WORCESTER – The Worcester Planning Board approved a site plan for the construction of a 73-unit, 76,000-square-foot apartment building at 224 Shrewsbury St. during its meeting Wednesday night.
The site is currently a parking lot.
The proposed five-story building involves four floors of apartments with onsite parking on the first floor, according to Joshua Lee Smith, an attorney representing Lundgren Equity Partners LLC, the company behind the project. Onsite parking includes a total of 70 spaces with an additional 16 spaces available across the street at 225 Shrewsbury St.
The original plan for the project was a six-story building with 87 units, but due to parking concerns from neighbors, the ratio of units to parking spots was going to be 1 to 0.62; Lee Smith said they reworked the plan for the building. The current plan’s parking ratio is 1 to 1.14.
The building will have 93 bedrooms spread out among studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments, according to the site plans.
Amenities will include a roof garden atop the first level, a fitness area, shared workspaces, electric vehicle charging stations and interior and exterior storage for bicycles, according to Smith.
Architect Ben Anderson said his firm worked to make the design of the building alongside Shrewsbury Street “light and airy” and “welcoming for pedestrians on the sidewalk and also welcoming for tenants.”
The exterior of the building will include shaded areas with couches that will connect to the amenity spaces in the building, according to Anderson.
Members of the city’s planning division raised concerns about the proposed appearance of the exterior of the building, which is a combination of blue and mostly white.
“Overall, I think it’s a great project…but [I do agree with] hopefully adding some variation and colors to the facade,” Planning Board member Brandon King said.
Anderson said he would have to discuss changing the appearance of the facade with the owner of the site, adding that they opted with a simpler design to help align the building’s appearance with the existing buildings on Shrewsbury Street.
The architect also pointed out the building has set aside three sections of the building for artists to paint murals.
“I think that we also have a great opportunity here for variation through public art,” said Lee. “I think that can add an incredible amount of color and vibrancy to the area.”
The group behind the project said they have not yet set up a process to find artists to paint the murals, but that the city and owner of the building would be involved in approving any final designs.
Kiernan Dunlop is an award-winning journalist who has spent the past five years reporting in Worcester, New Bedford and Antigua and Barbuda. She’s been published in Bloomberg, USA Today, Canary Media, MassLive, and the New Bedford Standard Times, among other outlets. She can be contacted at kdunlop@theworcesterguardian.org.
