Press Releases

2023

March 23, 2023

Bank Street Armory has a potential buyer. The project could transform downtown Fall River.

The majestic, albeit ailing Bank Street Armory once housed a volunteer militia, the National Guard and the Greater Fall River Re-Creation among its tenants before it was shuttered by the city building inspector in April 2015. Now a local developer with a track record of transforming old city buildings is eying the castle-like structure for redevelopment into 37 market-rate apartments or possibly a mixed-rate project with 20% of the units deemed affordable.
March 15, 2023

Tax relief, police funding, housing: Mayor Paul Coogan tackles issues in State of the City

Mayor Paul Coogan delivered his fourth State of the City address on Tuesday at Government Center before a joint session of the City Council and School Committee, framing the city as one of “energy, hope and unprecedented growth.”
February 10, 2023

Fall River apartments are planned at this former school. City will make a profit, too.

After sitting idle for 14 years with a broken promise to redevelop the property, the sale of the 117-year-old former Lincoln Elementary School on Pine Street is expected to be completed within a week with plans to convert it into 24 market-rate apartments.
January 19, 2023

Say goodbye to Fall River’s Route 79 highway. MassDOT is shutting it down forever.

Now that the Route 79 expressway reconstruction project has officially broken ground, one of the first things to be broken will be the Route 79 expressway itself, with the highway scheduled to be closed for good sometime in February.

2022

December 22, 2022

Big changes are coming to Route 79 in Fall River. Here’s what to expect.

The much-anticipated $135 million Route 79 and Davol Street Corridor Improvement project is officially underway with a ceremonial groundbreaking led by outgoing Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito and other state and local leaders at the City Pier on Wednesday.
November 30, 2022

Maura Healey’s transition policy teams getting help from key players on the SouthCoast

Maura Healey is getting help from several leaders on the SouthCoast as she prepares her transition from attorney general to governor.
July 7, 2022

Fall River’s first Chick-fil-A is finally open — and here’s how the first day went

Cars wrapped around the building and the restaurant overflowed with customers as the city’s first Chick-fil-A location opened on Wednesday.
March 24, 2022

Fall River gives out 49 APRA fund grants to city businesses. Here’s who got them.

The city’s first round of pandemic-related, small business grant awards handed out Thursday morning at Government Center was “just the beginning,” according to Mayor Paul Coogan.
February 9, 2022

Developer has plans for 70-unit apartment building on Davol Street in Fall River

An out-of-town developer has big plans for Davol Street that should add to the growing inventory of market-rate apartments in Fall River.
January 19, 2022

What’s going on with the Fall River Carousel? Plans include ice cream and some sprucing up

Facebook chatter notwithstanding, the pavilion containing the historic Fall River Carousel is not falling apart.
January 14, 2022

ARPA grant money available for Fall River small businesses impacted by COVID pandemic

More than $3.2 million in American Rescue Plan Act grant money will soon be available to local small businesses impacted financially by the COVID-19 pandemic.

2021

December 16, 2021

How a state grant is helping this dentist redevelop a 100-year-old Fall River building

Ramesh Izedian says $400,000 is nothing to sneeze at. “If not for the funding, I’m not sure this project would be feasible,” he said.
October 19, 2021

Fall River Port Authority, pier boards haven’t met in years. Here’s what they must do ASAP.

It’s been an untold number of years since the appointed Fall River Port Authority has met, but a new committee has been assembled and will meet officially for the first time on Tuesday, making the way to restore the Fall River Line Pier group that has been dormant for at least the past two years.
August 25, 2021

After 20 years of effort, the final phase of Fall River’s City Pier project is under way

It’s taken about 20 years and millions of dollars in clean-up costs, but on Wednesday, officials said the City Pier is headed into the final steps of its redevelopment, opening it up for waterfront access. The Fall River Redevelopment Authority hosted a groundbreaking ceremony with Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito to help celebrate the milestone for the four-acre pier project.
March 26, 2021

Lizzie Borden bed and breakfast has a buyer. Here are his plans for the Fall River landmark.

Tim Reyes is optimistic about the future of the Lizzie Borden Bed and Breakfast Museum and his employment at the famous Fall River tourist attraction.

