What To Do With Beverly's Former Family Dollar Downtown Building?

BEVERLY, MA — Artist housing and studio space, a downtown grocery store, a co-op marketplace and a hotel were among the ideas that got strong backing for the future development of the Family Dollar building that the city bought, along a second smaller lot and 108 parking spaces, for $7.4 million two years ago.

At the time, the thought was that the building could be used as the temporary home for City Hall during an anticipated 18-month renovation. But with that proving cost-ineffective at about $1.8 million for refitting compared to alternative commercial sites, according to Mayor Mike Cahill, the process has begun to solicit community input on what preferences to put into a Request for Proposal to possible developers.

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"All the things we heard tonight are all worth doing," Cahill said after more than a dozen speakers shared their thoughts. "All are hopefully going to find their place more so than they already have in the downtown. Obviously, not everything can happen in the one space. But everything that I have heard so far seems to align with what everyone who is at Beverly Main Streets, the Chamber (of Commerce) are all really focused on."

Artist studio and gallery space had a lot of support from many of those who were former tenants of the 222 Cabot space that closed in 2022. Several of those speakers recommended breaking up the building into smaller parcels for sale to allow for more varied uses of the property.

A potential boutique hotel was favored by those who noted that visitors to the city for weddings, shows and other functions generally have to look to Danvers, Salem and nearby communities for lodging — which potentially discourages bookings and tourism.

There were also several downtown residents who said that a downtown grocery option is needed — especially with the closing of the Family Dollar and with many residents of the area not having cars.

"It's been a priority for everybody to see that building come back to life — that site come back to life," Cahill said. "The good thing about us not trying to go in there for City Hall is that we're able to do this process now. And it will be sooner that something can bring that whole site back to life.

"It will be sooner that there will be retail on that ground floor that the downtown really needs. It will be sooner to get it back on the tax rolls as well."

The Beverly City Council in 2023 backed Cahill's proposal to borrow $6 million and use $2 million in so-called "free cash" (surplus tax funds) to purchase the building and lots that would preserve the more than 100 downtown parking spaces.

He said at the time that the "friendly taking" of the property would effectively block a planned five-story, 113-unit housing complex.

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. X/Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)