Planned Corporate HQ In Marlborough May Becoming Housing Instead

MARLBOROUGH, MA — The Marlborough City Council on Monday will hold a public hearing over a zoning change that might bring housing to a property that was planned to become a corporate headquarters.

The Lizotte Drive Overlay District would cover the area from Williams Street to the office building at 130 Lizotte Drive. Right now, that area is zoned for limited industrial use, but the overlay would allow, "housing by allowing the construction of market-rate and affordable-rate multifamily condominiums." The overlay would also allow self-storage facilities and contractor's yards for "the use of tradespeople, and the public at large."

An attorney associated with Southborough-based Ferris Development Group sought the overlay district. Ferris Development operates several large office properties along Route 9 in Westborough and Southborough, including the "beehive" in that town. Ferris proposed a second beehive facility — a type of coworking space for tradespeople — in Westborough, but ended up suing the town after the select board rejected the proposal.

The Marlborough City Council in December 2022 approved a tax increment financing plan for 130 Lizotte Drive so that the German company Physik Instrumente (PI) could move its U.S. headquarters there from Auburn. PI still owns the building, according to property records.

The PI headquarters is still located in Auburn, and the company recently broke ground on a new production facility in Shrewsbury.