Fall River Redevelopment Authority Buys Waterfront Land That Could Add Up to 180 Parking Spaces

It took six years, but the Fall River Redevelopment Authority finally took ownership of nearly two acres of land in proximity to the waterfront from Liberty Utilities on July 17.

The FRRA paid $698,500 for the parcel.

The property at 45 Anawan Street, next door to the Gates of the City and across from the State Pier, will add more than 100 parking spots and up to 180, depending on the final plans for the land.

During the FRRA’s monthly meeting last week, board members discussed the property, including what to do with the five buildings that remain on the land. 

Before the closing of the sale, Liberty Utilities knocked down a sixth building, as well as performing extensive remediation of contaminated soil on the property under the guidance of the Department of Environmental Management.

FRRA first entered into a purchase and sales agreement in the summer of 2020, but the contamination issue prolonged the sale.

The parcel is identified in the FRRA-sponsored Waterfront Renewal Plan and got on the authority’s radar after Liberty Utilities announced in May 2020, they were moving the facility to the former Homeland Builders property on Sykes Road in the Industrial Park which sold for $5.8 million.

The closing on the land comes as the state is preparing to sell approximately 20 acres of newly created buildable land for development as part of the Route 79 project and expected to bring in a billion dollars in investment to the city.

At 45 Anawan Street, work has already begun with new cameras installed and working on new fencing, according to Karen Martin, FRRA’s project manager.

Next week engineers from the Beta Group will be on site inspecting the buildings for hazardous materials.

Members of the authority discussed the possibility of opening the property temporarily for free parking until work begins to install automatic parking lot equipment, new paving and striping, as well as the possibility of demolition, begins.

A request for proposal for the work could be published by September.

Because the buildings at 45 Anawan Street are registered as historical on the city’s local registry, FRRA statutorily must submit notice of demolition and the six-month moratorium before they can take any buildings down.