2020

September 1, 2020

Fall River businesses OK’d for tax breaks; Adams House redevelopment among recipients

The Fall River Tax Increment Financing board last week approved more than $1.56 million in tax breaks to a developer and two businesses who are investing $34 million between three construction and expansion projects.
August 28, 2020

Fall River Pier Project Awarded $1M in Grant Funding

After years of clean-up and controversy, residents and visitors could be enjoying the views of the Taunton River from the redeveloped City Pier by next summer after the Seaport Economic Council awarded a $1 million grant to the Fall River Redevelopment Authority on Tuesday.
August 6, 2020

Coogan touts waterfront and urban renewal development in State of Business speech

Despite the challenges of the coronavirus pandemic, economic and business development plans for the city remain on track, according to a speech delivered Wednesday morning by Fall River Mayor Paul Coogan.
August 4, 2020

BCEDC Helps Developer Tony Cordeiro Receive Over $928,000 in Tax Credits

Cordeiro says the entire project would not have been possible without the availability of state and federal tax credit and loan programs.
July 26, 2020

$500,000 Small Business Emergency Loan Fund (ELF) Launched

Bristol County Economic Development Consultants (BCEDC) has announced a $500,000 Small Business Emergency Loan Fund (ELF) to assist Fall River businesses affected by the COVID-19 virus and related temporary business closures.
May 27, 2020

Liberty Utilities buys Fall River Industrial Park property for $5.8 million

Liberty Utilities has acquired the former Homeland Builders property on Sykes Road in the Industrial Park for $5.8 million with plans to make it its local headquarters in the 72,280 square-foot facility on 8.63 acres of land.
March 19, 2020

Herald News to move into Cherry & Webb building

The Herald News has found their new home.

2019

August 2, 2019

Fall River Redevelopment Authority will explore new uses for City Pier

For years, residents have been hearing that the City Pier, owned by Fall River Redevelopment Authority, would be turned into a marina with a restaurant and transient dockage to lure out-of-town boaters away from Newport and Bristol. There was talk that maybe a hotel could be built on the shores of the Taunton River.
July 24, 2019

State program targets downtown revitalization

For the next two years, the city will benefit from an economic development coordinator specifically tasked with downtown revitalization.

2018

June 14, 2018

FROED dissolves, changes duties, reorganizes board

The Fall River Office of Economic Development is no more. In its place is the Bristol County Economic Development Consultants, a non-profit that will offer advice to business and communities through the region.
April 13, 2018

$2.6 million in federal funding approved for housing and homelessness in Fall River

The city will receive just over $2.6 million in Community Development Block Grant awards and other funding for housing and homelessness.
January 29, 2018

‘Godzilla Structure’ Coming Down

The new poles are big and happily futuristic — 225-foot cheerleaders on the city waterfront. And when they are complete, the erector set towers at Commonwealth Landing that carries high-tension wires over the Taunton River will be dismantled.

2017

December 27, 2017

Bizko Gives City a Gift to Memorialize Amazon Effort

What does the length of 17 football fields, with the end zones, look like? Go no further than the 77 acres of the Southcoast Life Science and Technology Park straddling Fall River and Freetown to the massive Amazon Fulfillment Center, where city staffers from the inspectional services department to the fire department — and many others in between — helped make Fall River’s massive construction project a reality.
December 15, 2017

City Pier Being Prepped for New Life

The depth of the hard work done 150 years ago by the builders of the City Pier is becoming apparent. That depth is more than 32 feet, according to Ken Fiola, the executive vice president of the Bristol County EDC. Deep water is sending project planners at the pier back to the drawing board.
October 25, 2017

PRIME LOCATION
Fall River submits bid for Amazon HQ2 with pitch of 40-minute drive to Boston

A 40minute drive from Fall River to Boston? Forty-five minutes to Logan International Airport? The Fall River Redevelopment Authority’s proposal to Amazon that the retail giant should consider building its second North American headquarters in the SouthCoast/Riverfront Park also mentions that SouthCoast Commuter Rail is expected to service Fall River and Freetown by 2022.

2016

August 9, 2016

Redevelopment Authority inks new 3-year contract with FROED

After 13 years of providing the Redevelopment Authority with administrative services that include marketing and selling parcels in the city’s biopark with the Fall River Office of Economic Development, a new three-year contract was approved by the redevelopment board last week.
June 22, 2016

Fall River’s Unemployment Rate Drops

Unemployment ticked down again in May, continuing the city’s trend. The unemployment rate was listed at 6.2 percent last month, down from 7 percent in April, according to figures released Tuesday by the state Office of Labor and Workforce Development.
March 10, 2016

FROED chief: Redeveloping waterfront and downtown is a priority, but will take time

Planners will be asked this month to imagine this city in 2036.
January 14, 2016

FROED talks development in downtown Fall River, along waterfront

Cash freed up from the sale of land for the Amazon facility will let the city begin improvements in other neighborhoods.

2015

December 24, 2015

Commonwealth Landing the cornerstone of Fall River’s waterfront rebirth

The 21st century is threatening to sneak onto the city’s waterfront in 2016.
December 10, 2015

Fiola: Amazon development attracting other companies to Fall River

Amazon is a magnet in the SouthCoast Life Science and Technology Park, city officials said.
November 2, 2015

Fall River receives $969K grant for water main improvements at city’s business parks

Money will flow into the city so water can rush into the Commerce Park.
July 5, 2015

Sutter discusses economic development efforts in Fall River

Mayor Sam Sutter said there are five critical areas as he charts his vision and practical plans for the city’s economic development.