Building owner can’t expedite demolition

WORCESTER The Central Building on Main Street has received a temporary reprieve from the wrecking ball.

The Historical Commission tonight unanimously rejected a petition filed by the building's owner for a waiver to the city's demolition-delay ordinance.

Commission members said the owner, 332 Main St. Associates, a group controlled by the Krock family, did not make an adequate case to support the need for a waiver based on the grounds that keeping the building up for another year would create an undue economic hardship.

As a result, the eight-story office building, which was built around 1925, will remain standing at 322-332 Main St. for one year from the date when the application for the demolition delay waiver was filed (November 2012) with the Historical Commission.

After that time, the owner will be able to raze the building.

The demolition-delay ordinance puts a one-year hold on historic properties to give owners time to find a buyer who would be able to preserve the building or come up with another reuse for it.

The ordinance allows owners to seek a waiver to the one-year delay based on the grounds of economic hardship or that the demolition would not be detrimental to the historical or architectural resources of the city.

Gary S. Brackett, a lawyer representing 332 Main St. Associates, said the owner is facing an economic hardship because the building is vacant and is not generating any rental income. In comparison, the building took in more than $431,000 in rental income in 2010 when it had tenants, he said.

Meanwhile, the owner still has to pay more than $150,000 annually to maintain and heat the building, as well as preserve its fire suppression system, in addition to more than $90,000 in property taxes.

The building, which has nearly 84,400 square feet of space, is assessed at $2.9 million; it had been assessed at $1.4 million two years ago.

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Building owner can't expedite demolition