Hamilton Canal Innovation District Plan

Project Overview

The Hamilton Canal District is Lowell's premier development opportunity. It is the largest single project in the City's Jackson/Appleton/Middlesex (JAM) Urban Revitalization Plan and the City's comprehensive smart growth planning and redevelopment strategy embodied in the Comprehensive Master Plan, Sustainable Lowell 2025. The project will reinvent 15 acres of vacant and underutilized waterfront land as a vibrant, mixed-use neighborhood connecting Lowell's downtown to its commuter rail station.

View the Jackson/Appleton/Middlesex (JAM) Urban Revitalization Plan (PDF).

View the report by Goody Clancy " A City-Building Vision for the HCD and the Neighborhoods"

Project Partnerships

The $800 million project has been planned and developed as a public-private partnership from the start. The Lowell Plan, the Lowell National Historical Park and the JAM Business and Residents Association (JAMBRA) have worked closely with the city to plan the project.  The project is projected to generate an estimated $4 million in new annual tax revenue for the city, and resulting in nearly 2 million square feet of new development.  

Plan Development

Stakeholders and members of the public were able to participate in meetings and working sessions that included presentations of ideas and concepts by the developers for reaction and feedback. The final plan will address:

• Bridges
• Building scale and locations
• Land uses
• Parks and public spaces
• Pedestrian
• Streets
• Traffic
• Transit circulation into and through the district
• Utilities

It will also focus on job creation, market feasibility of development options and how the Hamilton Canal District supports redevelopment elsewhere in downtown Lowell and throughout the City (source).