Fitchburg Projects Awarded $9.345 Million in State Funding for Housing, Infrastructure and Downtown Redevelopment

City infrastructure awards and Underutilized Properties investments will support housing production, adaptive reuse of vacant buildings and continued downtown revitalization

FITCHBURG, MA – Fitchburg projects have been awarded a combined $9.345 million through the Healey-Driscoll Administration’s FY27 Community One Stop for Growth, bringing significant state investment into the city for infrastructure, housing production and the redevelopment of vacant and underutilized properties.

Of the total, $8.5 million is being awarded directly to the City of Fitchburg for three major infrastructure projects:

– $5 million from the MBTA Communities Catalyst Fund for the Moran Square Improvements project;

– $2.5 million from the MassWorks Infrastructure Program to support Eleanor’s Lofts at 21 Depot Street; and

– $1 million from the MassWorks Infrastructure Program to support Main Street Lofts at 280-288 Main Street.

An additional $845,000 in Underutilized Properties Program awards is coming to Fitchburg through MassDevelopment, including $695,000 for NewVue Communities and $150,000 for Watch Us Grow LLC, bringing the total FY27 One Stop investment in Fitchburg projects to $9.345 million.

Together, the projects demonstrate Fitchburg’s strategy of pairing private redevelopment of vacant and underutilized buildings with public investment in the infrastructure necessary to support housing, businesses and stronger neighborhoods.

“These awards are all part of one strategy: building the infrastructure that allows Fitchburg to continue producing more housing,” said Mayor Samantha Squailia. “Housing development involves collaboration with private and public partners to bring new units online, while we also invest in the streets, utilities, connections and public spaces that support those neighborhoods. We will now work to connect infrastructure improvements with housing production and continued downtown revitalization. We appreciate the Healey-Driscoll Administration for recognizing that communities need both the housing and the infrastructure to support it.”

The projects are directly associated with approximately 302 new housing units, along with new commercial, coworking and community space.

Mayor Squailia also recognized Senator John Cronin and Representative Michael Kushmerek for their continued partnership and advocacy for Fitchburg’s housing and economic development priorities at the State House. “Senator Cronin and Representative Kushmerek have been strong partners in this work, and I appreciate the time and effort they continue to put into advocating for Fitchburg and helping us connect our local priorities with state resources,” Squailia said. “These projects only happen when the City, our legislative delegation, the Administration and our private and nonprofit development partners are all working in the same direction.”

 

Moran Square: $5 Million

The largest award will provide $5 million through the MBTA Communities Catalyst Fund to reconstruct and improve the historic Moran Square gateway into downtown.

The project includes intersection reconfiguration, new traffic signals and lighting, full-depth pavement reconstruction, drainage improvements, accessible sidewalks and pedestrian areas, streetscape improvements and better bicycle and pedestrian connections. The work will also address longstanding stormwater and flooding concerns in the area.

The infrastructure investment directly supports the redevelopment of the long-underutilized warehouse at 64 Main Street into Railside Lofts, a 36-unit residential development immediately adjacent to Fitchburg’s Intermodal Transportation Center and the future northern terminus of the Twin Cities Rail Trail.

The improvements also complement significant housing activity already underway nearby, including 34 units planned at 280-288 Main Street and additional permitted housing developments within the surrounding downtown area, with 44 units of mixed-income housing on 10 Main St completed in 2023.

“This is what coordinated redevelopment looks like,” Commissioner of Public Works Nicholas Erickson said. “We are improving the gateway, renewing aging infrastructure, addressing drainage and traffic concerns, making the area safer for people walking and biking, connecting residents to transit and the rail trail, and creating the conditions for vacant buildings around Moran Square to become productive properties again.”

 

Eleanor’s Lofts: $2.5 Million

Fitchburg will receive $2.5 million through MassWorks to improve Depot Street in conjunction with the redevelopment of the former Ahlstrom-Munksjö paper mill into Eleanor’s Lofts.

The historic industrial complex is being transformed into approximately 225 workforce and market-rate apartments, including family and senior housing, along with approximately 37,000 square feet of commercial and community space.    

The state-funded public infrastructure work will include roadway reconstruction, pedestrian safety improvements, traffic-calming measures, intersection upgrades, lighting, streetscape improvements, a new MART transit stop with passenger amenities and improved public access around the redevelopment.

The project brings housing production, environmental cleanup, historic preservation, riverfront reinvestment and private development together on the former industrial site.

 

Main Street Lofts at 280: $1.15 Million in Combined State Investment

The redevelopment of 280-288 Main Street will receive $1.15 million through two complementary state awards, pairing investment in the building itself with improvements to the public infrastructure surrounding it.

A $1 million MassWorks award to the City of Fitchburg will support reconstruction of the Main Street frontage, ADA-accessible curb cuts, stormwater improvements and utility upgrades necessary to support the redevelopment. In addition, Watch Us Grow LLC will receive $150,000 through MassDevelopment’s Underutilized Properties Program to support the rehabilitation of the building itself.

The long-vacant, five-story historic property will be converted into 34 apartments y approximately 2,500 square feet of coworking and commercial space. Built in 1897, the property has remained one of the largest underutilized buildings along the Main Street corridor.

Together, the two awards demonstrate Fitchburg’s broader redevelopment strategy: invest in both the private building and the public infrastructure around it so difficult adaptive-reuse projects can move forward. The completed project will bring housing and commercial activity back to a prominent downtown building within walking distance of the MBTA Commuter Rail station, businesses, restaurants, cultural institutions and public services.

 

470 Main Street: $695,000

NewVue Communities will receive $695,000 through MassDevelopment’s Underutilized Properties Program toward the redevelopment of 470 Main Street.

The prominent mixed-use Main Street property currently includes housing, commercial space and NewVue’s headquarters. A significant portion of its commercial space has remained vacant since the former TD Bank branch closed in 2020. NewVue plans to convert surplus commercial and storage space into seven additional residential units, bringing the building to 38 total mixed-income apartments, while retaining two smaller Main Street commercial suites better suited to current market demand.

The project will create additional housing while preserving commercial activity along Main Street and putting currently underutilized space back into productive use. The planned housing will include a mix of affordability levels, including project-based voucher units, LIHTC-restricted units, workforce housing and a small number of unrestricted market-rate apartments.

 

Coordinated City-State-Private Partnership

These awards reflect a broader approach Fitchburg has been pursuing: reuse existing buildings and neighborhoods, work with private and nonprofit developers willing to undertake difficult rehabilitation projects and pursue state resources to address the public infrastructure that makes those projects possible.

The Commonwealth’s Community One Stop for Growth is specifically designed to coordinate housing and economic development investments across multiple state agencies and programs. The state describes the program as an active partnership with municipalities in economic development strategy and investment. Massachusetts Government

“Fitchburg has a tremendous opportunity to turn long-vacant and underused properties into productive parts of our community” Liz Murphy, Director of  Community Development and Planning said. “Instead of watching vacant buildings continue to deteriorate, we are working collaboratively to bring them back to life. That means housing upstairs, businesses and community space where appropriate, safer streets and sidewalks outside, stronger utility systems underneath, and new property value that helps support City services. The State has been an incredible partner in helping Fitchburg connect all of those pieces.”

These five awards are part of more than $326 million in FY27 Community One Stop for Growth investments being announced statewide by the Healey-Driscoll Administration.

The awards will now proceed through the Commonwealth’s contracting process. The City will continue working with the Executive Office of Economic Development, the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities, project developers and other partners to move each project toward construction.