New Bedford Golf Course Project Now Open for Bidding

NEW BEDFORD — It's time for developers to tee off, as the New Bedford City Council Committee on City Property voted unanimously Thursday to authorize a request for proposals to purchase and develop part of a municipal golf course into a manufacturing park.

With the vote, developers will now be able to submit proposals to redevelop 100 acres of New Bedford's Whaling City Golf Course into an 'Advanced Manufacturing Campus' for high-tech industrial and office space.

Plans to redevelop the site into a modern manufacturing park have been in the works since 2017.

State legislators signed off in October on a land swap for conservation protections elsewhere to free up land for development at the 275-acre Hathaway Road parcel, which is currently home to the municipal golf course.

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According to Mayor Jon Mitchell, the planned park will likely create more than 1,000 jobs and could generate $2.7 million in yearly tax revenues for the city.

Plans put forward by the city also include improvements to the golf facility, with a new clubhouse, parking lot, and reconfigured course.

At a remote meeting on Thursday evening, the committee first accepted correspondence from all city department heads noting that the land is not needed for municipal purposes, before voting 6-0 to start accepting project proposals.