Historic Downtown Worcester Building May Meet Wrecking Ball

WORCESTER, MA — The owner of a historical downtown Worcester building is seeking permission to demolish the nearly 100-year-old structure, saying there's no use for it.

The Hovey Laundry company built 27 Chandler St. in 1929 as an addition to an existing laundry facility along Austin Street, whose origins date to around 1890.

The Edward A Dickie & Sons moving company later used building for storage, and the company's sign still hangs out front. The building also has another sign out front: a red square with a white X, which indicates the building is unsafe to enter in case of a fire.

“The owners of 27 Chandler St. and 35 Chandler/53 Irving St. have spent the last year investigating reuse possibilities for the prior piano factory and warehouse building,” architect Mark Ritz said in a recent demolition application to the Worcester Historical Commission. “Finding no economical uses of the existing structure, it is proposed to completely remove the existing building, foundation, and site improvements from this lot.”

According to property records, the building was first sold to a limited liability company (LLC) by Dickie & Sons in 2011 for $465,000. The building has changed hands twice since: sold to Mendon-based VTT Chandler Street LLC in 2012 for $505,000, and then to Chandler Owner LLC for $1 million in January 2020, according to city records.

The mailing address for Chandler Owner LLC traces to a Los Angeles company called Benedict Canyon Equities, Inc. The company describes itself as a "multifamily real estate investment" firm and boasts owning more than 9,700 residential units worth $2.2 billion across the U.S.

The Worcester Historical Commission will meet on Nov. 17 to discuss the demolition request.