Worcester Planning

Utile was engaged by the Economic Development department of the City of Worcester and the Massachusetts Development Finance Agency (MassDevelopment) to re-envision the commercial center of Worcester, Massachusetts, the Commonwealth’s second largest city. The plan tied real estate development opportunities to a walkable, mixed-use master plan for the downtown area. The plan focused on improvements to the Downtown pedestrian experience by strengthening ground level programming along routes between the train station, visitor destinations, and active retail corridors. Key development opportunities were identified within this framework as a way to catalyze the plan and to attract large-scale private development to the downtown core.

The work included a complementary communications strategy and marketing collateral. Maps and renderings of recommendations were carefully designed to appeal to the targeted demographic of 22 to 35 year olds who comprise the workforce for the life science and insurance jobs in the City. The material from the plan was used to market Downtown development sites to industries and companies that are considering Worcester as a potential site for their headquarters building or additional back office location