Central Mass. by the Numbers

97

The former home of Zorba's Taverna, a family-owned restaurant at 97 Stafford St. in Worcester, is now under the ownership of Asian cuisine restaurateurs who have plans to open a buffet restaurant. NAI Glickman Kovago and Jacobs announced the sale of the property for $2.2 million by CNTTD Inc. to 97 Real Estate LLC. Jessica Lin, one of the future owners, said the new restaurant will be called Panda Buffet and will serve both Chinese and Japanese dishes. Lin also owns Yama Fuji in Providence. Zorba's closed in February after 11 years in the business.

$9.6M

The efforts to renovate the 85-unit Aurora Apartments, once a glamorous hotel along Main Street, will receive a $9.6 million boost by Boston-based affordable housing agency MassHousing. Approved Monday, the funds will go toward the renovation and extension of affordability of the apartment building at 660 Main St. which is owned and managed by local company The Community Builders. The company has planned an estimated $10.8 million renovation. The Aurora Apartments are considered affordable to households earning up to 60% of the area median income. The six-story building was built in 1897 as the Aurora Hotel.

3

The rental market is hard everywhere, but the Worcester market is one of the hardest, according to a study by Forbes. Worcester is the third-worst rental market, Forbes said , after crunching the data for the 75 most populous metros in the United States based on how competitive it is. "With extremely low vacancy rates and some of the worst availability of rental units, Worcester metro area renters are battling a tough rental market," the publication said. To rank the markets, Forbes looked at pricing, availability and population. With a rental vacancy of 1.7%, Worcester has the second-lowest vacancy rate. The average was 6.3%.

20,000

Jack’s Abby Craft Lagers said it will buy Worcester’s oldest, largest brewer, Wormtown Brewery , merging two of the state’s more recognizable beer brands. With the sale, Jack’s Abby becomes one of the 30 biggest breweries in the country. Wormtown contributes more than 20,000 barrels of beer per year to Jack’s output, which also includes beer it makes on contract for other brewers. In total, Jack’s Abby’s production will rise to over 110,000 barrels annually. The brewing operation will wind down in Worcester, moving to Jack’s Framingham brewhouse, but the taprooms will stay open in Worcester and Foxborough.

40,000

The Shrewsbury Select Board has received a building permit request to transform the former Christmas Tree Shops location along Route 9 into a trampoline park. Town Manager Kevin Mizikar said that was "good news," adding it would be beneficial for Olde Shrewsbury Village, the shopping center that once housed the shops. If the permit is approved, 40,000 square feet of the former store would be converted into a "trampoline business," Mizikar said. Zi Qian Zhang purchased the shopping center for $13.6 million in March. Zhang's company, Fall River-based JZ Real Estate, owns nearly 20 trampoline parks on the East Coast.

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Central Mass. by the Numbers