The Shift to Residential

The owners of a building on Newport Street, which is tucked away off Airport Road, want to turn their industrial factory space into a condo development.

The 48 one- and two-bedroom units would face the Nashua River. It's the latest proposal in a series of plans that is slowly remaking Fitchburg into a residential community.

As downtown buildings undergo transformation into condos, developers are also looking at the old factory buildings along the river as potential new homes. It's an encouraging trend, in that it shows a long-term interest in the city, and reinforces the conventional wisdom that people are looking to the region for housing.

There may be an issue with this one, however. The two owners of the building run businesses out of the building, and Planning Board Chairman Jay Cruz said it may tough to switch the zoning from industrial to residential with tenants in the building. However, the tenants are the owners (at least according to the story), so should that be an issue? Hopefully, the city can work out a plan that maybe finds the businesses a new home in the city (one owner said he might move to Leominster. Boo) and smooths out the process to change the zoning and allow the development to happen.

Months ago, City Councilor Dean Tran advocated a plan for bringing more people into the city, creating that critical mass of residents and consumers who would demand services and entertainment in the city. It appears the city is moving in that direction, and hopefully the government can do what it can to move quality projects forward quickly.