WORCESTER – Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), at 100 Institute Rd., released community update on Monday addressing the controversy over its planned purchases of two hotels in the city.
The statement opens by saying, “WPI is planning to purchase the Hampton Inn at 65 Prescott Street and the Courtyard Marriott at 72 Grove Street.”
Both properties sit within the Gateway Park project, next to WPI properties at 50 Prescott St., and 60 Prescott St. These buildings house academic and research programs.
WPI says both hotels will operate as they do now, with the same capacity. It will retain the current management company for the hotels. WPI said it does not expect the loss of any jobs.
The Hampton Inn location will transition to student housing in 2026. The Courtyard Marriot will operate as a hotel through at least 2030.
WPI also said payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT) agreement with the city exceeds $815,000 per year. It said its agreement, from 2009 to 2034, will have the school paying $18 million to the city, with $9 million already paid.
The statement added:
“Our 2023 Community Impact Report highlights such contributions as tens of thousands of hours of community service, $5.6 millionin grants and scholarships for Worcester residents, and nearly $14 million in business for Worcester suppliers and vendors. Beyond these contributions, we have provided support, training, and tutoring in Worcester schools, partnered with the city on public safety initiatives, and enriched our community in countless ways.”
On Monday, Aug. 19, the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce released a statement which said the WPI acquisitions would lead to the loss of 25 percent of the city’s hotel capacity, and 100 jobs would be lost.
Included with the statement was a letter sent to Grace Wang, president of WPI, on Friday, Aug. 16, by Worcester’s Economic Development Coordinating Council (EDCC). That statement says $170 million in public and private investment to create Gateway Park as “a mixed-use district that expanded the City’s tax base, created jobs, and could be an example of how government officials, businesses, and academia can work together in a mutually beneficial way.”
The site sits upon former brownfields. The contaminated land required restoration prior to building on it.
Economic Development Coordinating Council (EDCC)
According to a representative of Worcester City Manager Eric Batista’s office, the EDCC formed over 10 years ago “to ensure the participating members had a structure to facilitate regular dialogue about their priorities, and issues they were hearing from their constituencies.”
The group’s “focus centered on business development, job creation, and commercial tax base expansion as those themes are consistent with the missions of the [Worcester Regional] Chamber [of Commerce], WBDC (Worcester Business Development Corportation), MBI (Massachusetts Biomedical Initiatives), and a part of the City’s Economic Development agenda.”
The members of the group are:
- Three representatives of the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce, including its CEO Tim Murray, a former Lt. Governor and Worcester Mayor;
- Two representatives of the WBC, including Craig Blais, a former economic development official for the City of Worcester;
- President and CEO of the Massachusetts Biomedical Initiatives Jon Waver; and
- Three representatives from the City of Worcester, including City Manager Eric Batista, Mayor Joe Petty, and Chief Development Officer Peter Dunn.
Petty is the only elected official within the group.
The city manager’s office said, “there are no majority votes taken or anything overly formal like that.”
