Registry of Motor Vehicles Relocating from City Hall to Haverhill’s RiversEdge Plaza

The Haverhill Registry of Motor Vehicles location will soon relocate from City Hall to Lincoln Avenue’s RiversEdge Plaza. (File photograph)

Haverhill motorists seeking services from the Registry of Motor Vehicles will soon be able to complete transactions at a brand-new, expanded location in the city’s RiversEdge Plaza.

Taking over the Winslow Properties-owned space at 223-255 Lincoln Avenue once occupied by CVS, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts formally entered into a 10-year lease for the Registry in August 2017.

Photo courtesy of JJ Welch & Co.

Construction on the 2,000 square-foot space is being executed by Salem’s James J. Welch & Company, under the direction of Project Manager Justin Welch. In addition to the new RMV office, Welch was commissioned to oversee mechanical and electrical work on an adjacent Edible Arrangements location, he tells WHAV.

“We’ll obtain the certificate of occupancy and hand off to Winslow before the RMV takes over for their furniture install and all that they need to do,” Welch said.

Ten to 15 employees have worked at the location daily for the last six weeks and are currently in the finishing stages of the project, which has a budget of $800,000. Final touches of paint, flooring and ceiling work are expected to be complete by the end of August, Welch told WHAV.

The Massachusetts Department of Transportation tells WHAV the location should be open in September.

Photo courtesy of JJ Welch & Co.

Keeping the Registry in the city was important to MassDOT, who worked with the Commonwealth’s Division of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance on the relocation.

“We recognize the importance of keeping a service center in Haverhill that serves residents and our commercial business customers,” MassDOT Deputy Communications Director Ryan Grannan-Doll told WHAV in 2016 when the RMV issued a request for proposals (RFP) and initiated the relocation process.

The Registry continues to operate out of its current location at Haverhill City Hall, 4 Summer St. Mayor James J. Fiorentini’s office tells WHAV there are no plans just yet for what will take over the basement-level location after the RMV moves to RiversEdge Plaza.