Worcester Business Journal
December 2022
AKROS Development owner Zachary Kiritsy purchased the former site of Fairway Beef in Worcester for $900,000.
An entity registered to Kiritsy, 102 Temple Street, LLC, completed the deal on Wednesday, according to the Worcester district Registry of Deeds.
Brian Johnson & Will Kelleher of Kelleher & Sadowsky Associates, Inc. represented the buyer in the transaction.
In September, AKROS Development proposed a nine-story mixed-use development for the site. The Worcester Zoning Board of Appeals approved the project at its Sept. 12 meeting, and the Planning Board approved the project with conditions at its Sept. 21 meeting.
At the planning board meeting, Kiritsy said construction is expected to take 18 months. He did not respond to WBJ’s request for a start date for the project. According to the AKROS website, the project is expected to be completed in Spring of 2025.
At the Planning Board meeting attorney Joshua Lee Smith addressed the 72 parking spaces proposed for 105 units, pointing out that all parking spaces would be contained onsite using an semi-automated stacked parking system.
He also stressed that the project was transit oriented, built close to Union Station and the WRTA bus hub. The building is expected to have a bike room and management will offer a ride share program.
“As this neighborhood has gone through this renaissance and resurgence of development, the city has become much more metropolitan and walkable,” said Smith.
The building will be all-electric which, Michelle Smith, assistant chief development officer, said aligns with the City’s environmental goals.
Representatives from neighboring Diem Cannabis and Golsh Plastics expressed concern about traffic patterns during construction at the site, specifically that Temple Street could be closed during construction, which they said would harm the businesses. The developer said that there are no current plans to close the street during construction.
The properties at 44 Grafton St. and 102 Temple St. are assessed by the City of Worcester for 459,600.
The seller was Jaffee Realty of Worcester, belonging to the Sigel family, former owners of Fairway Beef. R. Norman Peters of Worcester’s Peters and Sowyrda represented the seller.
The butcher shop closed suddenly in July 2021 after 75 years.
AKROS Development, founded in 2021. Kiritsy was born in Worcester and attended Saint John’s High School in Shrewsbury, according to the company’s website.
