Boston – The Boston/New England District Council of the Urban Land Institute (ULI) announced the completion of its Technical Assistance Panel (TAP) of the historic North Brookfield Town House municipal building and the downtown district.
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.
The panelists toured the study area and Town House in North Brookfield with members of the Friends of the Town House (FOTH) and Downtown Development Committee. They then interviewed property owners, business owners, and public officials via Zoom to better understand the needs of the district tenants and the community.
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.
In 2006, FOTH was formed with the mission of restoring and renovating the building, and a community master plan was decided in 2007. Since 2007, the town has continued to establish committees to strengthen economic development and serve the needs of the community.
