”
“While Worcester has approved both economic development and housing TIFs independently, this would be the first time a TIF was approved for a mixed-use project,” Haxhiaj continued. “Worcester has designated specific parcels for tax increment financing, successfully attracting developers in the past. While Worcester has not utilized the UCH-TIF designation in the past, cities like Lowell and Framingham are already using this program to revitalize their neighborhoods by encouraging mixed-use commercial and housing development."
The councilor is also asking for information on other parts of the city where such a TIF zone can be designated.
In a similar vein, Haxhiaj is requesting a report concerning the feasibility of implementing a vacant property ordinance “to help with effectively dealing with abandoned or vacant properties that are boarded up, which pose a safety hazard and contribute to neighborhood blight.”
Haxhiaj asked that the report include information on two ordinances dealing with vacant properties: an ordinance from Revere, and an ordinance from Wilmington, Delaware.
In Revere, an owner of a vacant building must register the building with the Department of Municipal Inspections within 45 days of the vacancy.
The building owner must pay an annual fee ranging from $500 to $3,000 depending on how long the building has been vacant.
This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Former Big D market on Mill Street on Worcester City Council agenda
