Southbridge Innovation Center
The WBDC has contracted with Southbridge Associates, LLC to assist in the continued redevelopment of the former American Optical (AO) campus, known today as the Southbridge Innovation Center. AO was a manufacturing leader in Massachusetts. AO closed in the 2000’s, leaving the 150-acre campus underutilized. The campus is made of fourteen historic mill buildings connected by a private roadway network. To establish greater public access and encourage new development opportunities within the campus, the property owner has completed a campus Master Plan which outlines proposed improvements to bolster existing development, allow for the public’s safe access to new recreational areas, and attract new development.
Of the 1.2 million square feet of space, 650,000 is remaining to be developed. Some of the proposed projects include the creation of new office/lab space and new manufacturing space. The site also includes a two-phase residential project, Southbridge Mills, expected to create 148 new units of housing to serve the community’s housing needs. The first phase of 48 units is expected to commence Summer 2021 delivering the first phase within the second quarter of 2022. To further complement the mixed-use development, the owner is also pursuing the development of a municipal law enforcement training site. This training site will include over 40,000 SF of classroom space, over 75 hotel rooms daily and 100,000 SF of multi-purpose space, generating 50-100 new jobs and private investment of $38 million. At full-build, the Southbridge Innovation Center is expected to result in over $100 million of private investment and generate over 350 new jobs, establishing the campus as the largest employment hub in Southbridge and the surrounding towns, bringing new employment and tax revenue to the area.
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State & Local Permitting Assistance
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