City of Framingham Wants $2 Million To Purchase Downtown Office Building

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FRAMINGHAM – The City of Framingham wants $2 million purchase an office building downtown, next to the Memorial Building.

SOURCE published on November 13, that Mayor Charlie Sisitsky wanted to purchase 188 Concord Street, and use one floor for a regional police/fire dispatch center and to use the other floors for municipal office space.

In a December memo, to the City Council, the City’s Director of Finance and Administration Louise Miller put a price tag on the building.

“The first reading for the authorization to borrow $2 million and accept by gift this property is scheduled for December 6, 2022. After some months of negotiations with the owner of 188 Concord Street, we have reached agreement for the acquisition by purchase and gift of the property. The property located at 188 Concord Street, Framingham, Massachusetts (the Premises) would be conveyed to the City subject to an ANR (Approval Not Required) plan dividing the property into two separate parcels, by purchasing one parcel with frontage on Concord Street, including the building and parking lot directly adjacent to the building, for the sum of $2,000,000 for the property (Parcel A), and receiving by gift the second parcel comprising a vacant parking lot with frontage on Sanger Street (Parcel B).,” wrote the CFO.

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CFO Miller wrote the “purchase price is supported by the assessed value of the property and by an independent appraisal obtained by the City.”

Built in 1986, the 4-story office building at 188 Concord Street is assessed for $1,689,600 million by the City of Framingham in 2021.

“Once the authorization to borrow and receive by gift 188 Concord Street, the City will be able to negotiate and sign a formal Purchase and Sale Agreement,” wrote CFO Miller.

“A closing in mid-February is anticipated for this transaction,” wrote CFO Miller.

As this does involve authorization, two-third of the 11-member City Council must vote to authorize for it to move forward.

The Mayor said the additional space at 188 Concord Street will be used to alleviate overcrowding in the Memorial Building for City staff, beyond the regional public safety dispatch center.

The 188 Concord Street building has 16,800 square feet and 8 bathrooms.

“There is 4,000 square feet per floor,” said the Mayor to SOURCE in November.

“We’ll be able to use the rest of the space in the building as swing space ,so we can move departments from out of City Hall, so we can modernize City Hall,” said Mayor Sisitsky to SOURCE earlier this year. “Because we’ll be buying this office building next door to City Hall, we’ll have space to move offices around while we do the renovation.”

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A date for renovations has not been announced, but has been discussed as needed dating back to when Framingham was a Town and not a City.

In April 2020, with the Coronavirus pandemic shutting down many office buildings across the city, the 11-member City Council rejected a deal proposed by then-mayor Yvonne Spicer to purchase 105,000 square-foot Perini building for $12.95 million.

The Mayor hopes to use Community Preservation Act (CPA) money to complete the renovations at the Memorial Building. He said it qualifies for CPA money as a Historic building.

The Mayor said there are a lot of grant money and 9-1-1 money available to create and outfit the regional public safety dispatch center.

As part of this plan, the City is also proposing building a parking garage between Police headquarters and the Memorial Building.

The City has applied for some state funding.

The Mayor said the parking garage would also be a plus for the regional justice center proposed for the former Danforth Building.

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