State to ‘Help Pay For’ Privately-Owned Parking Garage in Downtown Haverhill

Downtown Haverhill redevelopment concept of Lupoli Companies of Lawrence.

A $6.5 million state MassWorks grant will “help pay for” the Lupoli Companies’ planned 616-space parking garage in downtown Haverhill.

The grant was hailed Friday by Mayor James J. Fiorentini and appears to come on top of another $750,000 in a state MassWorks grant awarded last year for the design of the garage to replace the Herbert H. Goecke Jr. Memorial Parking Deck. The mayor characterized the grant as helping to pay for the private garage and tied the money to an economic development package also approved by the legislature. (See related story.)

“These projects are vital to Haverhill’s future and continued success, and we are grateful for the leadership and support of our legislative delegation as well as Gov. Baker and Lt. Gov. Polito who helped champion these critically important funds.”

A year ago, Fiorentini lobbied for City Council approval of developer Salvatore N. Lupoli’s $160 million redevelopment of a 4.5-acre Merrimack Street parcel. The mayor said then Lupoli is the only one who would pay for the parking garage. “That’s about anywhere from a $25 and a $31 million investment. Everybody else said either that we would pay for it or that it was up to us to go out and get state money. That was a huge, huge factor,” he said.

The MassWorks grant, announced Oct. 26 during Gov. Charlie Baker’s appearance in Pittsfield, is one in series of many over the last decade propping up downtown Haverhill’s redevelopment, including Harbor Place and the Heights at Haverhill. A press release at the time said “Upgrades will include new water/sewer lines, drainage, pedestrian plazas, sidewalks and repaved roads to support 300-plus housing units and 51,000 square feet of new business space.

The Pittsfield press conference, highlighting the state’s “One Stop for Growth Awards,” also mentioned $300,000 for the proposed Dutton Airport redevelopment, described as “a new 65-acre business park with the potential for 800,000 square feet of industrial/commercial space. Activities include site survey, environmental review, wetlands delineation, traffic impact study, and natural resource evaluation.”

Another $150,000 was set aside for the Merrimack Valley Planning Commission’s update of the region’s Housing Production Plans, as reported earlier by WHAV, and $191,150 to pay for a Groveland feasibility study, planning, civil engineering, market analysis and master plan for a 62-acre parcel of commercial and industrial-zoned town-owned land.

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