Westborough's downtown welcomes a new "Piccadilly"

written by Bonnie Adams and originally published in the Community Advocate on May 21, 2013

WESTBOROUGH --  Westborough's downtown may soon have a new energy to it, thanks to a makeover as part of an iconic building.

​For years, the three-story brick Arcade building, located adjacent to the rotary in the heart of the downtown, has been home to a number of businesses and restaurants, including the popular Piccadilly Pub.  When that restaurant shuttered a number of years ago, that space and others in the 2-5 Milk St. portion of the building stayed dormant.

Enter the Stonegate Development group.  over the past three years, the company, mindful of the building's heritage, renovated that portion of the building into commercial and rental spaces.  On May 15, the group held a ribbon cutting and open house to show off the new changes.

Dean Calivas, Stonegate's COO, told those gathered that his company knew that the former Piccadilly Pub had been beloved by many Westborough residents.  As homage to that, he added, the new space has been designated as "Piccadilly Place".

The renovations include six commercial units on the first floor and five rental apartments on the top floor.  The basement is set up for retail and storage, according to Diane Lim, an architect and the principal of Lim Design Studio, Inc., who worked on the project with Stonegate.  Lim praised the cooperation of town officials who had worked with the team over the past two years.

"They have been great", she said, adding that the town's Historical Commission has been "very helpful".

Also integral to the project's success, she added, was a measure by town officials to allow the property a mixed-use designation.

Taya Dixon, a senior consultant at Epsilon Associates, Inc., assisted on the historical aspects of the project.  she noted that Stonegate was able to use historical preservation credits to ensure that certain standards were met, as a way to offset some of the costs.

Part of the renovations included adding onto the existing sidewalk and building a handicapped-accessible entrance.

Prior to the ribbon cutting, Calivas thanked the many professionals who had worked on the renovations.  "Hopefully this will work as a model [for other projects], he said.

 
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