Concord Square, with ICON Architecture, was engaged by the Town of Hopedale in the summer of 2007 to provide consulting and planning services to the Draper Complex Reuse Committee in Hopedale. The Committee was charged with developing recommendations for the Selectmen with regard to rezoning and other town initiated actions to stimulate the renovation of the Draper Complex and associated property.

The Draper industrial buildings comprise over 1,000,000 square feet of empty space. The overall site is in excess of 60 acres and abuts the town center. The area includes a more modern 80,000 square foot industrial building, an abandoned railroad, and a dam and river. Concord Square facilitated the development of a consensus plan at the committee level, which was the subject of public design workshops in September and December of 2007 — to which all households in Hopedale were invited. The committee’s work with Concord Square resulted in recommendations for the preparation of comprehensive zoning changes for the entire area as the primary means to jump-start redevelopment. The Town has since applied for and received a state Priority Development Fund grant to pursue these recommendations.