57 Exchange St Weekly Updates

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Worcester is home to many Historic buildings with compelling soties to tell.

This building in particular, located at 57 Exchange St, has quiet the history. Originally, the building on Waldo St used to be a local courthouse and police station, with the courtyard being the jail cell entry. Across the courtyard lies two buildings facing commercial street. these two buildings where home to the fire station and garage.

Historical photos of Waldo St police station.

The building is in a prime location, adjacent to the city’s convention center, and in the heart of downtown, where millions of dollars of new investment have taken place, and where the vacancy rate for apartments is less than 2%.

The Historic structure is currently under renovation as of November 2025 and is on track to create 40 Mixed-Income rental units by fourth quarter of 2027. The project was designed by Benoit Design in Worcester MA, with additional financing for construction and bridging being provided by Westfield Bank, and permanent financing by Prudential through Freddie Mac.

There will be 3,000 square feet of amenity space, inclusive of a fitness center, a business center, and outdoor courtyard space. The total development cost for the project is $17M and it will receive $5.8M in state and federal tax credits.

This blog will be receiving bi-weekly updates showcasing progress on the building, including photographs of the most recent work.

Bi-Weekly Update Gallery:

Update 00: 3/12/2026

Update 01: 3/12/2026

Update 02: 3/12/2026

Update 03: 3/31/2026

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Update 00:

Past Conditions

This update mainly focuses on the existing conditions of the site pre-construction. It further highlights the historical detailing that has remained.

Pre-construction photos of building exterior (Commercial and Exchange St sides).

Waldo St interior details.

Commercial St interior conditions.

Courtyard between Waldo and Commercial St conditions.

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Update 01:

Commercial St Demo Updates

In this update, the photos cover the demolition process. The biggest progress can be seen on Commercial St as the old walls have come down and the debris start to clear. As for Waldo St, demo is still in the works.

It is also important to note that temp power has been installed onsite as well!

Commercial St gutting.

Courtyard cleaning.

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Update 02:

Courtyard Updates

This week, the demo crew cut out a portion of the courtyard roof to create a trash chute while clearing the fourth floor in Waldo. The cut already brings in an incredible amount of light, which makes us further excited to remove the cover entirely and brightened up the space in the future.

Additionally, the chiller on the roof has been drained in preparation for removal.

Courtyard trash chute.

Draining the chiller.

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Update 03:

Waldo St Demo Updates

This week we explore the Waldo building demolition updates. The building is continuing to be cleaned out entirely working from the fifth floor to the ground floor. Simultaneously, we have been working on assessing the roof conditions of the 3 buildings.

Temp shoring install.

Roof inspection photos.

Court room demo update.

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