UMass Amherst’s Worcester Commons to be built on an existing parking lot

Rising on the site of an existing parking lot, UMass Amherst’s new 87,000-sf Worcester Commons will provide the university and its students with a learning hub meant to enhance student life.

The $53 million project will highlight the university’s dining services and include a 1000-seat, all-you-can-eat dining space with 15 different global cuisines, a teaching kitchen, a ground-floor cafe, a commercial bakery, a grab-and-go market, and a new full-service restaurant concept on the top floor.

A “neighborhood center,” will comprise lounges, meeting and club rooms, collaboration spaces, music practice studios, and a fitness center. The site around the new complex will include the replacement of parking and loading spaces, outdoor gathering areas, and community spaces. 

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Worcester Commons is located at the intersection of two main corridors of the campus and is targeting LEED Gold certification. Shawmut Design and Construction, in partnership with Perry Dean Rogers and Connor Architecture, will design and build the project.