Downtown Developer Seeks ‘Positive Impact’ From Latest Buy

UMass-Lowell Chancellor Martin Meehan with Greater Haverhill Foundation Manager Ronald Trombley.

Former UMass-Lowell Chancellor Martin Meehan with Greater Haverhill Foundation Manager Ronald Trombley when details of Harbor Place were first announced. Between them is Sally Cerasuolo-O’Rorke who first championed the project.

The consortium developing the downtown Harbor Place project says it has no current plan for a Merrimack Street medical building it acquired this week, but hopes to use it to make a “positive impact along the riverfront.”

Ronald Trombley, manager of the Greater Haverhill Foundation, told WHAV Friday the developers “will soon be evaluating options to see what might provide the most positive benefit for the city and the downtown area.” Meanwhile, Trombley said he is pleased with the progress of the project that has replaced the former Woolworth’s department store and other buildings on the south side of the street.

“It is very rewarding to see this game changing mixed use development moving towards completion by year end 2016. The new education, corporate, retail and residential tenants that will be moving into Harbor Place mark the start of an exciting new era of vibrant activity in Haverhill’s downtown water front district,” he said. The commercial building will be occupied by Randall Bennett of Randall Bennett & Company, on the top floor; Pentucket Bank, occupying the fourth floor; UMass Lowell, leasing the second and third floors; and Haverhill Community Television, which purchased a first floor corner condominium.

Besides the foundation, the development team includes the Boston-based Planning Office for Urban Affairs, affiliated with Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston. The group closed Thursday on the former Lahey Health Behavioral Services building, 60 Merrimack St. The property was purchased for just under $2.5 million by Merrimack Street Acquisition, according to a deed filed in Southern Essex Registry of Deeds, Salem.

Trombley said the source of money to pay for future development of the property has “yet to be determined.” He confirmed the building is empty and that litigation between the developers and former owner D. R. Locke of Boxford has been resolved. He declined to discuss specifics of the legal action, but records show principals of Harbor Place filed suit in Essex County Superior Court last May against D. R. Locke and Northeast Behavioral Health Corporation. D. R. Locke filed a counter claim the following month.

Owners and tenants of the commercial building at White’s Corner are expected to have access to the new building by July in order for them to begin interior construction suited to their needs. The adjacent residential project is expected to be completed by the end of the year, he said.

One thought on “Downtown Developer Seeks ‘Positive Impact’ From Latest Buy

  1. Oh look! It’s Marty “Term Limits” Meehan in the background!

    The same guy, along with now Senator Edward “from Maryland” Markey who voted for passage of NAFTA! The same law that sent MILLIONS of good paying manufacturing jobs outside The U.S., you know, those same jobs that used to employ thousands of Merrimack Valley/Haverhill Citizens. Now he’s moved on to economically raping Americans at the helm of UMass, a PUBLIC institution where the ROI of a college degree is having diminishing returns for what you pay and/or go into DEBT for. Yep, Marty is the man I want around, screwing millions of Americans, for multiple generations, simply brilliant. But hey, even though he is no longer in office, he still has over $4 million in his Federal campaign coffers to sprinkle around to his cronies, which I’m sure they love.

    Electing and supporting, instead of repudiating, those who do you, your families, and fellow Americans harm has done wonders for this country. If you’re having a hard time finding a good paying job that doesn’t require a lot of skill, look no further than Marty Meehan and friends.