BOSTON – The Boston/New England District Council of the Urban Land Institute announced the completion of its Technical Assistance Panel (TAP) of the historic North Brookfield Town House municipal building and downtown district in North Brookfield, MA.
The six-person panel of land use and development professionals toured the area and provided recommendations for positioning the Town House along with proposals for redevelopment and revitalization of the downtown district to attract community members, visitors, and investors. The panel took place from June 4th to June 7th and was sponsored by MassDevelopment and the Town of North Brookfield.
Making upgrades to The Town House and downtown district of North Brookfield has been a topic of conversation for many years. During its first one hundred years, the historically significant Town House was the center of life for the community until it closed in 2002. By 2006, the Friends of the Town House (FOTH) was formed with the mission of restoring and renovating the building. In 2007, a community Master Plan was completed, and the Central Massachusetts Regional Planning Commission (CMRPC) was hired to provide technical assistance. Since 2007, the town has continued to establish committees to strengthen economic development and serve the needs of the North Brookfield community.
In 2018, The FOTH met with Board of Selectmen, the Architectural Heritage Foundation (AHF), the CMRPC, and the Quaboag Valley Community Development Corporation (QVCDC) to discuss economic development in North Brookfield, with the Town House as the focal point. As a result, the FOTH were encouraged to create the Downtown Development Committee (DCC). Since then, the DDC and FOTH have developed strategic plans for the downtown district and Town House, respectively. ULI Boston/New England was brought in to assist with the strategic planning process and provide recommendations on how best to move the renovation and redevelopment process forward.
“The Town House and downtown district are two areas within our community with significant potential to once again become the hub of North Brookfield for residents and town officials as well as attract new retail tenants, investors, and visitors,” stated a town spokesperson. “Given ULI’s successful track record with its Technical Assistance Panels, we asked for their help in breathing new life back into our small town by offering recommendations on how to best move forward with the redevelopment of our Town House and downtown district.”
In June, panelists received briefing information from the town regarding the study area including zoning, past studies, current conditions, and more. The six panelists toured the study area and Town House in North Brookfield with members of Friends of the Townhouse committee and Downtown Development Committee. Panelists then interviewed property owners, business owners, and public officials via Zoom to better understand the needs of the district tenants and the community. From there, the panel presented its findings and answered questions on how to best move forward with the revitalization of both the Town House and downtown district.
“ULI Boston/New England was brought in to perform a Technical Assistance Panel on the Town House and downtown district of North Brookfield as part of our continued commitment to giving back to the community and providing significant recommendations to improve the economic development and growth opportunity for the Town of North Brookfield,” said Emily Innes, principal at Innes Associates and TAP co-chair.
During the presentation, the panel recommended a strategic plan which includes creating a business strategy for the Town House. This involves investigating and vetting potential tenants and interviewing and securing a commercial real estate brokerage to help the Town House vacancy build up. In addition, the panel recommended implementing a study on the accessibility and traffic concerns of downtown to help assess the impact of delivery times and street scape concerns to the downtown vibrancy and economic traction of retail shops.
To learn more about ULI and the TAP program, visit https://boston.uli.org/get-involved/technical-assistance-panels/.
