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Council asks city manager for plan for former migrant shelter at UMass Lowell conference center
Summary
Councilors pressed the city manager for a plan to repurpose a UMass Lowell facility that had housed migrants, asking the administration to convene stakeholders about potential hotel, housing and event uses after state oversight ends.
Councilors asked the city manager to provide an update on plans for the UMass Lowell conference center facility that has been used as a migrant shelter and is expected to stop housing migrants soon.
Councilor Noon moved the request and described the facility as an important downtown building that should not be left vacant when the shelter use ends. She suggested a mix of uses — hotel floors, a function hall on the ground floor and housing on upper floors — and asked the manager to convene the university, state officials and other stakeholders to develop options.
City Manager Tom Golden said he has spoken with Chancellor Julie Chen of UMass Lowell, Mary Burns of the UMass Building Authority (AMBA) and officials at the state’s Department of Capital Asset Management (DCAM) and the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities. Golden said the building is not owned by the city and that AMBA currently controls disposition. He said an RFP review with DCAM is nearing completion and that UMass Lowell has expressed interest in making the site part of a campus and downtown plan.
Golden and several councilors described the site as potentially suitable for a mix of hotel space, affordable homeownership units and other downtown‑serving uses. Councilors urged the manager to continue discussions and to bring a coordinated plan or recommended next steps back to the council soon.
No formal decision about sale or redevelopment was made at the meeting; the motion requests an administrative update and to convene the stakeholders identified by the manager.
