State to buy UMass Dartmouth Star Store campus in New Bedford for $1, continue art studies

BOSTON – The state will buy the UMass Dartmouth College of Visual and Performing Arts Star Store’s 20-year-old campus in downtown New Bedford for $1 to continue school arts programs.

Sen. Mark Montigny, D-New Bedford, made the announcement Monday in a press release.

The purchase is directed by Montigny’s FY23 budget amendment, which was formally endorsed Monday, July 18, by the state Legislature, according to the release.

Sen. Montigny said he personally appealed to Gov. Charlie Baker and Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito to garner their support for the building’s acquisition and renovation.

Over the weekend, Montigny also worked with Senate Ways and Means Chairman Michael Rodrigues to build $30 million for capital renovations at Star Store into the Senate Economic Development Bill, which was unveiled Monday, according to the release.

How the Star Store became the arts campus

When first elected in 1992, Montigny initiated efforts to revive the city’s downtown district that had sat mostly vacant and in disrepair, according to the release. After collaborating with local artists and musicians, Montigny saw an opportunity to redevelop and leverage the old Star Store department store building into a modern campus for the UMass Dartmouth College of Visual and Performing Arts at the corner of Union and Purchase streets.

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Despite pressure from the university to build a facility on its main campus and financial limitations imposed by the state’s bond cap, Montigny persisted in the pursuit of significant state investments into the Star Store. By 2001, Montigny’s legislation redeveloped the crumbling building into a modern visual arts campus that attracted budding artists to downtown New Bedford. The increase in downtown activity fueled demand for eateries, entertainment, and gallery space. The simultaneous reinvigoration of the Zeiterion Theatre and other cultural institutions, also sustained through Montigny’s support, created an arts and cultural revival in the city that continues today, according to the release.

The original redevelopment of Star Store in the early 2000s required an innovative financing strategy to address the state’s inability at the time to utilize state bonds, according to the release. The strategy required a long-term lease with a developer who could assume responsibility for constructing the campus while the state provided annual appropriations on behalf of the university to finance the construction costs. At the end of the 20-year lease, the state could then purchase the campus it paid for by providing the developer $1.

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Renovations to begin

Despite strong resistance from state officials, Montigny has ensured that taxpayers will recoup the 20-plus-year investment into the Star Store by directing the state to purchase the building for $1, as envisioned by the original development plan, according to the release. Annual state appropriations will fund immediate renovations within the building to ensure the university can begin transforming the campus into a 21st century space for artists, makers, and designers that will fuel the New Bedford arts and cultural renaissance for the next 20 years.

Longer term renovations will have up to $30 million in state support thanks to Montigny’s recent work with Senate Ways and Means Chairman Michael Rodrigues. The bond authorization is included as part of Monday’s economic development package unveiled in the Senate.

“Star Store was the original impetus for the city’s astounding arts and cultural renaissance,” said Montigny.

“We took a chance on an ambitious vision to revive our downtown by leveraging the amazing, homegrown talent that loves New Bedford with the university to provide an infusion of new energy that collectively transformed the downtown district into what we see today.

“There was no way that we were going to lose this precious, valuable asset to private interests after taxpayers invested so much in this building. However, like most things, we have to ensure that Star Store remains relevant for the upcoming generation and so new investments will be made but the traditional artists and makers will remain. Today’s deal will significantly enhance Star Store’s footprint and cement a legacy for downtown New Bedford as the beacon of arts and cultural life in our region.”

This article originally appeared on Standard-Times: UMass Dartmouth Star Store campus in New Bedford to be purchased by MA