UPS bought $18.3 million worth of real estate in the Worcester County towns of Grafton and Shrewsbury last month, taking another step toward construction of its planned $200 million, 800,000-square-foot regional distribution center near the MBTA station and the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University.
The land purchases totaling 226 acres of now undeveloped land were recorded at the Worcester County Registry of Deeds in November.
Town officials in Grafton and Shrewsbury couldn’t be reached by phone Friday.
But in October, the Grafton Board of Selectmen heard a pitch from UPS and its local attorney, according to a story in The Grafton News.
UPS is looking to hire 350 additional workers in town — there is already a smaller distribution center there — and is looking for a 15-year tax abatement that would commence in 2021 when the distribution center is expected to open. UPS would get a 100 percent abatement on the taxable value of the new building in the first year, and then that discount would shrink incrementally over the life of the agreement.
The deal was not finalized.
UPS spokespeople in Atlanta acknowledged progress Friday, but said that no final decision has been made.
“UPS continually evaluates where and how to best expand our facilities to meet growing customer demand,” UPS' Kim Krebs said in an email. “The Shrewsbury and Grafton, MA area is one of the locations UPS is considering to further optimize our ground network across the Northeast. The property acquisition is one of many initial steps in the feasibility and planning process for the proposed project.”
One of the sellers of the property is Worcester Business Development Corp., the nonprofit developer of the Centech business park adjacent to the UPS site.
According to its website, the Worcester Business Development Corp. acquired the land from the state in 1994. Over the past 19 years, it worked with Grafton and Shrewsbury as well as Tufts on infrastructure and permitting work allowing for 675,000 square feet of development.
The site is four miles from Massachusetts Turnpike Exit 11 at Millbury and a mile south of Route 20, according to Worcester Business Development Corp.