WORCESTER—Concerns around Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) having finalized the purchase of two Gateway Park hotels for a combined $46 million highlighted the city council meeting on Tuesday evening.
The acquisition, which includes the Courtyard Marriott Worcester hotel for $25.6 million and the Hampton Inn & Suites Worcester for $20.4 million, has sparked a heated debate about the future of economic development in the city between city officials, residents, and the institution.
Mayor Joe Petty expressed his frustration with the purchase, emphasizing the potential setback in the city’s relationship with colleges and universities.
“I don’t know what we can do to replace two taxable properties,” Petty said. “It’s not just the tax, but the whole idea of working together as a partnership and bringing economic development to Worcester.”
“We have to be aware of this going forward and protect ourselves going forward,” Petty added. “It will be a while before we build up trust between the city and the institution [WPI].”
The purchase is expected to result in a significant loss of tax revenue for the city. Officials estimate that Worcester will lose nearly $1.6 million in hotel and property tax revenue annually, as nonprofit universities are exempt from paying property taxes under state law.
District 2 Councilor Candy Mero-Carlson spoke emphatically about the original vision for the Gateway Park project. “When this agreement was made 20 years ago, this was about a new mixed-use district that would house new businesses and ventures with its sole focus on life science and bioengineering,” she said.
Mero-Carlson added, “This project was never about utilizing public tax dollars and resources to solely facilitate WPI’s campus expansion or student housing needs which would take properties off the tax rolls.”
The councilor also pointed out the financial implications, stating, “The estimated hotel tax is $487,000, yet the purchase price of one of these hotels was $25 million. They certainly don’t have any problems with spending money.”
Councilor-at-Large Morris Bergman expressed his disappointment, saying, “We can try and improve our chances of this not happening again. We got our pockets picked pretty good.” He added, “I trust the city manager to try and get the best deal for us [out of the negotiations]. This isn’t easy for us to change though.”
Councilor-at-Large Kathleen Toomey didn’t mince words in her criticism: “Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should. Both the business and WPI have shown us the utter disregard for our city and our citizens for the financial impact on our future.”
“It’s so much cheaper for them to buy these hotels than it is for them to build dormitories from scratch,” said Councilor George Russell. He also emphasized the need for the city to be more aggressive with hotel developers in the future, given the current high construction costs.
“This is a warning and something we have to look at,” said councilor-at-large Donna Colorio. “We need to see what we can do to preserve our tax base.”
City Manager Eric Batista underscored the broader economic implications of the hotel acquisition: “This impacts our ability to secure large events for the city. We also know how important this is for us in terms of our tax base.”
“We’ve been quickly working to try and come to a resolution with the institution,” Batista added. “I’m hopeful that we’ll get to an agreement, but at the end of the day it involves a significant amount of work and looking at the historical elements of what’s happened here.”
Despite the controversy, WPI plans to maintain both hotels at their current capacity until 2026. At that point, the 100-room Hampton Inn will be converted to student housing, while the 134-room Courtyard Worcester is expected to continue operating as a hotel through at least 2030.
The situation has sparked a broader discussion about the balance between educational institution expansion and maintaining the city’s tax base, as well as the importance of transparent communication between major institutions and city officials in planning Worcester’s future development.
Matt Olszewski is a freelance content and news writer based in Boston, MA. In his free time, Matt enjoys running, hiking or skiing. Matt is currently finishing up the MPH degree program at Tufts University. He can be reached at mattoskier@gmail.com
As the Worcester Guardian marks nearly a year of delivering free, independent digital news to our city, our dedication to this mission strengthens. Please consider a tax-deductible donation to support our ongoing commitment to providing hyperlocal news coverage to Worcester. Scroll to the bottom of our home page to sign up for our daily newsletter
