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Former Star Store Building in New Bedford to Become Regional Arts Hub

The 150,000-square-foot Star Store building in New Bedford, MA, vacant since 2023, will be redeveloped into a regional hub for the arts, city officials announced. The Arts and Business Council of Greater Boston (A&BC) and the New Bedford Economic Council (NBEDC) have entered into a memorandum of understanding in which A&BC will make the necessary investments to preserve the Star Store building.

“This partnership between the NBEDC and the A&BC lays the foundation for the Star Store’s reactivation as an anchor institution and economic driver in Downtown New Bedford,” said Mayor Jon Mitchell. “The A&BC has a proven track record of success with arts-based developments, and they will be a welcome addition to our city.”

Following the departure of UMass’ College of Visual and Performing Arts to its main campus, the city and NBEDC engaged JLL to study potential uses. The study determined that the one-time department store was best suited for classroom or artist studios.

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About Paul Bubny

Paul Bubny serves as Senior Content Director for Connect Commercial Real Estate, a role to which he brings 16-plus years’ experience covering the commercial real estate industry and 30-plus years in business-to-business journalism. In this capacity, he oversees daily operations while also reporting on both local/regional markets and national trends, covering individual transactions across all property types, as well as delving into broader subject matter. He produces 7-10 daily news stories per day and works with the Connect team and clients to develop longer-form content, ranging from Q&As to thought-leadership pieces. Prior to joining Connect, Paul was Managing Editor for both Real Estate Forum and GlobeSt.com at American Lawyer Media, where he oversaw operations at both publications while also producing daily news and feature-length articles. His tenure in B2B publishing stretches back into the print era, and he has served as Editor in Chief on four national trade publications. Since 1999, Paul has volunteered as the newsletter editor of passenger rail advocacy groups (one national, one local).

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